Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond

Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond was a French heavy artillery piece designed and produced during the First World War. A number were still on hand during the Second World War in French, Italian and German service.

History
As the First World War settled into Trench Warfare on the Western Front the light field guns that the combatants went to war with were beginning to show their limitations when facing an enemy who was now dug into prepared positions. Indirect fire, interdiction and counter-battery fire emphasized the importance of long range heavy artillery.

In order to address the French Army's lack of long range heavy artillery a number of surplus Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1893 and Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1910 Naval Guns were converted to land use by the French company St Chamond. This was accomplished by boring the barrels out to 145 mm and placing them on simple single-axle box trail carriages. The result of this conversion was known as the Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond or L 16 St Ch for short.

As barrels became worn they were sent back to the manufacturer to be re-bored to use standard 155 mm ammunition and re-designated as the Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond. These new guns continued to use the same carriages as the 145 mm guns and had similar performance with a heavier 43 kg projectile. After the First World War an unknown quantity were sold to Italy where they were known as the Cannone da 155/45 PB. The 152 guns remaining in french service were placed in static positions in the coastal artillery role. The Germans gave French guns the designation 15.5 cm K 420(f), while Italian guns were given the designation 15.5 cm Kanone 420(i).