The Canet guns were a series of weapon systems developed by the French engineer Gustave Canet (1846-1913), who was design engineer for Schneider et Cie of Le Creusot

Le Creusot

Le Creusot is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom.Since the 1990s, the...

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320 mm naval guns

Canet developed a 12.6 in (32 cm) naval gun, an extremely powerful weapon for its time. The gun was selected in 1887 to equip the cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 designed by Emile Bertin: Matsushima

Japanese cruiser Matsushima

was the second vessel of the protected cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Like its sister ships, its name comes from one of the three most famous scenic spots in Japan, in this case, the Matsushima archipelago near Sendai in Miyagi prefecture....

, Itsukushima

Japanese cruiser Itsukushima

was the lead ship in the of protected cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Like its sister ships, the name Itsukushima comes from one of the three most famous scenic spots in Japan, in this case, the Itsukushima Jinja in Hiroshima prefecture on the Inland Sea, home to a famous Shinto shrine...

, and Hashidate

Japanese cruiser Hashidate

was the 3rd in the of protected cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was the only one of the class constructed in Japan. Like its sister ships, was the 3rd (and final vessel) in the of protected cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was the only one of the class constructed in Japan....

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Their usage was consistent with the French Jeune Ecole

Jeune Ecole

The Jeune École was a strategic naval concept developed during the 19th century. It advocated the use of small, powerfully equipped units to combat a larger battleship fleet, and commerce raiders capable of ending the trade of the rival nation...

 philosophy, which advocated using overwhelming firepower (strong guns, torpedoes) on relatively small units.

The guns were only marginally successful during the First Sino-Japanese War

First Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...

, due to a slow rate of fire, and mechanical problems.

Other guns

M.Canet is also known for the development of the Schneider-Canet gun system for 75 mm iron BL mountain guns, and rapid-fire 120 mm and 152 mm guns.

External links

• The Canet gun