Ex US M1 240mm siege howitzer

[BigMoose]

There are exactly two US M1 240mm Siege Howitzers left in use in the world.

WW2 leftovers, still able to bring the hurt.

 

[KokomoDave]

I believe those are Taiwanese soldiers unless someone knows for sure? I had to guess based on the characters of the language posted.

 

[MrSmitty]

If it is Taiwan, maybe they can hit mainland Chiiiina......

 

[armalitesheepdog]

My Dad maned a Howitzer crew in WW2
Italy and Africa. Then Europe after D day. When I was a kid and ask how many enemies did he kill he would say, I have no idea. Hundreds. I ask how did he not know
He said they were 10 miles away...I said you must have had a really good gun.
He said I sure did. But I also had really good help. He didn't like talking about his time there.

 

[DadSmith]

I believe those are Taiwanese soldiers unless someone knows for sure? I had to guess based on the characters of the language posted.

That's what I was thinking as well. I'm thinking Korean also. Will check with my DIL she knows Korean, Japanese, and some Mongolian dialects.

Edit:
She said Chinese, but could be Taiwanese.
So I'm going with Taiwanese.

 

[Mgderf]

I've been blessed to witness the 105mm Howitzer at work.
240mm simply bogles the mind.

A very few well placed shots with that could decimate a small town.

 

[BigMoose]

If it is Taiwan, maybe they can hit mainland Chiiiina......

They can, if they wanted. (the edge of it anyway).

They are kept in bunkers on the two small islands closest to mainland China.

 

[AndreusMaximus]

Boy, the sound of that shell whistling off into the great blue yonder... I can't imagine how terrifying that sound would be on the receiving end.

 

[Leadeye]

Boy, the sound of that shell whistling off into the great blue yonder... I can't imagine how terrifying that sound would be on the receiving end.

Sadly the chicoms will probably never hear it. Fixed position stuff like that gun is going to get a heavy rocket or two on the opening shots of the Taiwan invasion.

 

[BigMoose]

Sadly the chicoms will probably never hear it. Fixed position stuff like that gun is going to get a heavy rocket or two on the opening shots of the Taiwan invasion.

They are kept in bunkers with tracks that go back in granite rock. A large nuke would struggle to get them in the retracted position.

 

[Brad69]

The M1 8-inch howitzer had a range of almost 18,000 meters (eleven miles) and fired a 200-pound shell with great accuracy. The M1A1 155mm “Long Tom” could hurl a 127-pound projectile to a range of 22,000 meters (13.7 miles), while the M1 8-inch gun fired a 240-pound shell up to 32,500 meters (20.2 miles).

They were used up to the mid 90’s . I only remember the self propelled version. They were very loud and had a retaining band on the shell after firing falls away from the round and makes a crazy whirring noise.

 

[Kdf101]

seems to be really slow to load and fire. Maybe just for demonstration purposes, or are these big ones that slow to load?

 

[BigMoose]

seems to be really slow to load and fire. Maybe just for demonstration purposes, or are these big ones that slow to load?

Big ones are.. slow to load

1 round per minute (maximum)

30 rounds per hour (sustained)

In US service, it's first use was in Anzio, when the Army got tired of Anzio Annie Krupp railway gun, and used these to run them off.

While these were ostensibly moveable. It was a logistical pain in the arse.
"The 240 mm howitzer M1 was broken down into two loads for travel (the barrel and recoil mechanism and the carriage), each towed on a six-wheeled wagon by a Mack NO 7½-ton 6x6 truck or another heavy prime mover such as the M33 or M35. A truck-mounted crane was required to assemble and disassemble the weapon"




This was far from a shoot and scoot weapon. This is what you would drag out when some MFer was dug in and entrenched in some stout stuff. It's infamous for exploding an entire mountain full of Chinese ammo in a deep ammo dump.

During the Korean war, twelve 240 mm howitzers were brought out of 'mothballs' and sent to the front lines to deal with deep bunkers and fortifications built by the Chinese that could not be effectively attacked by the smaller artillery weapons then on hand. They were utilized in two units in Korea, the 213th and 159th Field Artilleries. The weapons went into action on May 1, 1953. On that day, the first round was fired by Baker battery 213th at a target on top of a hill called ‘the donut’ by aerial observers. The first round was just supposed to be a ceremonial shot, however it struck an ammo dump directly on top of ‘the donut’ which set off a chain reaction and blew part of the top of the hill off in a spectacular fashion.

 

[Kdf101]

Wonder how old that ammo is they are shooting? I can’t imagine it is being made anymore?

 

[2tonic]

No reflection on the professionalism of the soldiers, but the sheer scale of the gun, and the movements required for operation, had me waiting for the appearance of a certain coyote.

 

[inshooter97]

Russian 203mm howitzers are cool too. They were used at Stalingrad.

 

[Mongo59]

They are kept in bunkers with tracks that go back in granite rock. A large nuke would struggle to get them in the retracted position.

You don't have to take the guns out, just remove the ability to pull them out to operate. When the dust clears you can come back to dig them out and use them yourself...

 

[arty8]

Wonder how old that ammo is they are shooting? I can’t imagine it is being made anymore?

In Korea in the late 90's we routinly used Powder for our 155's from 1944. Shot just fine...weird smell. I also blew 25lb shape charges from 1943. Worked perfectly, but the carrying strap had disintigrated.

 

[Methane Herder]

In the early/ mid 60s, the need for large bore arty was supplanted by........

MH

 

[BigRed]

Is Putin dead yet?