M1 (howitzer)
| M1 (howitzer) | |
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| General Information | |
| Military designation: | 240 mm howitzer M1 |
| Manufacturer country: | United States |
| Development year: | 1940-1943 |
| Production time: | 1943 to 1945 |
| Number of pieces: | 315 |
| Weapon Category: | howitzer |
| Team: | 14th |
| Technical specifications | |
| Overall length: | 8.40 m |
| Caliber : |
240 mm |
| Cadence : | 1-1.5 rounds / min |
| Elevation range: | + 15 ° to + 65 ° angular degrees |
| Side straightening area: | 22.5 ° each left and right |
| Furnishing | |
| Ammunition supply: | separate charge |
The 240 mm howitzer M1 (nickname: "Black Dragon") was a rifled gun of the United States Army .
It was developed to the still from the First World War originated 240 mm Howitzer M1918 replace, which in turn was based on a French gun of the year 1911th Work began in 1941. It was the most effective and heaviest gun the US field artillery had in World War II . It fired a 163 kg shell over a distance of 23.1 km and was only surpassed by the naval cannons used as railway guns. The gun met the requirements for fighting heavily fortified targets, as they were believed to be found in the Siegfried Line.
Calls
The first operational use of the 240 mm Howitzer took place in January 1944, when the guns were successfully used by the 5th US Army as part of the fighting during the Allied landing near Anzio . Together with the 203 mm howitzers that were tracked in April 1944 , they fought the batteries of the heavy German artillery. This also included the two German 28 cm K 5 railway guns known by the Allies as "Anzio Annie" . These were finally withdrawn due to the massive bombardment. The fire was precise enough to successfully target even relatively small targets such as individual battle tanks. The ability to destroy key positions over a greater distance was also praised. In the Battle of Monte Cassino , the guns completed the work of destruction wrought by the Allied bombers on the monastery. Some guns were also delivered to the British Armed Forces (8th Army) and used here.
US officers attested the devastating firepower and accuracy of the gun played a key role in the fighting in Italy.
The Pacific theater of war also saw these guns, where they were mentioned by name in the Battle of Manila in 1945 . At this point, however, there were hardly any worthwhile goals left, so massive efforts were no longer necessary.
In the US Army, the guns were still used in the Korean War. To do this, they were demoted and sent to the front. The task was to bombard bunkers and fortifications of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which could not be effectively fought with lighter guns. Two units were set up, the "213th" and "159th Field Artillery". The first use took place on May 1, 1953, when a cannon of the "Baker battery 213th FA" fired the first shot ever on a hill that was called 'the donut' by aerial reconnaissance. This first grenade, which had actually only been fired to determine the shot values, hit an ammunition depot on the hilltop, which exploded and started a chain reaction in the course of which the hilltop was literally torn.
The guns remained with the US Army until the ammunition supplies were depleted in the late 1950s. After that, around 30 more were handed over to the armed forces of Taiwan, where the howitzers are permanently installed on Kinmen and the Matsu Islands and are still used today for coastal defense. They are either stored on track-mounted bed wagons and rolled into the firing position to shoot from the bunkers, or they shoot directly from the bunkers. The bunkers are designed in such a way that they can withstand a direct hit from a 250 kg bomb.
Self-propelled gun
As a test, a gun was placed on the extended chassis of the M26 Pershing Tank T26E3 , which received an additional impeller on each side. This version was called the T92 Howitzer Motor Carriage . The plan was to produce 115 pieces, but only five were built, as there was no longer any need after the end of the war. These five mounts were later scrapped.
Side view of the same gun
literature
- Ian V. Hogg : Allied Artillery of World War Two . Greenhill Books, 1998, ISBN 1-85367-478-8 .
- Ian V. Hogg : The Guns. 1939-45. Ballantine Books, New York 1970, ISBN 0-01-906710-0 .
- Steven J. Zaloga , Brian Delf: US Field Artillery of World War II. Osprey Publishing (New Vanguard 131), 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-061-1 .
- Schreier Jr., F. Konrad: Standard guide to US World War II Tanks & Artillery. Krause Publications, 1994, ISBN 0-87341-297-4 .
Web links
- 240 mm howitzer
- British Artillery in World War II
- Biggest Guns On Wheels. Popular Science article, July 1945
Individual evidence
- ^ A b "'Black Dragon' Italian Success" T-Patch 36th Infantry Division News, Army times. Retrieved May 25, 2007.
- ↑ Bernard Fitzsimons (ed.): The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare. Vol 7, Purnell & Sons Ltd, 1967/1969, p. 779.
- ^ Zaloga, Delf: US Field Artillery of World War II. P. 34.
- ↑ a b c M1 240 mm Howitzer. Globalsecurity.org , accessed May 25, 2007.
- ↑ a b c d e Schreier: Standard guide to US World War II Tanks & Artillery. P. 105.
- ↑ a b Zaloga, Delf: US Field Artillery of World War II. , P. 33.
- ↑ Tony Sobiesky 240 mm Howitzer: Kiss Of Death. ( February 13, 2012 memento on the Internet Archive ) The Korean War , accessed May 25, 2007.
- ↑ M1 240mm Howitzer Taiwan M1 240mm Howitzer. ( Memento of May 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ↑ Kinmen M1 240mm Howitzer firing exercise. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
- ↑ United States' T92 Howitzer Motor Carriage. (No longer available online.) In: wwiivehicles.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017 ; accessed on March 18, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
