Description

Secondary weapons on a few pre-dreadnoughts and rearmed some older ships. 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 differed in constructional details but were generally the same.

Actual bore size was 27.44 cm (10.80 inches).

Gun Characteristics

Designation 274 mm/40 (10.4") Model 1893/1896
Ship Class Used On Henri IV, Jaureguiberry and D'Entrecasteaux
Rearmed Caïman, Indomptable and Requin
Date Of Design 1893
Date In Service 1898
Gun Weight 83,070 lbs. + 1,539 lbs. BM (37,680 kg + 698 kg)
Gun Length oa 503.9 in (12.800 m)
Bore Length 485.7 in (12.336 m)
Rifling Length N/A
Grooves N/A
Lands N/A
Twist N/A
Chamber Volume 8,444 in3 (138.414 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 80 rounds
  • ^
    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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Ministère de la défense
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Special help from Alex Baumans

Page History

22 July 2007 - Benchmark
03 March 2012 - Updated to latest template
16 March 2022 - Additional Gun Characteristics data