8-inch Mk. VI railway gun

8-inch Mk. VI railway gun
8-inch Mk. VI railway gun
Type	Railway gun
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 (railway carriage)
Produced	1941
Number built	24? railway version, 16 fixed barbette mounts^[1]
Specifications
Weight	tube and breech: 42,000 lb (19,000 kg) complete railway mount: 188,000 lb (85,000 kg)^[2]
Length	tube and breech: 30 ft 9 in (9.37 m)

Shell	separate loading HE and AP, 260 pounds (120 kg) AP^[3]
Caliber	8 inches (203 mm)
Breech	Interrupted screw, step cut (Welin type)
Recoil	Hydropneumatic
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)^[3]
Feed system	hand

The 8-inch Gun Mk. VI, M3A2, on railway mount M1A1 was a World War II improvement on the World War I-era 8-inch (203 mm) M1888 gun and was used by the US Army's Coast Artillery Corps in US harbor defenses. The guns were also mounted in fixed emplacements on the barbette carriage M1A1.^[1] These guns were US Navy surplus from battleships scrapped under the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. Mark VI (also Mark 6) was the Navy designation. The Army designation for this gun was "8-inch Navy gun MkVIM3A2".^[1]

History

The MK. VI railway gun was quickly put together at the start of World War II, to supplement the older World War I 8-inch M1888 railway gun. It was developed from an experimental 12-inch (305 mm) railway howitzer carriage of World War I.^[4] The all-around rotating mount and outriggers were designed to allow the gun to track a moving target for coast defense. These guns had a very short life in Army use, entering service in February 1941 and being cut up for scrap immediately after the war. The guns were the Navy's 8-inch (203 mm)/45 caliber Mark VI, and were originally secondary armament on Virginia- and Connecticut-class battleships launched 1904-06 and scrapped in the 1920s.^[5] They were mounted in both fixed emplacements and on the M1A1 railway carriage.^[1]

Deployment

Fixed two-gun batteries at Fort Church (Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island), Fort Rosecrans (San Diego, California), Fort Ruger and two other locations (Oahu, Hawaii), Fort Schwatka (Dutch Harbor, Alaska), Fort J. H. Smith and Fort Abercrombie (Kodiak, Alaska), St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands, and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.^[6]
8 railway guns at Fort Miles, Delaware, two 4-gun batteries each in the Los Angeles and Puget Sound harbor defenses, others at Fort Hancock, New Jersey (near New York City) and Fort John Custis near Cape Charles, Virginia.^[1]^[7]

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.^[8]
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^[9]
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

1 2 3 4 5 Berhow 2004, pp. 114-117.
↑ Berhow 2004, p. 116.
1 2 Berhow 2004, p. 61.
↑ Lewis 1979, p. 109.
↑ "USA 8"/45 (20.3 cm) Mark 6". NavWeaps.com.
↑ Berhow 2004, p. 226.
↑ Lewis 1979, pp. 140-141.
↑ "FT 8-I-1 Firing tables". Gene Slovers US Navy Pages.
↑ "Railway Batteries". FortMiles.org.

TM 9-2300 Standard Artillery and Fire Control Material. 1944.
"TM 9-463" (PDF).
SNL E-34
"FM 4-49" (PDF).
Berhow, Mark A., ed. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide (second ed.). CDSG Press. ISBN 0-9748167-0-1.
Lewis, Emanuel Raymond (1979). Seacoast Fortifications of the United States. Annapolis, Maryland: Leeward Publications. ISBN 978-0-929521-11-4.

External links

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 M1897 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 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 12-inch gun M1895 14-inch gun M1907 16-inch gun M1895 16-inch gun M1919 16-inch Marks 2 and 3 16-inch howitzer M1920

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

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