194mm S:t Chamond SP Gun

Self-propelled Artillery was no invention of World War 2. The need for this kind of artillery was realised pretty soon during WW1, not least because of all the trouble ordinary Field Artillery of different calibres experienced when trying to follow attacking infantry or even just to regroup on the devastated battlegrounds in the West. The British consequently built their Gun Carrier Mk. 1, which was - ironically - probably never used in that role. (It was really a Gun CARRIER: it was primarily intended to ship the gun - carriage, wheels and all - to a designated spot, where it was lifted off, assembled and put into use as a ordinary artillery piece.) It was actually only the French Army that used proper self-propelled guns. The French designed and built two types of SP guns: the Schneider and the S:t Chamond. Both were designed to use their guns on-board, so to speak - as one would expect from a SP gun.

The Schneider sported a 220mm mle 1917 gun, and moved about on it's own accord: around a dozen were built before the end of the war, and they were employed, for instance, during the battles of the S:t Mihiel salient. The S:t Chamond design came in two variants: either carrying a 280mm Howitzer, or a 194mm GPF Cannon.

A peculiarity with the S:t Chamond, was that the vehicle with the gun could not move about on it's own! The design was original - and may one say typically French in that. The Gun vehicle had two electric motors, one for each track, but the electricity for the motors came from a tracked load carrier - carrying the ammo - that was linked up to the SP gun whenever it had to move.

When moving, the gun was retracted and pulled back, just to make it more easy to maneuver. When firing, a pair of doors in the middle of the vehicle was opened, allowing for the gun tubes recoil down. The gun was first rate: it had a muzzle velocity of some 725 m/sec, and could throw a 80kg shell some 20,8km. It could fire 2-4 shots per minute, and up to 100 shots per hour. It was heavy: weighed some 32,6tons, and thus had a slow speed: 8km/h road speed max, 3km/h off-road speed.

Some 50 SP Guns were produced, but it is unsure how many of these that saw action during WW1. They stayed in service, and were used again in WW2. Only a few were completed and used before the end of the war, but stayed in service, and saw action again in 1940. The German Army took some as booty, and employed them on the Eastern Front, for instance on the Leningrad front. Some were taken over by the Italians, and used by them.

Click on the thumbnails below, to see plans of both the SP gun, and the tracked load carrier:

For more info (including some excellent plans), see Tankette 4/35, 5/35, and Steel Masters no.41 octobre-novembre 2000.
 

How to Model this Gun

Retrokits makes an excellent 1/72 scale kit, that includes the Ammo Vehicle. Convoy makes a fine 1/76 scale resin kit of this artillery piece (and of the ammo carrier).