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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 o ...
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 ...
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 ...
. 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 protectio ...
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 susce ...
. Only four of these weapons were deployed, all at Fort Story, 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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
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, ...
'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, p ...
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
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 susce ...
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, 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 1 ...
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 Fort Story, 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 guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" me ...
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


See also

*
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 o ...
*
Seacoast defense in the United States Seacoast defense was a major concern for the United States from its independence until World War II. Before airplanes, many of America's enemies could only reach it from the sea, making coastal forts an economical alternative to standing armies o ...
*
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 ...
* 16-inch gun M1919 *
16"/50 caliber Mark 2 gun The 16"/50 caliber Mark 2 gun and the near-identical Mark 3 were guns originally designed and built for the United States Navy as the main armament for the ''South Dakota''-class battleships and s. The successors to the 16"/45 caliber gun Mark ...
*
Coast Artillery fire control system In the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps, the term fire control system was used to refer to the personnel, facilities, technology and procedures that were used to observe designated targets, estimate their positions, calculate firing data for gun ...


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