203 mm/50 model 1924 (203 mm)

Two types of the 203 mm/50 model 1924 (203 mm) turrets

Description

The 203 mm/50 Modèle 1924 gun was developed in the 1920s for the French Navy's Duquesne-class cruisers, aligning with the Washington Naval Treaty limitations of the era. Initially deployed on the Duquesne and Suffren classes, the gun proved to be a consistent choice for French Treaty cruisers up to the Algérie, which utilised the Modèle 1931 variant. Plans were made to equip the Saint Louis class heavy cruisers with this gun in 1939, but the onset of the Second World War led to the cancellation of the project before design work was finalised. Throughout the Second World War, the 203 mm/50 was the primary gun of the French heavy cruisers.

French 203 mm/50 model 1924 was used by the French heavy cruisers during the Second World War. It came equipped with SAP and HE shells, with the latter having a very large explosive filler compared to the SAP shell but poor penetration, while the former having just slightly larger explosive filler than SAP but offering a contact fuse, which might be preferable under some circumstances. Lacking a dedicated AP shell, the gun would struggle to deal with heavily armoured cruisers.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Colbert
• Dupleix

General info

The 203 mm (or 8 inch) gun offers excellent damage against all soft targets, while firing rounds every 13 (base) to 10 seconds (top) from the first-stage rack, which allows it to deal with frigates, destroyers, or other manoeuvrable targets. With a horizontal targeting speed of 6 °/s, the turrets can easily keep up with the turn rate of the vessel itself.

Available ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		1,000 m	2,500 m	5,000 m	7,500 m	10,000 m	15,000 m
OEA Mle 1927 HE	HE	61	61	61	61	61	61
OPF Mle 1927 SAPBC	SAPBC	151	140	123	109	97	79

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (s)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
OEA Mle 1927 HE	HE	850	123.82	0	0.1	9.13	79°	80°	81°
OPF Mle 1927 SAPBC	SAPBC	850	123.1	0.03	9	8.88	48°	63°	71°

Comparison with analogues

Compared to its peers, the gun has an average muzzle velocity, average rate of fire, and above average horizontal targetting speed. Its biggest weakness is the lack of the dedicated AP shells, which makes the gun unsuitable to deal with any heavily armoured target, even some of the heavy cruisers, like the Admiral Hipper-class. Explosive filler of the HE shells is also below average. Where the gun shines, however, are its SAP shells. Having by far the largest explosive filler among its peers, it's able to deal an outstanding amount of damage. This is done by having a lower penetration than most of the other comparable shells, but it's still able to penetrate the majority of the light cruisers

HE

Cannon		Sample Ship	Ammo	Calibre (mm)	Muzzle Velocity (m/s)	Sustained rate of fire (rounds/min)	Targeting speed (°/s)		TNT Equivalent (kg)	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
							Horizontal	Vertical		5,000 m	10,000 m
	203 mm/50 model 1924	Colbert	HE	203	850	5	6	10	9.13	61	61
	8 inch/55 Mark 9 (203 mm)	USS Northampton	HE	203	853	3.5	3.6	8	9.49	61	61
	8 inch/55 Mark 16 (203 mm)	USS Newport News	HE	203	823	10	4.2	7	9.49	61	61
	20.3 cm/60 SK C/34	Admiral Hipper	HE	203	925	5	6.8	6.8	8.88	61	61
	180 mm/57 B-1-P	Kirov	HE	180	920	5.5	6.8	8.5	7.9	60	60
	8 inch/50 Mark VIII (203 mm)	HMS Kent	HE	203	855	5	5.1	4.7	10	62	62
	20 cm/50 3rd year type No.2	IJN Furutaka	HE	203	835	5	3.4	5.1	8.57	61	61
	203 mm/53 Ansaldo mod.1927	RN Zara	HE	203	900	3.8	5	5	7.5	58	58

SAP / AP

Cannon		Sample Ship	Ammo	Calibre (mm)	Muzzle Velocity (m/s)	Sustained rate of fire (rounds/min)	Targeting speed (°/s)		TNT Equivalent (kg)	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
							Horizontal	Vertical		5,000 m	10,000 m
	203 mm/50 model 1924	Colbert	SAPBC	203	850	5	6	10	8.88	123	97
	8 inch/55 Mark 9 (203 mm)	USS Northampton	SP Common	203	853	3.5	3.6	8	4.61	99	68
	8 inch/55 Mark 9 (203 mm)	USS Northampton	APCBC	203	853	3.5	3.6	8	1.62	277	190
	8 inch/55 Mark 16 (203 mm)	USS Newport News	SP Common	203	823	10	4.2	7	4.61	95	66
	8 inch/55 Mark 16 (203 mm)	USS Newport News	APCBC	203	762	10	4.2	7	2.21	289	207
	20.3 cm/60 SK C/34	Admiral Hipper	SAPBC	203	925	5	6.8	6.8	5.35	182	130
	20.3 cm/60 SK C/34	Admiral Hipper	APCBC	203	925	5	6.8	6.8	2.65	316	226
	180 mm/57 B-1-P	Kirov	SAPCBC	180	920	5.5	6.8	8.5	7	161	120
	180 mm/57 B-1-P	Kirov	APCBC	180	920	5.5	6.8	8.5	2.49	331	246
	8 inch/50 Mark VIII (203 mm)	HMS Kent	SAPCBC	203	855	5	5.1	4.7	5.2	209	153
	20 cm/50 3rd year type No.2	IJN Furutaka	APHEBC	203	835	5	3.4	5.1	3.25	263	182
	203 mm/53 Ansaldo mod.1927	RN Zara	APHEBC	203	900	3.8	5	5	3.16	247	148

