155 mm Long Tom
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The 155 mm gun M1 was a 155 millimeter
caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...
field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...
developed and used by the United States military. Nicknamed "Long Tom" (an appellation with a long and storied history in U.S. field and naval artillery), it was produced in M1 and M2 variants, later known as the M59. Developed to replace the
Canon de 155mm GPF The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) modèle 1917 was a WWI-era French-designed 155 mm gun used by the French Army and the United States Army during the first half of the 20th century in towed and self-propelled mountings. Hist ...
, the gun was deployed as a heavy field weapon during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, and also classed as secondary armament for seacoast defense. The gun could fire a shell to a maximum range of , with an estimated accuracy life of 1,500 rounds. The Long Tom was also adopted by a number of other nations, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Israel, and the Netherlands.


Development

Before entering
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 ...
, the United States was poorly equipped with heavy artillery. To address this problem a number of foreign heavy artillery guns were adopted, including the
Canon de 155 mm GPF The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) modèle 1917 was a WWI-era French-designed 155 mm gun used by the French Army and the United States Army during the first half of the 20th century in towed and self-propelled mountings. Hist ...
. After the end of the war the Westervelt Board was convened to assess the artillery experience of the combatant powers and map out future directions for the US Army artillery. The conclusion of the board vis-a-vis heavy field artillery was that the French 155mm GPF should be adopted as the standard heavy field piece but further development work should occur to achieve a heavy field gun with a max. range of , a vertical arc of fire from 0° to 65°, a projectile not exceeding and the capability to be installed on a mount with either caterpillar tracks or rubber tires. A number of prototypes were produced in the 1920s and 1930s, but the projects were put on hold due to lack of funds. In 1938 the 155 mm gun T4 on carriage T2 was finally adopted as 155 mm gun M1 on carriage M1.


155 mm gun M1

The new gun design used a barrel similar to the earlier 155 mm GPF, but with an
Asbury mechanism An Asbury Mechanism opens and closes the breech of heavy artillery for reloading with a projectile and bags of propellant. It was widely used for naval artillery of the world wars and similar coastal artillery and railway guns. The device was inve ...
that incorporated a vertically-hinged breech plug support. This type of breech used an interrupted-thread breech plug with a lock that opened and closed the breech by moving a single lever. The ammunition for the 155 mm gun was "separate-loading", that is with the shell and the powder charge packaged, shipped and stored separately. The shell is lifted into position behind the breech and then rammed into the chamber to engage the shell's rotating band into the barrel rifling. Ramming the shell home is followed by loading a number of powder bags, as required for the desired range. The powder charge could be loaded in up to seven charge settings. Once the powder is loaded, the breech plug is closed and locked, and a primer is placed in the breech plug's firing mechanism. After setting the elevation and azimuth, the gun is ready to fire. The firing mechanism is a device for initiating the ammunition primer. The primer then sets off the igniter which ignites the propelling charge of the ammunition. A continuous-pull lanyard first cocks the firing pin, then fires the primer when pulled. The gun was developed into M1A1 and M2 variants. After World War II, the United States Army re-organized, and the gun was re-designated as the M59.


Carriage M1

The
gun carriage A gun carriage is a frame and mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also used ...
provides a stable, yet mobile, base for the gun. The new
split-trail A gun carriage is a frame and mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be maneuvered and fired. These platforms often had wheels so that the artillery pieces could be moved more easily. Gun carriages are also use ...
carriage featured an eight-wheel integral two-axle bogie and a two-wheel limber that supported the trails for transport. The carriage was a two-piece design. The upper carriage included the side frames with trunnion bearings that supported the recoil mechanism that carried the gun cradle, slide and gun tube. The upper carriage also incorporated the elevating and azimuth gearing. The upper carriage pivoted in azimuth on the lower carriage. The lower carriage included the transport suspension and the split-trail that stabilized and absorbed recoil when the gun was fired. After the gun was placed in a firing position with the gun pointing in the desired direction, the trails were lowered to the ground and the limber was removed. The carriage wheels would then be raised using built-in ratcheting screw-jacks, lowering the gun carriage to the ground. Once on the ground, the limber-end of the trail legs were separated to form a wide "vee" shape with its apex at the center of the carriage pivot point. A recoil spade at the limber-end of each trail leg required a correctly positioned hole to be dug for the spade, which was attached to the trail end, to transmit the recoil from gun carriage through the trails and into the earth. This made the gun very stable and assisted its accuracy. The removable spades were transported in brackets on the trail legs. The carriage M1 and M2 were shared with the Howitzer M1, differing only in the gun tube, sleigh, cradle, recoil and equilibrators, weight due to the heavier barrel.


