Description

Secondary guns on a few pre-dreadnoughts. Used as Railway guns during World War I.

Construction was a complicated built-up design, similar to other French heavy guns. The two model types were similar, differing in constructional details. Used a three-motion Farcot breech mechanism.

Actual bore size was 27.44 cm (10.80 inches).

Gun Characteristics

Designation 274 mm/45 (10.4") Model 1887/1893
Ship Class Used On Bouvet and Massèna
Date Of Design 1893/1896
Date In Service 1898
Gun Weight 83,070 lbs. + 1,539 lbs. BM (34,960 kg + 698 kg)
Gun Length oa 504 in (12.812 m)
Bore Length 486 in (12.348 m)
Rifling Length 427 in (10.839 m)
Grooves 82
Lands N/A
Twist N/A
Chamber Volume 8,440 in3 (138.34 dm3)
Rate Of Fire about 2 rounds per minute

Ammunition

Type Bag
Projectile Types and Weights 1 2 APC - 562 lbs. (255 kg)
SAPC - 562 lbs. (255 kg)
CI - 476 lbs. (216 kg)
Bursting Charge APC - 8.1 lbs. (3.7 kg) Black Powder
SAPC - 34.6 lbs. (15.7 kg) Melinite
CI - 32.2 lbs. (14.61 kg) Black Powder
Projectile Length APC - about 30.0 in (76.2 cm)
SAPC - about 33.9 in (86.0 cm)
CI - about 34.2 in (86.9 cm)
Propellant Charge 149 lbs. (67.5 kg) BM13 (3/3) 3
Muzzle Velocity APC - 2,236 fps (815 mps)
Others - N/A
Working Pressure 13.7 tons/in2 (2,150 kg/cm2)
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun N/A
  • ^Some of these rounds may have been only for the railway guns.
  • ^Projectile information from "French Battleships of World War One."
  • ^Propellant was in two bags.

Range

Range with 562 lbs. (255 kg) APC
Elevation Range
14 degrees 12,800 yards (11,700 m)

Mount/Turret Data

Designation One-gun turrets
Weight N/A
Elevation N/A
Rate of Elevation N/A
Train about +150 / -150 degrees
Rate of Train N/A
Gun Recoil N/A
Loading Angle N/A

Sources

"Les Materiels de l'armée de Terre Française 1940, pt2" by Stephane Ferrard
"Naval Weapons of World War One" by Norman Friedman
"The Big Gun: Battleship Main Armament 1860-1945" by Peter Hodges
"French Battleships of World War One" by John Jordan and Philippe Caresse
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"Bibliographic Notes" article in Proceedings, April 1897, Volume 23/2/82
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Ministère de la défense
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Special help from Alex Baumans

Page History

04 March 2012 - Benchmark
16 March 2022 - Added Gun Characteristics and Ammunition data
30 August 2023 - Added Farcot Breech mechanism