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The Mk 18 Mod 0 was a 40x46mm grenade launcher used by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War and also the last known Crank (mechanism), hand crank operated firearm since the Gatling gun. It was replaced by the Mk 19 grenade launcher in service with the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
.
Design
This weapon is a manually-operated, belt-fed. The use of a split breech mechanism allowed the weapon to be light and simple.
Employment
The Mark 18 was used primarily on small boats or in fixed positions such as bunkers; their primary users were the so-called "
river rats
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...
" and the
SEAL
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
s. They could be mounted on M2HB, M60, M1919 tripods, or
pintle
A pintle is a pin or bolt, usually inserted into a gudgeon, which is used as part of a pivot or hinge. Other applications include pintle and lunette ring for towing, and pintle pins securing casters in furniture.
Use
Pintle/gudgeon sets have ma ...
mounts, but could not be fired without such a mount.
Armored Troop Carrier (LCM)
Armored Troop Carriers (ATC), often called ''Tangos'' from the phonetic alphabet for ''T'', were LCM-6 landing craft modified for riverine patrol missions. They were used by the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) of the United States Army and Navy in t ...
s of the
Mobile Riverine Force
In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) (after May 1967), initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the brown-water n ...
usually mounted two Mk 18s.
See also
*
Comparison of automatic grenade launchers An automatic grenade launcher (AGL) or grenade machine gun is a grenade launcher that is capable of fully automatic fire, and is typically loaded with either an Belt (firearm), ammunition belt or Magazine (firearm), magazine.
These weapons are ofte ...
References
{{reflist
Mk 18 Mod 0 at Securityarms
Automatic grenade launchers
40×46mm grenade launchers
Grenade launchers of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1960s