Specifications


Service

The Long Tom saw combat for the first time in the North African Campaign on December 24, 1942, with "A" Battery of the 36th Field Artillery Regiment. Eventually it equipped 33 U.S. Army battalions in the
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
and Mediterranean Theaters (the 173rd, 190th, 200th, 208th, 240th, 261st, 273rd, 514th–516th, 528th, 530th, 540th, 541st, 546th–549th, 559th, 561st, 634th, 635th, 731st, 733rd, 734th, 766th, 976th–981st, 985th and 989th), and 8 in the
Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
(the 168th, 223rd, 226th, 433rd, 517th, 531st, 532nd, and 983rd). The 353rd, 732nd, and 993rd Field Artillery Battalions were segregated 155 mm gun units that never went overseas. The 353rd was converted to the 1697th Engineer Combat Battalion (Colored) on 19 March 1944 at
Camp Van Dorn Camp Van Dorn is a former military installation in Centreville, Mississippi, in both Wilkinson and Amite counties. Established in 1942 during World War II, the base was named for Confederate General Earl Van Dorn from Mississippi. Holding up to 3 ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, the 732nd was converted to the 1695th Engineer Combat Battalion (Colored) on 15 March 1944 at Camp Pickett,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and the 993rd was converted to the 1696th Engineer Combat Battalion (Colored) on 19 March 1944 at Camp Swift,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The 155 mm gun was also used by several
Marine defense battalions Marine Defense Battalions were United States Marine Corps battalions charged with coastal and air defense of advanced naval bases during World War II. They maintained large anti-ship guns, anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, and small arms to repe ...
, notably during
Operation Cartwheel Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military operation for the Allies in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Cartwheel was an operation aimed at neutralising the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation was directed by the ...
in 1943. The preferable
prime mover Prime mover may refer to: Philosophy *Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings Engineering * Prime mover (engine), motor, a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc) into energy ...
was initially the
Mack NO Mack may refer to: People * Mack (given name) * Mack (surname) * Reinhold Mack, German record producer and sound engineer, often credited as simply "Mack" * Richard Machowicz (1965–2017), host of ''FutureWeapons'' and ''Deadliest Warrior'', know ...
6×6 7½ ton truck; from 1943 on, it was supplemented by the tracked M4 High Speed Tractor.Zaloga – ''US Field Artillery of World War II'', pp. 20–22. 72 rounds of ammunition plus propelling charges could be carried in the M21 4-ton, 2-wheel ammunition trailer; 16 rounds of ammunition plus propelling charges could be carried in the M10 1-ton, 2-wheel ammunition trailer that was often used because of shortages of the former. The later heavy M23 8-ton, 4-wheel ammunition trailer introduced in 1945 could carry 96 rounds of ammunition plus propelling charges. A small number of Long Tom guns were authorised for supply via
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
channels, to the United Kingdom (184) and France (25).Zaloga, ''US Field Artillery of World War II'', p. 37. The authorised establishment of British batteries (excluding training units), including four batteries from the Dominion of Newfoundland, totalled 88 guns.


Variants

Gun variants: * M1920 – prototype. * T4 – prototype. * M1 (1938) – first production variant, 20 built. * M1A1 (1941) – modified breech ring. ** M1A1E1 – prototype with chromium-plated bore. ** M1A1E3 – prototype with liquid cooling. * M2 Standard (1945) – with modified breech ring. Carriage variants: * T2 – prototype. * M1 (1938). * M1A1 – refurbished T2 carriages. * M2 Standard Limber variants: * M1 Standard (1938) * M5 Heavy (1945) The gun was also mounted on a modified M4 medium tank chassis, in mount M13. The resulting vehicle was initially designated 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage T83 and eventually standardized as 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M40.Hunnicutt – ''Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank'', p 353-355, 570. 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage T79, based on T23 Medium Tank chassis, never advanced past proposal stage.Hunnicutt – ''Pershing, A History of the Medium Tank T20 Series'', p 158. A portable "
Panama mount Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cost ...
" M1 was also provided.


Ammunition

The gun utilized separate loading, bagged charge ammunition. The propelling charge consisted of base (9.23 kg) and increment (4.69 kg). The data in the table below is for supercharge (base and increment).


