View source for Canon de 155 mm GPF

{{short description|French-designed 155 mm cannon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox weapon
|name=Canon de 155 GPF mle.1917
|image=Canon de 155mm GPF 3.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=155 mm GPF gun in travel position at [[US Army Ordnance Museum]]
|origin=France
|type=[[Field gun]]<br/>[[Coastal artillery]]
<!-- Type selection -->
|is_ranged= yes
|is_bladed=
|is_explosive=
|is_artillery= yes
|is_vehicle=
|is_UK=
<!-- Service history -->
|service=1917–1945
|used_by=''See [[#Operators|Operators]]''
|wars=[[World War I]]<br>[[World War II]]<!-- Production history -->
|designer=Colonel [[Louis Filloux]]
|design_date=
|manufacturer=[[Renault]]<br>[[Atelier de Construction de Bourges|Atelier de Bourges]]<br>[[Atelier de Construction de Puteaux|Atelier de Puteaux]]
|production_date=
|number=
|variants=
<!-- General specifications -->
|weight=Travel: 13,000 kg (28,660 lbs)
|length=
|part_length={{convert|5.915|m|ft|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} L/38.2
|width=
|height=
|crew=
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
|cartridge=separate-loading, [[Shell (projectile)#Separate loading cased charge|cased charge]].<br>{{convert|43|kg|abbr=on}}
|caliber=155 mm (6.10 in)
|action=
|rate=2 rounds per minute
|velocity=735 m/s (2,411 ft/s)
|range=
|max_range=19,500 m (21,325 yds)
|feed=
|sights=
<!-- Artillery specifications -->
|breech=
|recoil=1.8m 10° to 1.1 28°
|carriage=[[Gun carriage#Modern gun carriages|split trail]]
|elevation=0° to +35°
|traverse=60°
<!-- Bladed weapon specifications -->
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|head_type=
|haft_type=
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|diameter=
|filling=
|filling_weight=
|detonation=
|yield=
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|armour=
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|engine=
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}}

The '''Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) modèle 1917''' was a [[WWI]]-era French-designed 155&nbsp;mm gun used by the [[French Army]] and the [[United States Army]] during the first half of the 20th century in towed and [[Self-propelled artillery|self-propelled]] mountings.

==History==
[[File:BatteryFUS55thartillery155mmGPF1918.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|US gun and crew, France 1918}}]]
[[File:155mm GPF Garden Island WA 1943 AWM 054026.jpeg|thumb|left|{{center|Coast defence gun on [[Panama mount]], [[Garden Island, Western Australia]], 1943}}]]

The gun was designed during the [[First World War]] by Colonel [[Louis Filloux]] to meet an urgent need for modern heavy artillery and became the standard heavy field gun of the French Army from 1917 until the [[Second World War]]. It was also adopted by the United States as the M1917 and a close derivative of it was made in and used by the US as the M1918 through the Second World War.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

The design adopted the split trail invented by French Colonel Deport in the early 1910s (see [[Cannone da 75/27 modello 11]]), and unlike the previous pieces, which had their carriages riveted from machined and/or pressed steel parts, utilized very large steel castings.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

The gun was also manufactured in the United States from 1917, after the US switched to metric artillery based on French patterns. The castings became the main technological difficulty, with the work done by the [[Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433009108097&view=1up&seq=191&skin=2021 | title=American guns in the war with Germany | year=1920 | publisher=E.P. Dutton & company }}</ref>

It was used by the [[United States Army]] and [[United States Marine Corps]] as their primary heavy gun as the 155&nbsp;mm Gun M1917 (French-made) or M1918 (US-made) until 1942, when it was gradually replaced by the [[155 mm Long Tom|155 mm M1A1 Long Tom]]. US Army forces in the Far East ([[USAFFE]]), including the 301st FA Regiment ([[Philippine Army]]), the 86th FA Regiment ([[Philippine Scouts]]) and also US [[United States Army Coast Artillery Corps|Coast Artillery]] units ([[91st Coast Artillery (United States)|91st]] and [[92nd Coast Artillery (United States)|92nd CA]] Regiments, Philippine Scouts), used this gun against the [[Imperial Japan|Japanese]] in the  [[Philippines campaign (1941–1942)]]. Some of the guns were originally emplaced in "[[Panama mount]]s" on [[Battle of Corregidor|Corregidor]], Caballo and Carabao islands at the entrance of [[Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays|Manila Bay]]. Some guns were dismounted and used as roving batteries and gave effective counter-battery fire. The gun was later mounted on the [[M12 Gun Motor Carriage]] and saw action in 1944–45.

