A 75mm cannon was a common caliber of field gun during World War I, and thus among the first weapons chosen for use on one of the war's major developments: the tank. The French Canon de 75mm TR Saint-Chamond (Modele 1915) was strongly proposed for use on the Saint-Chamond gun carrier by Colonel Emile Rimailho, the cannon's designer and also the tank's technical director. The Saint-Chamond owes some its uncommon design and reputation for unreliability to housing a full-sized cannon, rather than shortened cannons as may be seen on the FT-17 and the first British tanks. This gun was later replaced by the earlier Canon de 75 modèle 1897, regarded as the first modern artillery piece due to its recoil-mitigating design.