Existing examples


Pakistan

* Pak Army Museum Rawalpindi in best Form (Near M41 Patton Medium Tank) Outdoor Exhibits.http://www.pakarmymuseum.com/galleries/outdoor/


Austria

* Bunkermuseum Wurzenpass,
Wurzen Pass The Wurzen Pass (german: Wurzenpass, sl, Korensko sedlo) is a mountain pass in a col of the Karawanks mountain range in the Southern Limestone Alps, on the border between Radendorf in the Austrian state of Carinthia and Kranjska Gora in Slovenia. ...
(near
Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
)


Australia

* Fort Lytton Military Museum, Brisbane.


Israel

* Batey ha-Osef Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel


Germany

*
Grafenwoehr Training Area Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA) is a United States Army training base located near Grafenwöhr, Bavaria, Germany. At 232 km2, it is the largest US training facility in Europe. The base is operated by 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Comm ...
– this particular cannon is apparently a return from Italy, based on Italian language markings added, and old Pirelli tires.


Netherlands


Wings of Liberation Museum
Park in Best (near Eindhoven), Netherlands :File:Museum Bevrijdende Vleugels 3.JPG


Slovenia

* Pivka Military History Park,
Pivka Pivka (, german: St. Peter in Krain, it, San Pietro del Carso) is a small town in Slovenia in the Pivka Basin in the Karst region. It is the seat of the Municipality of Pivka. It belongs to the traditional region of Inner Carniola. Name Pivka ...
,
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...


United Kingdom

*
Pendennis Castle Pendennis Castle (Cornish: ''Penn Dinas'', meaning "headland fortification") is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, England between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect agai ...
, Cornwall, UK *
Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Originally an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, originally housed in the Tower of London from ...
,
Fort Nelson, Hampshire Fort Nelson, in the civil parish of Boarhunt in the England, English county of Hampshire, is one of five defensive forts built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860s, overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth. It is now part of the ...
, UK * Muckleburgh Military Collection, Norfolk, UK *
Eden Camp Museum Eden Camp Modern History Museum is a large Second World War-related museum near Malton in North Yorkshire in England. It occupies a former Second World War prisoner-of-war camp of 33 huts. After the prisoners left, the camp was used for stora ...
, North Yorkshire, UK


United States

* Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina *
Battleship Memorial Park Battleship Memorial Park is a military history park and museum on the western shore of Mobile Bay in Mobile, Alabama. It has a collection of notable aircraft and museum ships including the and . USS ''Alabama'' and USS ''Drum'' are both Nation ...
, Mobile, Alabama * Timber Linn Park,
Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, jus ...
*
US Army Ordnance Museum The United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility (formerly known as the U.S. Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center and U.S. Army Ordnance Museum) artifacts are used to train and educate logistic soldiers. It re-located to Fort Lee, ...
, Aberdeen, Maryland * VFW Zachary Taylor Post 3784, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. * Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park, Cordele, Georgia * Fort Sill Field Artillery Museum, Fort Sill, Oklahoma * Iowa Gold Star Military Museum, Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa * VFW Post 2330, Searcy, AR * Museum of American Armor, Old Bethpage, New York * Scotland Meadows Park, New Castle, Pennsylvania * General George Patton Museum and Center of Leadership, Fort Knox, Kentucky. * VFW Post 61, Kansas City, MO *
Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the display and preservation of rare military aircraft, tanks and other military equipment. The plan is for the museum to reopen in 2023. On rotation in t ...
, Everett, WA *
Watervliet Arsenal The Watervliet Arsenal is an arsenal of the United States Army located in Watervliet, New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River. It is the oldest continuously active arsenal in the United States, and today produces much of the artillery fo ...
, Watervliet, NY * American Legion George Johns Post 447, Round Rock, Texas


See also

*
List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation This is a historic (index) list of United States Army weapons and materiel, by their Standard Nomenclature List (SNL) group and individual designations — an alpha-numeric nomenclature system used in the United States Army Ordnance Corps Supply ...
SNL D-24 * 15 cm Kanone 18
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
equivalent * 152 mm gun M1935 (Br-2)
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
equivalent, built only in small numbers * Cannone da 149/40 modello 35
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
equivalent, only few built


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * *


External links


''155-mm. Novel Mechanical Features Give Big-Gun Power, Small Gun Speed'', November 1942, Popular Science
early article with many photos and detailed drawings showing how it is brought into firing position from travel mode. {{DEFAULTSORT:155 Mm Long Tom World War II field artillery World War II artillery of the United States World War II artillery of the United Kingdom Cold War artillery of the United States 155 mm artillery Coastal artillery Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1940