330mm/50 Modèle 1931 gun

330mm/50 Modèle 1931
330mm/50 Modèle 1931
	Main guns of the Dunkerque
Type	Naval gun
Place of origin	France
Service history
Used by	France
Wars	Second World War
Specifications
Shell	separate charges and shell
Calibre	330-millimetre (13 in)
Rate of fire	1.5 - 2 rounds per minute
Maximum firing range	41.700 m with SAP, 40.600 m with HE

The 330mm/50 Modèle 1931 gun was a heavy naval gun of the French Navy.

The built-up gun was carried by the Dunkerque-class fast battleships, in quadruple turrets inspired by those intended for the Normandie class. They had one of the longest ranges, while firing quite powerful projectiles: APC – 560 kg (1,230 lb) and HE – 552 kg (1,217 lb). The range was over 40 km in both cases; the trajectory was flat. Dunkerque's guns were affected by inaccuracy caused by their quadruple mounts (too close together), but could engage German battleships of the Scharnhorst class with enough power to pierce their armour: at 0 metres, the shell could pierce 713 mm (28.1 in), at 23 km (14 mi) penetration capability was 342 mm (13.5 in) and 292 mm (11.5 in) at 27.5 km (17.1 mi). Theoretically, it could pierce Scharnhorst's 320 mm belt at over 20 km. Given the flat trajectory, the deck perforation was less impressive, but still 105 mm at 23 km and 110 mm at 27.5 km. Therefore, the armour-piercing capability was very near that of the best battleship guns, at least at medium to short range. The armour-piercing capability of Scharnhorst's guns varied from 604 to 205 mm in the same range (0-27.5 km), so they were weaker weapons. However, Dunkerque had a weaker armour belt, so the deadly range of the German battleships was not inferior. The battleship Strasbourg had thicker armour (283 vs. 241 mm) and this reduced the useful range to only about 18 km. The deck perforation was always in favour of the 330 mm gun, the 280 mm gun being unable to pierce more than 76 mm at 27.5 km.

The 330 mm guns had many faults. They were complex and moved with a weak system for such 1,500 t (1,500 long tons; 1,700 short tons) turrets (roughly the weight of an Italian 381 mm triple turret). They had two 100 hp engines (but only one was typically used). Despite the great range, elevation was only 35° (therefore the gun had a very high muzzle velocity of 870 m/s). The guns were coupled in two twin arrangement, sleeved in pairs. The turrets were heavily protected, and internally had a 25–40 mm bulkhead to separate the two twin mounts. This was important at Mers-El-Kébir, where a 381 mm shell hit Dunkerque in one of her turrets: the projectile penetrated the roof and killed everyone in the semi-turret, but the other pair of guns continued to operate.

The later 380mm/45 Modèle 1935 gun essentially enlarged the design.

Shell on display at the Army Museum at Les Invalides.

External links

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French naval weapons of the Second World War
Battleship main armament	305 mm/45 Modèle 1906 330 mm/50 Modèle 1931 340 mm/45 Modèle 1912 380 mm/45 Modèle 1935
Cruiser main armament	138 mm/40 Modèle 1923 152 mm/55 Modèle 1930 155 mm/50 Modèle 1920 203 mm/50 Modèle 1924 203 mm/55 Modèle 1931
Destroyer and Aviso main armament	65 mm Modèle 1891 90 mm/50 Modèle 1926 100 mm/45 Modèle 1891 100 mm/45 Modèle 1933 130 mm/40 Modèle 1919 130 mm/40 Modèle 1924 130 mm/45 Modèle 1935 138 mm/45 Modèle 1893 138 mm/40 Modèle 1927 138 mm/55 Modèle 1910 138 mm/50 Modèle 1929
Secondary armament	57 mm/40 Modèle 1885 90 mm/50 Modèle 1926 100 mm/45 Modèle 1930 100 mm/55 Modèle 1945 130 mm/45 Modèle 1932 138 mm/55 Modèle 1910 152 mm/55 Modèle 1930
Submarine guns	75 mm/35 Modèle 1924 75 mm/35 Modèle 1927 100 mm/45 Modèle 1917 100 mm/45 Modèle 1925 100 mm/34 Modèle 1936 203 mm/50 Modèle 1924
Anti-aircraft weapons	7.5 mm/80 Modèle 1931 8 mm/50 Modèle 1914 13.2 mm/76 Modèle 1929 25 mm/60 Modèle 1938 25 mm/60 Modèle 1940 37 mm/50 Modèle 1925 37 mm/70 Modèle 1935 57 mm/40 Modèle 1902 75 mm/35 Modèle 1924 75 mm/35 Modèle 1927 90 mm/50 Modèle 1926 100 mm/34 Modèle 1933
Torpedoes	400 mm Modèle 1926V 550 mm Modèle 1919D 550 mm Modèle 1923DT 550 mm Modèle 1924M 550 mm Modèle 1924V