Usage in battles

The gun is used similarly to other 203 mm cruiser guns. It can effectively engage cruisers and lighter vessels, but will have to rely on taking down crews from the exposed positions and fires to deal any damage against battleships and battlecruisers. Destroyers are particularly attractive targets for the gun, as a single shell can take down two separate main gun turrets or torpedo launchers.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Exceptionally large explosive filler of the SAP shells
• Above average horizontal targetting speed

Cons:

• Lack of dedicated AP or HE-TF shells
• Below average explosive filler in the HE shells

History

The French 203 mm/50 Modèle 1924 gun was designed in the early 1920s for the Duquesne-class cruisers. Made to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty limitations, it featured a simple construction, with a breech block that opened upwards. Initially, it fired 123.1 kg armour-piercing shells and 123.8 kg high-explosive shells. Later developments in the late 1920s introduced lighter shells, and just before the Second World War, the significantly heavier armour-piercing capped Opf(K) RC Mle 1936 was developed. To aid in identifying shell splashes during formation firing, in March 1939 a special dye was added that coloured the splashes. Duquesne used red, Tourville yellow, and Suffren used green dye.

The Modèle 1924 gun was mounted in twin turrets, each housing guns in separate cradles with individual toothed elevating arcs, allowing for independent or coupled elevation for salvo firing. The turrets allowed the guns to elevate up to +45 degrees and depress to -5 degrees, with loading conducted between +10 degrees and -5 degrees using catapult rammers. The shell rooms were located below the magazines, except for some forward magazine stowage on the same deck level as the shells. Ammunition handling involved dredger hoists and upper cage hoists, with shells transferred via swinging arms that locked to the guns for loading. While the designed firing cycle was 5–6 rounds per minute, the practical rate was somewhat less. In the mid-1930s, remote power control was added for training purposes.

This gun saw service on the Duquesne and Suffren classes, with the submarine cruiser Surcouf using the Modèle 1929 and the cruiser Algérie employing the Modèle 1931 variant. The Algérie's guns, though similar internally to the Modèle 1924, had construction differences such as an A tube and jacket accommodating a liner with an internal diameter of 324 mm. Plans were made to equip the Saint Louis class heavy cruisers, designed in 1939, with the gun, but the outbreak of the Second World War led to the project's cancellation before design work could be completed.

Shells

• Initial shells, fired with 53 kg of BM13 propellant
  • OPf Mle 1927 - Mass: 123.1 kg, burst charge: 8.07 kg Mélinite, muzzle velocity: 850 m/s, maximum range of 31,400 meters
  • OEA Mle 1927 - Mass: 123.82 kg, muzzle velocity: 850 m/s, maximum range of 30,000 meters
• Second series of shells, lighter designs introduced in 1920s
  • OPf Mle 19?? - Mass: 119.07 kg
  • OEA Mle 19?? - Mass: 119.72 kg
• A heavier Armour Piercing Capped shell introduced in 1936, fired with 47 kg of BM13 propellant
  • OPf Mle 1936 aka Opf(K) RC Mle 1936 - Mass: 134 kg, burst charge: 8.3 kg of Mn.F.Dn (Mélinite fondue dinitronaphtaline - roughly equivalent to British Shellite which has x0.94 multiplier for TNT equivalent, giving it a TNT equivalent of 7.8 kg TNT) muzzle velocity: 850 m/s

OPf stands for Obus de Perforation (Armour-Piercing Shell), OEA stands for Obus Explosif en Acier (High-Explosive Steel Shell).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 gun
• [NavWeaps] France 203 mm/50 (8") Model 1924
• Naval Weapons of World War Two by John Campbell, page 292
• French Cruisers 1922-1956 by John Jordan & Jean Moulin, pages 48-49, 162-163
• Warship 2005 - Duquesne and Tourville: The First French Treaty Cruisers by John Jordan, page 33 (largely the same facts as in the French Cruisers 1922-1956)

France naval cannons
37 mm	37 mm/50 model 1925 · 37 mm/50 model 1933
47 mm	3 pdr QF Hotchkiss
57 mm	57 mm/60 ACAD Mle 1951
75 mm	75 mm/50 Canet model 1891 · 75 mm/50 model 1922
90 mm	90 mm/50 model 1926
130 mm	130 mm/40 model 1919
138.6 mm	138.6 mm/55 model 1910 · 138.6 mm/40 model 1927 · 138.6 mm/50 model 1929 · 138.6 mm/50 model 1934 R1938
152 mm	152 mm/55 model 1930
155 mm	155 mm/50 model 1920
203 mm	203 mm/50 model 1924
305 mm	305 mm/45 model 1906-10
340 mm	340 mm/45 model 1912
	Foreign:
20 mm	2 cm/65 C/38 (Germany) · 2 cm/65 Flakvierling 38 (Germany) · 20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II (USA/Britain)
40 mm	2pdr QF Mk.IIc (Britain) · 2pdr QF Mk.VIII (Britain) · Bofors L/60 Mark 2 (USA) · Bofors L/60 Mark 3 (USA)
87.6 mm	Ordnance QF 25pdr (87.6 mm) (Britain)
102 mm	4 in QF Mark V (Britain) · 4 inch/45 Mark XVI (Britain)
105 mm	SK C/33 AA (Germany)
128 mm	12.8 cm/45 SK C/34 (Germany)
150 mm	15 cm/48 KC/36 (Germany)