| Canon de 194 GPF | |
|---|---|
 Saint Chamond 194mm GPFaffut-chenille at the US Army Artillery Museum at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. | |
| Type | Self-propelled artillery |
| Place of origin |  France |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1920 – 1945 |
| Used by | France Nazi Germany Italy |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Louis Filloux Émile Rimailho [fr] |
| Designed | 1918 |
| Manufacturer | Saint-Chamond Puteaux |
| Developed from | Canon de 155 mm GPF |
| Produced | 1918-1919 |
| No. built | 50 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 29,600 kg (65,300 lb)[1][2] |
| Length | 7.775 m (25 ft 6 in)[1] |
| Barrel length | 6.57 m (21 ft 7 in) L/42.2[2] |
| Width | 2.54 m (8 ft 4 in)[1] |
| Shell weight | 84.88 kg (200 lb) |
| Caliber | 194 mm (7.63 in) |
| Breech | Interrupted Screw |
| Recoil | Hydro-pneumatic |
| Carriage | Track |
| Elevation | 0° to 40°[1] |
| Traverse | 55°[2] |
| Rate of fire | 1 round per minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 640 m/s (2,100 ft/s)[2] 725 m/s (2,380 ft/s)[1](from 1921) |
| Maximum firing range | 18,300 m (20,000 yd)[2] 20,800 m (22,700 yd)[1](from 1921) |
| Engine | Panhard SUK4 M2 120 hp (89 kW) |
| Drive | Petrol-electric drive Crochat-Collardeau |
| Maximum speed | 8-10 km/h (5-6 mp/h) |
TheCanon de 194 GPF (Grande Puissance Filloux - "High-Power" Filloux) - was the first Frenchtrackedself-propelled gun (SPG). Designed at the end ofWorld War I, it was a pioneering weapon with many modern features.
The vehicle was designed by colonelÉmile Rimailho [fr], deputy chief executive officer of thecompagnie des forges et aciéries de la marine (Saint-Chamond).[3] The 194 mm gun was a derivative of the155 mm GPF[4][2] and was designed atAtelier de Construction de Puteaux byLouis Filloux.[1] The 194mm GPF gun was intended to be deployed as a heavy field gun but with the end of the war the field gun option was dropped and only half of the 200 barrels ordered were completed for use in the Saint-Chamond vehicle. A prototype of the Saint-Chamond vehicle was manufactured with a 220 mm Saint-Chamond howitzer and although this proved to be a useful weapon in trials around Verdun in 1918 the 220mm Saint-Chamond howitzer was not adopted by the French Army and the 194 mm GPF gun chosen along with the 280mm Schneider howitzer since tracked self-propelled guns were heavy and expensive vehicles and only the more powerful guns were to be used. Saint-Chamond also designed theMortier 280 mm TR de Schneider sur affût-chenilles St Chamond. Both SPGs used the same two tracked vehicles,avant-train (lead vehicle) andaffut-chenille (gun chassis).[5][4] The lead vehicle carried ammunition and a 120 horsepower (89 kW)Panhard[1][6] SUK4 M2[7][better source needed] electrical generator. Both vehicles were powered by twoelectric motors,[8] energy being sent to theaffut by a flexible electric cable. The gun barrel was displaced at the rear of the chassis when the vehicle had to move.[9] Compared to a contemporary British vehicle, theGun Carrier Mark I which was a tracked vehicle upon which a field gun was sat, theCanon de 194 was much more advanced; it was driven by only one person,[citation needed] had hydraulic brakes and the gun had automatically adjusting recoil mechanisms[1] and pneumaticrecuperators.[citation needed]
Production began in April 1918. Two days before the armistice, the vehicle, without its Puteaux gun, was tested at Saint-Chamont plant.[1] By June 1919, Saint-Chamond was still waiting for the delivery of the oscillating mass,[10] a key component manufactured by Puteaux.[11]
During the interwar, they served in an artillery regiment inValence, alongside the 280 mm SPGs.[9]
36 were still in service at the outbreak ofWorld War II[12] and some were captured by the invading German forces.[9] Surviving vehicles were pressed intoWehrmacht service as the19.4 cmKanone 485(f)Selbstfahrlafette.[13][better source needed] At least three of them were used by the Germans in Russia in about 1942.[8] Two were used by the Italians ascoastal guns nearRome under the designationCannone da 194/32.[14]
Germans also reused some 194mm barrels on FrenchMortier G de 270 Mle 1889 coastal defence mortar mountings.[15] A small number of19,4 cmKanone 485(f) were deployed for coastal defense inDenmark.[13][better source needed]
The only surviving example can be found at the U.S. Army Artillery Museum atFort Sill, OK.