The 16-inch howitzer M1920 (406 mm) was a

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

piece installed to defend major American

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s between 1922 and 1947. They were operated by the

United States Army Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery d ...

. They were installed on high-angle

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...

mountings to allow

plunging fire Plunging fire is a form of indirect fire, where gunfire is fired at a trajectory to make it fall on its target from above. It is normal at the high trajectories used to attain long range, and can be used deliberately to attack a target not suscep ...

. Only four of these weapons were deployed, all at

Fort Story Joint Expeditionary Base-Fort Story, commonly called simply Fort Story is a sub-installation of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story, which is operated by the United States Navy. Located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Vir ...

, Virginia. All were scrapped within a few years after World War II.

History

Around the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914 it was noted that the rapid development of

dreadnought battleship The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

s might soon render US coast defenses obsolescent. These had been constructed 1895-1915 under the Endicott and Taft programs. The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

's initial response was to place some existing 12-inch guns on high-angle long-range mountings. This program had barely commenced when the

American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry ...

occurred in April 1917. The Coast Artillery Corps was tasked with operating almost all US-manned heavy and

railway artillery A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are ...

in that war, as they were the only component of the Army experienced with large guns and having significant troop strength. Among several types of French-made railway artillery weapons operated by the Coast Artillery were two 400 mm (15.75 inch) Modele 1916 howitzers. This weapon combined a large shell with a high trajectory, dropping almost straight down onto enemy trenches and fortifications. The Coast Artillery wanted to use this capability for

against the thin deck armor of enemy ships. Initially a single developmental 16-inch howitzer M1918, 18 calibers long, was produced and mounted on a railway carriage. Testing with this showed that a somewhat longer weapon, allowing greater range, would be suitable for coastal defense. This originated the 16-inch M1920 howitzer, 25 calibers long. The high-angle M1920 barbette carriage was designed to allow plunging fire with an elevation of 65 degrees. A similar carriage was also developed for the

16-inch gun M1919 The 16 inch gun M1919 (406 mm) was a large coastal artillery piece installed to defend the United States' major seaports between 1920 and 1946. It was operated by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. Only a small number were pro ...

, 50 calibers long, with the same elevation and for the same reason.Ordnance, pp. 147-149 The combined effects of the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

and the signature of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

in June 1919, ending the "War to End All Wars", cut military budgets heavily. Although the new 16-inch weapons were produced and deployed, this occurred in very limited quantities. Only seven M1919 guns and four M1920 howitzers were deployed by 1923. All four of the M1920 howitzers were deployed at

, Virginia, in the Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay.Fort Story at FortWiki.com
/ref> The narrow entrance to the bay could be adequately covered by the short-ranged howitzers. They were initially in one battery, Battery Pennington, named for Colonel

Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr. Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr. (January 8, 1838 – November 30, 1917) was an artillery officer and brigadier general in the United States Army and a veteran of both the American Civil War and Spanish–American War. Early life and ...

, who served in the Civil War and the Spanish–American War. Their mountings were open, making them vulnerable to air attack, a possibility the Army did little to allow for until the late 1930s. A rail system supplied the guns with ammunition from magazines to the rear of the guns. A plotting room bunker was also behind the guns. In 1940 emplacements 3 and 4 were renamed Battery Walke, after Brigadier General Willoughby Walke. In 1941 shields were provided for each gun to give the crews some protection, but the guns were never

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...

d, unlike most Army 16-inch gun installations. After World War II ended it was soon determined that gun defenses were obsolete, and the battery was inactivated in 1947, with all guns and carriages scrapped soon after.

Gallery

File:16-inch coast artillery gun stamped Watervliet Arsenal 1921.jpg, Soldier with 16-inch howitzer in 1942; the muzzle markings can be read. File:16in-howitzer-CAJ192211-1.jpg, 16-inch howitzer in the final stages of mounting File:Fort Story, VA coastal defense. Soldiers loads a 16 inch howitzer for target practice. - NARA - 196279.jpg, Practice loading of a 16-inch howitzer

References

* * * * *
FM 4-85, Service of the Piece, 16-inch gun and howitzer

External links

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 World War II artillery of the United States Coastal artillery 400 mm artillery Howitzers Military equipment introduced in the 1920s

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links