Cannone da 381/40 AVS

Cannone da 381/40 AVS

Company type	Railway artillery
Industry	Military artillery
Founded	1917
Headquarters	Italy
Products	Railway artillery guns

The Cannone da 381/40 AVS was a railway artillery piece deployed by Italy during World War I.

History

Prior to the outbreak of the First World War, most nations possessed heavy field artillery, but they lacked sufficient quantities and had not anticipated the critical role such weapons would play once the Italian Front became entrenched in static warfare. At that time, aircraft were incapable of carrying large bombs, so artillery was primarily responsible for delivering heavy firepower. Two primary sources provided heavy guns suitable for adaptation to field use: surplus coastal defense artillery and naval guns.

Artillery engineers faced a dilemma: although large naval guns were widely available, equivalent land-based heavy weapons were rare due to their excessive weight, complexity, and limited mobility. Large-caliber field artillery often required disassembly into smaller loads manageable by horse teams or the limited traction engines of the era, followed by reassembly at the firing location. While designing new guns could mitigate the challenges of transport and setup, it did not solve the problem of converting existing heavy weapons for greater mobility. Railways emerged as the optimal solution, effectively addressing issues related to weight, maneuverability, and reducing deployment time.

Design

The Cannone da 381/40 AVS originated from four Cannone da 381/40 naval artillery pieces initially intended for the Francesco Caracciolo-class dreadnoughts of the Regia Marina. However, these guns became surplus after the cancellation of that battleship class. For the Francesco Caracciolo project, three distinct guns were commissioned for assessment from Schneider-Ansaldo, Armstrong-Pozzuoli, and Vickers-Terni. Despite differences in their construction methods, all three exhibited nearly identical ballistic characteristics. The Armstrong-Pozzuoli and Vickers-Terni guns were constructed using the wire-wound technique, whereas Schneider-Ansaldo produced monobloc guns using monobloc construction. The wire-wound models weighed approximately 85 t (84 LT), while the monobloc variants were lighter at around 64 t (63 LT). Ultimately, the Schneider-Ansaldo monobloc guns were selected for conversion into railway artillery. These weapons featured interrupted screw breech mechanisms and utilized separate loading bagged charges alongside projectiles. The gun fired high-explosive shells weighing between 730 and 876 kg (1,609 and 1,931 lb) to maximum ranges of approximately 33.6 and 30 km (20.9 and 18.6 mi) respectively. Additionally, it could launch an armor-piercing shell weighing 884.5 kg (1,950 lb) up to 30 km (19 mi).<ref> The ammunition was supplied from an attached ammo wagon equipped with an elevated trough situated between the gun carriages.

The carriage design featured a substantial rectangular steel base supported by three articulated rail bogies: two four-axle bogies at the front and a single six-axle bogie at the rear, resembling contemporary French Schneider gun carriages. This uneven axle arrangement was uncommon but was adopted due to the barrel being trunnioned far towards the rear; a large counterweight was added at the breech end to offset the forward weight bias or preponderance of the barrel over the carriage. The axle count adhered to European railway regulations limiting axle loads to 17 tonnes each. Because of this forward-heavy configuration, elevation was restricted to a maximum of +25°. The recoil system combined a cradle recoil arrangement with four hydraulic buffers positioned above and two pneumatic recuperators below the barrel, complemented by a sliding recoil system for the entire carriage. The carriage's traverse was limited to ±1° controlled by the rear bogie; therefore, aiming was achieved by moving the entire gun along curved track sections. Before firing, a reinforced section of track bed—strengthened with wood and iron beams—was prepared to bear the gun's weight. Six wooden beams beneath the carriage center were lowered onto the rails, and then jacks raised the carriage frame to transfer its load off the bogies and secure it firmly. Upon firing, the entire carriage recoiled several feet until friction between the beams and rails halted its movement. Afterwards, it was lowered back onto its axles and repositioned either by a shunting locomotive pushing it forward or by a windlass mounted at the front pulling it back into place. This straightforward yet effective recoil management mechanism became characteristic of Schneider's railway artillery during later stages of the war and is referred to as the Glissement system.

World War One

The quartet of Cannone da 381/40 AVS units were commissioned at the start of 1917 and saw their initial deployment during the Battle of Caporetto. Following the conclusion of the war, these four artillery pieces were stored in La Spezia and remained inactive throughout World War II.

Gallery

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  Diagram illustrating the carriage components.
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  Wagon designated for ammunition transport.
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  Side view of the 381/40 AVS positioned at its lowest elevation.
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  Close-up of the breech featuring the counterweight.
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  Ammunition trough connecting the gun and its supply wagon.
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  Ammunition with a caliber of 381 mm.