- Mortier de 12 Gribeauval
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Mortier de 12 pouces Gribeauval
12-inches mortar (Mortier de 12 pouces Gribeauval) with cylindrical chamber, 1789, Les Invalides.Place of origin France Service history Used by France Wars French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
American War of IndependenceProduction history Designer Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval Manufacturer Berenger Produced April 1789 Specifications Weight 1,540 kg Barrel length 81 cm Crew 15 crews, 6 horses Caliber 12 pouce (French inches) = 324.8 mm Barrels 1, cylindrical chamber, brass The Mortier de 12 pouces Gribeauval (Gribeauval 12-inch mortar) was a French mortar and part of the Gribeauval system developed by Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval. It was part of the siege artillery. The measurement of the mortar is expressed by the diameter of the ball, using the French ancient system of measurement, in which 1 pouce (1 inch) is worth 2.707 cm.
The Mortier de 12 pouces Gribeauval was used extensively during the wars following the French Revolution, as well as the Napoleonic wars. However, its first major operational use was even earlier, during the American Revolutionary War, in General Rochambeau's French expeditionary corps, from 1780 to late 1782, and especially at Yorktown in 1781.[1]
The Mortier de 12 pouces used a cylindrical chamber, which, although quite efficient used to wear easily. It was superseded by the Gomer system using a conical chamber, which was incorporated in Gribeauval's system in 1789.[2]
Some of the Mortier de 12 pouces were used in coastal defenses, in which case they were fixed on solid metal platforms.
See also
Media related to Mortier de 12 Gribeauval at Wikimedia Commons
Notes
References
- Chartrand, René 2003 Napoleon's guns 1792-1815 (2) ISBN 1841764604 Osprey Publishing
Field artillery Siege artillery Canon de 24 · Canon de 16 · Canon lourd de 12 · Canon lourd de 8Mortars Mortier de 15 · Mortier de 12 · Mortier long de 10 · Mortier court de 10 · Mortier court de 8Categories:- Mortars of France
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