Canon de 220 L mle 1917
The Canon de 220 L mle 1917 was a French heavy field gun design which served with France, Germany and Italy during World War I and World War II.
Canon de 220 L mle 1917
Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-12876 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 · This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
- Field
- artillery gun.
- Region
- France.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The Canon de 220 L mle 1917 was a French heavy field gun design which served with France, Germany and Italy during World War I and World War II.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Canon de 220 L mle 1917. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
original value insufficient · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q214065 · wikipedia · Canon de 220 L mle 1917
In this article
History
History
After the lack of heavy artillery for infantry support in positional warfare of World War I had become obvious, the design was ordered by Frédéric-Georges Herr in 1917. The gun was built around an existing 220 mm design intended originally for the naval use. The manufactured pieces were distributed in September/October 1918 to the 151st Fortress Artillery Regiment (RAP) and 166th Fortress Artillery Regiment. After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 the guns were transferred to the 172nd Artillery Regiment. In the mobilization of 1939, the 48 surviving guns were assigned to the 173rd Artillery Regiment and 174th Artillery Regiment. Forty pieces captured by Germans were taken into service as 22-cm-Kanone 532(f). These guns were installed on full-traverse mounts for coastal defence. Sixteen guns were deployed on the Channel Islands with the rest deployed as part of the Atlantic Wall. Four cannons were transferred to Italy where they were given the designation Cannone da 220/32 Mod. 1917.
Self-propelled gun variant
Self-propelled gun variant
One gun was manufactured as a prototype self-propelled gun. The Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM) was the gun mounted on a tracked, but unarmoured, chassis with an optional armour shield. The 225 hp (168 kW) engine allowed speed of 5–7 km/h (3.1–4.3 mph), range of 100 km (62 mi) and decent cross-country performance. Although the performance was deemed satisfactory, the lack of self-propelled gun usage within the French Army lead to the prototype being put in storage, where it was captured by Germans in 1940 and scrapped after evaluation.
Description
This 220 mm heavy field gun was a state-of-art design for its time, with decent traverse and capable of destroying fortifications or supporting infantry. The piece was usually split for transport across two four-wheeled wagons, carrying gun carriage and gun body (barrel and breech-block) respectively, although it was possible to tow it in one piece if a suitable tractor was available. These wagons were designed to be towed by motor vehicles. For firing, the gun body - weighing 9.28 t (20,500 lb) - had to be transferred to the gun carriage, which was not unusual for the artillery of this class. With the wheels raised the carriage sat directly on the ground, and it could be anchored. Unusual, however, was the double recoil system, also utilized on some earlier French pieces: the barrel assembly recoiled inside the cradle along its own axis (a pretty conventional hydropneumatic mechanism was used there by Schneider), but at the same time the cradle and the upper carriage moved back and up onto integrated incline against hydraulic brake, and then sliding back under its own weight. Traverse of 20° was implemented with most of the carriage rotating upon a low 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) long base platform fixed underside. For larger traverses, the wheels were lowered and the entire piece re-oriented.
Related designs
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Retour Canon de 220L Schneider modèle 1917
- 2.Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM) Самоходная артиллерийская установка.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 6
- Kinard, Jeff. Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact, ABC-Clio, 2007.
- Clerici, Carlo Alfredo. Le difese costiere italiane nelle due guerre mondiali, Albertelli Edizioni Speciali, Parma 1996.
- Manganoni, Carlo. Materiale d'artiglieria. Cenni sui materiali di alcuni stati esteri, Accademia militare d'artiglieria e del genio, Torino, 1927 http://www.talpo.it/files/accademia-militare-saggio-manganoni-artiglieria-estera-1927.pdf.
- Ferrard, Stephane. Les matériels de l'armée Française 1940, Edition Lavauzelle.
- Chris Chant. Artillery. Amber Books. 38–39. 2005. 1904687415.
- Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain. Enzyklopädie deutscher Waffen 1939–1945. 2. Auflage. Spezialausgabe. Motorbuchverlag. 2006. 3613024810.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Militaria
6,095 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93Terminology
- Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZTerminology
- Canon de 194 mm Modèle 1893-1896Terminology
- Canon de 194 mm Modèle 1902 gunTerminology
- Canon de 24 C modèle 1864Terminology
- Canon de 24 C modèle 1876Terminology
- Canon de 240 TR Mle 1903Terminology
- Canon de 274 modèle 1887/1893Terminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Canon de 220 L mle 1917?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.