8-inch Mk. VI railway gun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8-inch Mk. VI railway gun
8-inch Mk. VI railway gun
Type	railway
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1941–1946
Used by	United States
Wars	World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Baldwin locomotive works
Produced	1941
Number built	24?
Specifications
Weight	tube and breech, 42.000 Lbs.
Length	30-feet 9-inches

Shell	separate loading HE, and AP.
Caliber	8 in (200 mm)
Breech	Interrupted screw, step cut
Recoil	Hydeopnematic
Carriage	M1A1 railway
Elevation	45 degrees
Traverse	360 degrees
Rate of fire	2 rounds a minute
Muzzle velocity	2,750 ft/s (840 m/s) AP, or 2,840 ft/s (870 m/s) HE.
Maximum firing range	35,300 yd (32,300 m)
Feed system	hand

The 8-inch Gun Mk. VI, mod 3A2, on railway mount M1A1 was a World War II version of the earlier M1888 gun. and was used to support coast artillery fortifications.

History

The MK. VI railway gun was quickly put together at the start of World War II, to supplement and replace the older World War I M1888 railway gun. these guns had a very short life, rolling out in February 1941, and being cut up for scrap immediately after the war. The gun was based on the Navy's 8-inch (200 mm) Mark VI, and may have been built at Watervliet Arsenal. It was mounted both en Barbette as well as on the M1A1 railway carriage.

deployment

8 sent to Fort Miles

Sighting and fire control equipment

The following sighting equipment was used with the gun.

M1 Deflection board
M1 fire adjustment board
M1A1 Range correction board
M3 Spotting board
M1912 Clinometer
M1 Percentage corrector
M1A1 Height finder, or M2A1
M6 Azmuth indicator
M5 Elevation indicator
M1910A1 Azmuth instrument
M8 Helium filling kit
M1 Gunners quadrant
Type B, set forward rule
M1 prediction scale
bore site
firing table, 8-I-1.
M7 stereoscopic trainer
M1 generating unit

support cars

M2 fire control car
M1 machine shop car
modified box car for ammunition

Surviving Artifacts

one survivor at Fort Miles
Two 8-inch Guns Mk VI M3A2 (#160L2 & #154L2)

Battery 404, Fort Abercrombie, Kodiak, AK

One 8-inch Gun Mk VI M3A2 (#134L2)

Kodiak Airport, Kodiak, AK (gun formerly at Battery 403, Fort J.H. Smith, Kodiak, AK)

One 8-inch Gun Mk VI M3A2 (# ) on railway carriage (bored to 9.12-inches)

Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, VA

References

TM 9-2300 Standard Artillery and Fire Control Material. dated 1944
TM 9-463
SNL E-34
FM 4-49

External links

v t e United States artillery of World War II

Tank guns	37 mm gun M5/M6 75 mm gun M2/M3/M6 76 mm gun M1 3 inch gun M7 90 mm gun M3 105 mm howitzer M4

Anti-tank guns	37 mm M3 57 mm M1 75 mm M1897 3 inch M5 90 mm T8 105mm T8

Field, medium and heavy guns	75 mm howitzer M1 105 mm howitzer M2 105 mm howitzer M3 4.5 inch gun M1 155 mm howitzer M1918 155 mm howitzer M1 155 mm gun M1918MI 155 mm gun M1/M2 "Long Tom" 8 inch howitzer M1/M2 8 inch gun M1 240 mm howitzer M1

Mortars	60 mm mortar M2 81 mm mortar M1 4.2 inch mortar M2 Little David

Other vehicle-mounted	75 mm howitzer M2/M3 75 mm gun M1897 105 mm howitzer M2 155 mm gun M1918MI 155 mm gun M2

Anti-aircraft guns	37 mm M1 40 mm M1 3 inch M3 90 mm M1 120 mm M1

Coast artillery guns	3-inch gun M1903 90 mm M1 6-inch gun M1903 155 mm gun M1918MI 8-inch Mk. VI 12-inch M1895 16-inch M1919 16-inch Howitzer M1920

Railway artillery	8-inch Mk. VI 8-inch M1888 14-inch M1920

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.