Help to Id. US artillery

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

Any idea?

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi all,

Any idea?

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

Hi Sturm

4.7 inch gun M1906

Clive

[Sturm78]

Thank you very much, Clive

Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

A nice image of an 305mm 12in M1895 gun on Carriage Barbette M1917
According to photocaption, Hawaii


Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

According to photocaption 406mm 16in M1919 coastal gun barrel:

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

The gun is a 155mm M1917-1918 US howitzer but.... Any idea about the carriage?? Prototype ?

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

[Trackhead M2]

Hi all,

The gun is a 155mm M1917-1918 US howitzer but.... Any idea about the carriage?? Prototype ?

Image from Ebay
Sturm78

Dear S78,
A lot of the WW 1 pieces were intially upgraded during the early days of Selecive Service in 1940 to be moved by new mechanized prime movers instead of oat fired ones.
Strike Swiftly,
TH-M2

[Carl Schwamberger]

Here is one advertised for sale

http://www.cannonsuperstore.com/m1918.html

The motorized carriage dates back to the 1920s & the surge of US artillery development then, but I suspect it did not see mass production (with upgrades) until after 1938. Like the French 75mm it was suposed to be replaced by a newer designed gun tube, but there were enough cannon tubes around the production of new carriages was justified. Carriage is usually identified as the "M1917A4 carriage".

[Jack Nisley]

In 1934, the US Army started a project to develop a new carriage to mount the M1917-1918 155mm Howitzer.
It was to have 30 degrees of traverse and 65 degrees elevation, 16,000 yard max range and weigh under 11,000 lbs.
In 1939, they decided it was stupid to mount a WW I howitzer on a modern carriage and started with a clean sheet of paper and designed the M1 155mm Howitzer. The picture is probably a prototype as Sturm78 said.

I should say almost a clean sheet of paper because the carriage used for the M1 Howitzer (and 4.5" gun M1) has a similar firing pedestal as the picture.

This info from "Allied Artillery of World War Two" by Ian V. Hogg.

Jack Nisley

[Carl Schwamberger]

Hogg is not often challenged, so I'll accept that. But, there is a lot still buried on the shelves at Ft Sill & elsewhere.

The past few years I've been working my way chronologically through the US Field Artillery Journal. One of the interesting bits turned up was several refrences to evaluation of the German 10.5cm FH16 for use by the US Army. It was thought the US Army might reequip itself with the left over German cannon. The idea was not laid to rest until circa 1924. About the same time the US deigned 105mm Howitzer later designated the M1 was starting trials.

Another oddity that appears in the 1930 volumes is a 75mm gun on the "T3" mount. A half dozen photos of this rig and a couple pages of text describe this cannon proposed for the division artillery. The T3 carriage was a cruisiform/pedistal combination mount similar to the German 88 FLAK. The text clearly describes this as a effort to build a 'universal' gun capable of anti aircraft, antitank, and long range indirect fire. Analog or mechanical fire control computers with electrical data relay are also described as tested with this cannon.

Judging from the photos and bits of text in the USFA Journal it looks as if the US Army was evaluating about every European cannon it could get a look at, or haul back to the US during the 1920s. I'm looking forward to what turns up in the 1930s volumes.

[nuyt]

The past few years I've been working my way chronologically through the US Field Artillery Journal. One of the interesting bits turned up was several refrences to evaluation of the German 10.5cm FH16 for use by the US Army. It was thought the US Army might reequip itself with the left over German cannon. The idea was not laid to rest until circa 1924. About the same time the US deigned 105mm Howitzer later designated the M1 was starting trials.

Well, that's certainly a very interesting point. The M1 and its prototypes were 105mm L22, just like the lFH16, so the advice to equip the US Army with this weapon was honoured. Furthermore, I have always found that intriguing "unknown German howitzer", of which now several photos have surfaced on this forum to have a striking resemblance in concept to the M1. Basically the M1 is a 105mm L22 barrel with a Germanic (Rheinmetall, Krupp and Bofors) looking recoil system.

I believe there were very good contacts between the US and the Weimar republic. That and the fact that Rheinmetall, the patent owner of the lFH16 (covertly) restarted designing weaponry and updating its WW1 guns in 1923 adds food for thought....Maybe some thoughts were shared?

[Carl Schwamberger]

Many thoughts were shared. The pages of the FA Journal have a lot of material from foreign miltiary writers. The French predominate & perhaps the Brits are the least of the major armies. There is not a lot on the technical side of the German artillery so it is not clear from those pages exactly what influenced what. It did occur to me some years ago while looking over the German 10.5cm le FH18 that it & the US 105mm M1/M2 had a common & recent ancestor. Beyond that I suspect there was a fair amount for cross fertilization pre 1914, tho I've not delved into that era.

"that intriguing "unknown German howitzer", of which now several photos have surfaced on this forum to have a striking resemblance in concept to the M1."

Can you remind me where those photos appear?

The FA Journal is archived on line in the US Field Artillery Association web site. It is not 'searchable' in any practical sense, but the 1920s & early 1930s volume are large and crammed with all sort of titillating bits. Another of my faves from the mid 20s was written by a US Army Captan who spent two years with the Japanese Army artillery. The French sourced articles have a lot of background on the development of French techniques and doctrine. General Herrs several articles give a clear take on the official French view of the lessons for artillery from the Great War. Dense & weighty stuff, allow extra time to read Herrs text.

[nuyt]

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 0&t=148552
here are some, but there are more. also on The Overvalwagen Forum, reichswehr thread.
I have browsed through the FA Journal several years ago, looking for HIH Sideris leads....

[nuyt]

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... &start=960

[Carl Schwamberger]

Found this relic in front of the VFW on Columbia St in Anderson Indiana. No data plate, no stamped or engraved information. The muzzle plug prevented a accurate measurement of the caliber. I'd guess 37mm to 57mm. Any ideas what it might be?