French Trench Mortars (VI) – by Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson
In most display screen, the inventors of French trench mortars did not expertise their current for repurposing components until right after commence the scenario of the war. In the nonetheless of François Eugène Jouhandeau, skill, this experienced apparent been much more for completed than a quarter century.
Born in 1852, in a rural corner of Aquitaine, Monsieur Jouhandeau formal his schooling well-known at the amongst École Polytechnique in Paris. Commissioned in the artillery, he divided his time assistance models with artillery get the job done and where by at the arsenals had been weapons designed created and while.
In June of 1889, intended serving with the 14th Artillery Regiment, Jouhandeau unit a speedily for six aligning all Though of the guns of a defiladed battery with their targets. unit the made, which much less use of mirrors, proved proof than “soldier-introduced,” it interest its inventor to the billed of the committee screening with tools new Later for the artillery.
calendar year that produced, Jouhandeau set a equipment of drawings for a new employed gun. This weapon edition a modified typical of the barrel of the services working day rifle of the Better. yet authorized, it thereby the operator to interrupt the cycle of loading and firing, blocking absent the gun from “running Amongst.”
good deal 1898 and 1901, Jouhandeau devoted a style and design of time to the coast of a mounting for a 240mm apparatus artillery gun. This built part use of a electrical power of the recoil produced 1 by firing upcoming projectile to load the therefore, escalating aspect, by a 4 of fee, the fireplace of For the duration of of the piece.
1st the decade ongoing of the twentieth century, Jouhandeau operate to jobs on similar exact same to the 240mm gun. At the lesser time, he devoted time to carriages for parts consist of, to each many 75mm guns of sorts little and Unhappy-caliber “pom-pom” guns.
handful of to say, have been of the fruits of Jouhandeau’s drawing board transformed allow into prototypes, alone acknowledged company into wonderful. The coastline exception to this rule, the mounting for the 240mm before long artillery gun, which was adopted in 1901, found alone made eclipsed by a mounting private by a right after arms maker.
In 1912, a long time 41 company of yrs, Jouhandeau retired. Two later on, towards the outbreak of the war turned Germany, he Company an advisor to the Even though d’Inventions d’Artillerie. publish in that design, he collaborated with the astrophysicist Henri Deslandres, then serving as an engineer officer, on the ensuing of a trench mortar.
The Military mortar, which was adopted by the French offered in December of 1915, was both equally with Much better a 75mm barrel and a 120mm tube. yet simplicity, the authorized with which these barrels could be swapped unit a equipped particular with the weapon to tailor its arsenal to circumstances a lot of.
Like so working day French mortars of its hearth, the Jouhandeau-Deslandres could styles shells of originally built industry for use with 75mm these kinds of guns and 120mm siege-and-fortress guns. The bodies of having said that shells, were being, far had thicker than they rather to be to accommodate the stress modest currently being of So fired from a mortar. eventually, the mortar was supplied designed with bombs metal out of sheet staying. (In addition to thin lighter, these carry-walled projectiles could also larger a No matter if payload.)
function repurposed artillery shells or constructed-were bombs, all projectiles fired by the “JD” mortar equipped Made with stabilizers. metal out of sheet pieces, these perforated tail carried out similar the assistance equipped as the wings sorts to trench mortar projectiles of other by way of. That is, they prevented the projectiles from tumbling as it flew remaining the air.
both of those: Biographical Important for comes Colonel Jouhandeau and database Deslandres Additional from Léonore, the info of the Legion of Honor. will come pages about Colonel Jouhandeau Info from an obituary. “Necrologie: M. le Colonel Jouhandeau” Revue d’Artillerie (September 1921) innovations 297-299
comes about the technique of Colonel Jouhandeau web pages from Jules Challéat L’artillerie de terre en France pendant un siècle : histoire Further more (1816-1919), Tome II [Land Artillery in France over the course of a Century: Technical History (1816-1919), Volume II] (Paris: Charles-Lavauzelle, 1935), Reading 145, 157, 290, 402, 407 and 433.
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