During the Second World War, some US-made guns were used for coast defense of US and Allied territories, such as Australia and [[Bermuda]], typically on "Panama" mountings - circular concrete platforms with a raised centre section, with the carriage tires pivoting around the center section and the [[Gun carriage#Modern gun carriages|split trails]] spread out on rails at the edge of the platform.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last1 = Berhow | editor-first1 = Mark A. | title = American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide |edition=Third | pages = 200–231 | location = McLean, Virginia | publisher = CDSG Press | year = 2015 | isbn = 978-0-9748167-3-9}}</ref>

===''Grande Puissance Filloux'' (GPF)===
This gun was designed by Colonel L. J. F. Filloux to fill a vital French Army requirement for a heavy artillery piece. The design proved a success and became the standard heavy field gun of the French from 1917 to the end of World War I.<ref name="militaryfactory.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail-page-2.asp?armor_id=337|title=M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun / Coastal Artillery - United States|website=militaryfactory.com|access-date=15 April 2018|archive-date=13 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913092724/http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail-page-2.asp?armor_id=337|url-status=dead}}</ref> The weapon was pressed into service quickly, to remedy the shortage of such weapons in the French inventory. This weapon became the "Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux mle 1917", named by French Army as the Canon de 155mm GPF (Model of 1917). The guns were produced by [[Atelier de Construction de Puteaux|Atelier de Puteaux]] (APX), [[Renault]] and [[Atelier de Construction de Bourges|Atelier de Bourges]] (ABS).<ref name="T&T20"/>

During the First World War, the gun was eventually taken on by the American Expeditionary Force as a standard long-range artillery piece.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=475|title=Canon de 155 GPF mle 1917 Field Gun - France|website=militaryfactory.com|access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref> At the beginning of the Second World War the French guns were still in service and more than 450 guns were operational in May–June 1940.<ref name="AsU217">{{Cite book|last1=Vauvillier|first1= François|last2= Touraine|first2= Jean-Michel|last3= Jeudy|first3= Jean-Gabriel|date=1992|title=L'Automobile Sous l'Uniforme 1939–1940 |trans-title = The Automobile in Uniform 1939–1940|language=fr|publisher= Ch. Massin|isbn=2-7072-0197-9|pages=217}}</ref><ref>Crawford, Steve; Chant, Chris. ''Artillery of World War II''. p.11</ref>

=== GPF-CA ===
The GPF-CA was a variant of the GPF that used a longer chamber (''chambre allongée'' or CA). It was produced by Puteaux from 1918 to enable the firing of heavier shells.<ref name="T&T20"/>

===M1918 155 mm GPF===
The US M1918 155&nbsp;mm GPF was a copy of the French 1917 field gun and used by the US Army, Philippines and US Marines up to 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=337|title=M1918 155 GPF 155mm Field Gun / Coastal Artillery - United States|website=militaryfactory.com|access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref> The United States Army paid for and subsequently copied, the Model 1918 (M1918) gun. During the Second World War the 155&nbsp;mm guns were taken out of storage and used for coast defense on American shores and in Allied territories such as the Philippines and Australia. They were also used in the Philippines, Guadalcanal and [[North Africa campaign]] until more modern artillery was available. Ultimately, both the US Army and Marine Corps phased out their M1918 guns for the 155&nbsp;mm M1A1 "Long Tom" beginning in 1942. The M1918 was also fitted to the M12 Gun Motor Carriage as a self-propelled gun (SPG) and used from 1943 to 1945.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

=== GPF-T ===
[[File:Canon de 155 GPF-T La Lionne.png|thumb|GPF-T ''La Lionne'', 1940.]]
In 1939, Captain Touzard, French Army, proposed a new 6-wheel carriage for the GPF-T. It improved the mobility but also reduced the preparation time.<ref name="T&T20">{{cite magazine|first=Cédric|last=Mas|title=155 mm Grande Puissance Filloux : un canon quasi-centenaire|language=fr|magazine=Trucks & Tanks Magazine|date=July 2010|issue=20|pages=54–67}}</ref> The GPF-T was heavier ({{convert|13.7|t}}) but could be towed at a speed up to {{convert|36|km/h}}. Around 60 guns were in service in May 1940.<ref name="AsU217"/>

