152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911 (152 mm)

Stern port battery of 152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911 on RN Andrea Doria

Description

152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911 is an Italian casemate secondary gun. Typically, for a gun designed before the First World War it struggles with rate of fire, muzzle velocity and targeting speed. But it holds a really good explosive filler. Historically, the gun was adopted from France and lacked any significant successes in combat.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• RN Andrea Doria
• RN Francesco Caracciolo

General info

Typically, for dreadnoughts of the era, the 152 mm/45 is a casemate gun, with an extremely limited angles of fire, in particular vertical guidance, which tops at 16°. This is due to the fact that the designers expected to fight battles at a much closer ranges than during the World War Two, as the primitive fire directors struggled with distant targets. Still, in game the gun can reach targets at over 12 kilometers range, making it suitable for any typical engagement. The large explosive filler of the shells gives it significant burst damage, but the low rate of fire makes it possible to fire only two broadsides while the main guns are reloading.

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
HE Dirompente	HE	44	44	44	44	44	44
APHE Perforante	APHE	199	164	120	90	70	55
APHE Perforante da 152/45-50	APHE	198	164	120	90	69	55

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%
HE Dirompente	HE	830	46.3	0	0.1	5.4	79°	80°	81°
APHE Perforante	APHE	830	47.1	0.03	7	2.62	47°	60°	65°
APHE Perforante da 152/45-50	APHE	830	47	0.03	7	3.1	47°	60°	65°

Comparison with analogues

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
	152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911	RN Andrea Doria	HE	152	830	3.5	2	3	5.4	44	44
	150 mm/45 SK L/45	SMS Kaiser	HE	150	835	7	4.2	4.2	1.6	21	21
	130 mm/50 pattern 1913	Imperatritsa Mariya	HE	130	823	8	3.4	3.4	3.9	37	37
	6-inch/45 Type 41	IJN Settsu	HE	152	825	5	4.2	4.2	5.28	43	43
	138.6 mm/55 model 1910 (138.6 mm)	Paris	HE	138.6	840	6	4.2	4.2	3.1	36	36

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
	152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911	RN Andrea Doria	AP	152	830	3.5	2	3	2.62	120	70
	152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911	RN Andrea Doria	AP da 152/45-50	152	830	3.5	2	3	3.1	120	69
	120 mm/50 Armstrong model 1909	RN Dante Alighieri	SAP	120	850	6	7.7	6.4	2.2	61	31
	5-inch/50 Mk.5	USS North Dakota	SAP	127	914	7	8.5	10	0.78	70	42
	5-inch/50 Mk.5	USS North Dakota	AP	127	914	7	8.5	10	0.77	116	69
	150 mm/45 SK L/45	SMS Kaiser	SAP	150	835	7	4.2	4.2	1.05	61	37
	150 mm/45 SK L/45	SMS Kaiser	AP	150	835	7	4.2	4.2	0.99	153	93
	130 mm/50 pattern 1913	Imperatritsa Mariya	SAP	130	823	8	3.4	3.4	1.67	115	71
	6-inch/45 Type 41	IJN Settsu	AP	152	825	5	4.2	4.2	1.88	123	74
	138.6 mm/55 model 1910	Paris	SAP Mle 1910	138.6	830	6	4.2	4.2	2.93	34	34
	138.6 mm/55 model 1910	Paris	SAP Mle 1921	138.6	790	6	4.2	4.2	2.93	47	34

Usage in battles

For a secondary casemate gun, the 152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911 is a relatively good performer. While the rate of fire leaves a lot to be desired, one can fire a two full broadsides while the main guns are reloading, allowing one to efficiently deal with lighter targets, such as the destroyers or cruisers. It's ill-advised to use these guns against most of the coastal vessels - while historically this was one of the primary reasons for their existence, in reality it's best to leave these targets for the anti-air guns that have a much better rate of fire.

RN Andrea Doria firing broadside with its secondaries

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent explosive filler
• Very good penetration of the AP shells

Cons:

• Low rate of fire
• Poor targeting speed
• Low muzzle velocity

History

The Dreadnought arms race of the early 20th century led Italy on staying competitive. When designing their ships, they not only looked east to Austria-Hungary but also west to France as, despite nominal alliances, both nations were regional powers in the Mediterranean where the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) operated. The Andrea Doria-class dreadnoughts, ordered in response to the French Bretagne class, were more or less similar in design to the earlier Conte di Cavour-class dreadnoughts, but one of the significant changes of the design was upgrading the secondary armament to the 152 mm cannon. The 152 mm/45 Schneider model 1911 was adopted from France the same year with Ansaldo soon beginning licensed production. These are the guns that would be used to arm RN Andrea Doria and her sister ship RN Duilio.

In service, the guns rarely saw actual combat which was likely a blessing in disguise. Being positioned on the sides of the hull underneath the 12-inch Vickers model 1909 main gun battery, the guns tended to get wet in heavy seas, particularly the rear guns. Both Andrea Doria-class dreadnoughts sat out most of World War I, mostly patrolling the southern Adriatic Sea while waiting for a decisive engagement with the Austro-Hungarian Navy that never happened. After the war, RN Andrea Doria saw some action participating in the bombardment of the Greek island of Corfu in 1923 after the murder of an Italian general and his two aides who were attempting to mediate a border dispute between Greece and Albania. Her sister ship Duilio also participated in this 1923 bombardment along with supporting the White Russians in the Black Sea in June and July of 1919. In 1937, the dreadnoughts went through a modernization program where the 152 mm guns were replaced with 135 mm guns in response to their ineffectiveness. When the following Franceso Caracciolo-class dreadnoughts were canceled thanks to the outbreak of World War I putting new capital ships on the backburner in favour of large numbers of smaller craft like destroyers, the Andrea Doria-class became the only class of ships completed with these guns. The next class of battleships Italy built, under the restrictions of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, was the Littorio class and was armed with more modern 152 mm guns from the final series of Condottieri-class light cruisers.

Alongside their role as naval guns, the 152 mm/45 was used as coastal defense guns and even siege artillery. When the modernization programs removed the 152 mm/45 guns from the Andrea Doria-class, the guns were reused in these roles. The coastal defense guns would serve through both world wars in the Regia Marina. The use of these guns as siege artillery came from the pressing need for such weapons in the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army) fighting on the Alpine Front. Surplus barrels were mounted on a standard box trail carriage with a large open section to allow the breech to recoil. 53 guns were still in service in Northern Italy in 1943. After the signing of the Italian Armistice in 1943, some guns ended up in German service where they were designated 15.2 K 411 (i).

Media

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

See also

• 120 mm/50 Armstrong model 1909 earlier secondary gun used on RN Dante Alighieri
• 152/53 mm Ansaldo model 1926 another Italian 152 mm gun, used on early cruisers
• 152/53 mm O.T.O. model 1929 third Italian 152 mm gun, also used on cruisers
• 135 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1937 successor to the secondary guns used on Italian battleships

External links

• [Wikipedia] Cannone da 152/45