Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893/96 gun
The Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893/96 was a heavy naval gun used as the main armament of a number of French pre-dreadnoughts during World War I. It equipped the Charlemagne, République and Liberté-class battleships as well as the unique battleships Iéna and Suffren. It was also used as railway artillery in World War I.
Forward turret on Suffren
A Canon de 305 modèle 1893/96 à berceau railway gun c. 1917.
A Canon de 305 modèle 93/96 TAZ railway gun c. 1917.
A Canon de 305 modèle 1893/96 à glissement railway gun c. 1918.
Charlemagne-class battleship
The Charlemagne class consisted of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The ships spent most of their careers assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron. They had oddly eventful peacetime careers as they were involved in four accidental collisions among them, one of which sank a French submarine with all hands. Saint Louis was usually a fleet flagship during her career and Charlemagne twice participated in the occupation of the port of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos—then owned by the Ottoman Empire—once as part of a French expedition and another as part of an international squadron.
St Louis, April 1903
Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1896