===15,5 cm K 417(f), 418(f) and 419(f)===
Many of the guns fielded by the French in 1940 were captured and used by [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] for the rest of the war. In German service, the standard GPF version was known as the '''15,5&nbsp;cm K. 418(f)''', the GPF-CA as the '''15,5&nbsp;cm K. 417(f)''' and the GPF-T as the '''15,5&nbsp;cm K. 419(f)'''. It served with heavy artillery battalions in the [[Afrika Korps]] and on coast defense duties.<ref name="T&T20"/><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gander|first1=Terry|title=Enzyklopädie deutscher Waffen : 1939-1945 : Handwaffen, Artillerie, Beutewaffen, Sonderwaffen|last2=Chamberlain|first2=Peter|publisher=Motorbuch|year=2008|isbn=978-3-613-02481-6|edition=2nd|location=Stuttgart|oclc=54425706|orig-year=1999|pages=219–220}}</ref> On D-Day in 1944, the German Army had over 50 of the 155&nbsp;mm French guns in sites on the northern French beaches. A battery of six of these guns near four empty emplacements for larger guns was the cause of the actions at [[Pointe du Hoc]] in June 1944.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.memorial-caen.fr/organiser-votre-visite/groupe/groupes-adultes/sites-touristiques-visites/pointe-hoc|title=www.memorial-caen.fr|website=memorial-caen.fr|access-date=15 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103200758/http://www.memorial-caen.fr/organiser-votre-visite/groupe/groupes-adultes/sites-touristiques-visites/pointe-hoc|archive-date=3 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="militaryfactory.com"/>

== Operators ==
*{{flag|French Third Republic|name=France}}
*{{flag|Australia|1901}}
*{{flag|Brazil}}
*{{flag|Chile}}
*{{flag|Nazi Germany}}
*{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}
**[[Royal Italian Army]]
*{{flag|Empire of Japan|name=Imperial Japan}}
*{{flag|Philippines|1936}}
*{{flag|Poland}}
**[[Polish Armed Forces in the West|Free Poland]]
*{{flag|United States|1939}}

==Surviving examples==
Many of these weapons survive as memorials. The following list is not exhaustive:<ref>Berhow, pp. 237–238</ref>

{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* One gun M1918MI (Bullard #161) on carriage M3, [[Presidio of San Francisco|Presidio Army Museum]], San Francisco, CA
* One gun M1918MI (Unk. mfr. #906) on carriage M2 (Unk. mfr. #82), [[Fort Stevens State Park]], Astoria, OR
* One gun M1917 ([[Puteaux]] #629) on carriage M1917 (Unk. mfr. #222) with limber, [[Anniston Army Depot]], AL (may be at [[Fort Sill]], OK)
* One gun M1918MI ([[Watervliet Arsenal|Watervliet]] #1073) on carriage M3 ([[Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company|Minneapolis Steel]] #unk), [[Fort Morgan (Alabama)|Fort Morgan]], Mobile Bay, AL
* One gun M1917 on carriage M3, [[Fort MacArthur]] Military Museum, [[San Pedro, Los Angeles, CA]]
* One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #810) on carriage M1918, Pulaski Park, [[Pulaski, VA]]
* One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #75) on carriage M1918, Odlin County Park, [[Lopez Island]], WA
* One gun M1917 (Unk. mfr. #1263) on carriage M1917, [[Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park]], North Aurora St., Seattle, WA
* Two guns M1918MI (Bullard #314 and #209) on carriages M1918, Memorial Park, [[Lansdale, PA]]
* One gun M1918MI (Bullard #149) on carriage M1918 with limber, 524 W. Hopocan Ave., [[Barberton, OH]] NB: As of 6/11/2025 this cannon is located by the Barberton veterans memorial to the west of Lake Anna.
* One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #218) on carriage M1918, cemetery on Rte. 40, Indianapolis, IN
* One gun M1917MI (Puteaux #unk) on carriage M3 (Unk. mfr. #473), [[Fort Sill]], OK
* One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #920) on carriage M1918, Lake St., [[Lancaster, NY]]
* One gun M1917 (Puteaux #959) on carriage M1918 (Unk. mfr. #208), [[American Legion]] Post 566, [[Akron, OH]] NB: As of 6/11/2025 this cannon has been removed to a military museum in Maryland.
* One gun M1917 on carriage M1918, Lake St., [[Baraboo, WI]]
* One gun M1917 (Puteaux #unk) on carriage M1918, [[Camp Shelby]], MS
* One gun M1918MI (Bullard #376) on carriage M1918, Cemetery on David Hwy., [[Saranac, MI]]
* One gun M1918, [[Charlotte, NC]]
* One gun M1917A1 (Puteaux #968) on carriage M1918A1 ([[Rock Island Arsenal|Rock Island]] #372) [https://www.ncparks.gov/fort-macon-state-park/home Fort Macon State Park, NC]
* One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #806), [[Cherryvale, KS]]
* Two guns M1918 (Unk. mfr. #747 and #627) on carriages M1918, [[Edgemont, SD]]
* One gun M1917 (Puteaux #819) on carriage M1918, [[Rosebud County, Montana|Rosebud County]] Courthouse, [[Forsyth, MT]]
* One gun M1918MI (Bullard #171) on carriage, [[Mechanicsville, IA]]
* One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #967) on carriage, [[Marine Corps Base Quantico]], VA
* One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #976) on carriage M1918, [[Quincy, IL]]
* One gun M1918, [[Scotland, SD]]
* One gun M1918MI, American Legion Post, Seattle, WA
* One gun M1918, St. Louis, MO
* One gun M1918MI (Puteaux #964) on carriage M1918AI ([[Rock Island Arsenal|Rock Island]] #633), [[Lockport, NY]]
* Two guns M1918, Fort Walla Walla, Barrel No. 740, Barrel No. 602 [[Walla Walla, WA]]
* One gun M1918MI, [[Grand Rapids, WI]]
* One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #943) on carriage M1918, [[Milligan, NE]]
* One gun M1918 on carriage M1918, [[Mount Samat National Shrine|Shrine of Valor]] memorial, [[Bataan]], Philippines
* One GPF gun on carriage at [[Fort de la Pompelle]] near [[Reims]], France
* One GPF gun on carriage at [[Battery Moltke]], [[Jersey]], [[Channel Islands]]
* One gun (ex-US) at [[Fort Copacabana]], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
{{div col end}}* one gun in marks Mississippi ( # 367 ) 1918-A1 Dodge Brothers

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Canon de 155mm GPF 1.jpg
File:Canon de 155mm GPF 2.jpg
File:155 GPF.jpg|At [[Fort de la Pompelle]] near [[Reims]], France
File:Gun at Battery Moltke, Les Landes, Jersey 02.JPG|At [[Battery Moltke]], [[Jersey]], [[Channel Islands]]
File:A WW II US Howitzer 155 mm Cannon - panoramio.jpg
File:US M1918 155 mm GPF.jpg|alt=Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) on display at the North 12th Street (East) gate of the Illinois Veterans Home complex in Quincy, IL.|Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) on display at the North 12th Street (East) gate of the Illinois Veterans Home complex in Quincy, IL.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[De Bange 155 mm cannon]]
* [[List of field guns]]
* [[United States home front during World War I]]

===Weapons of comparable role, performance and era===
* [[BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX|BL 6 inch gun Mk XIX]] British equivalent
* [[15 cm Kanone 16]] German equivalent

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* van der Vat, Dan; Eisenhower, John S. D. ''D-Day: The Greatest Invasion—A People's History''. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, {{ISBN|1-58234-314-4}}.
* Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. ''Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939–1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1979 {{ISBN|0-385-15090-3}}
* {{cite book | last = Touzin | first = Pierre |author2=Vauvillier, François | date = 2006 | title = Les Matériels de l'Armée Française: Les canons de la victoire, 1914–1918. Tome 1: L'Artillerie de Campagne | publisher = Histoire et Collections | location = Paris | isbn = 2-35250-022-2 }}
* [https://archive.org/details/handbookofartill00unitrich 155-Millimeter Gun Materiel, Model of 1918 (Filloux)] ''Handbook of artillery: including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920)'' US Army Ordnance Dept, May 1920. Pages 229–245.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Canon de 155 mm GPF}}
* Cutler, Frederick Morse. [https://archive.org/details/55thartillerycac00cutlrich ''The 55th artillery (C.A.C.) in the American expeditionary forces, France, 1918'' (1920)]
* [http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/Canons/english_CanonsIndex_Nation.html List and pictures of WW1 surviving 155 mm GPF guns]
* [https://server16040.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p4013coll9&CISOPTR=889&CISOBOX=1&REC=11 Handbook of the 155 mm Filloux gun materiel]
* [http://www.fortwiki.com/ FortWiki.com, lists all US and Canadian forts]
* [http://cdsg.org/fort-and-battery-list/ Complete list of US forts and batteries at the Coast Defense Study Group]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110202180541/http://www.eucmh.com/ 588th Field Artillery Battalion (155) European Tour, 1944-1945]

{{WWIFrenchGuns}}
{{WWIIFrenchGuns}}
{{Artillery of France}}
{{WWIUSGuns}}
{{WWIIUSGuns}}

[[Category:155 mm artillery]]
[[Category:Coastal artillery]]
[[Category:Weapons of the Philippine Army]]
[[Category:World War I artillery of the United States]]
[[Category:World War I field artillery of France]]
[[Category:World War I guns]]
[[Category:World War II artillery of Germany]]
[[Category:World War II artillery of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II field artillery]]
[[Category:World War II artillery of France]]