Often, when considering American weapons systems, we say that most of them are intended for expeditionary units and subunits. It is clear that being "on the outskirts" of world politics, the Americans were well aware that they would have to get involved in a war on another continent. Opponents in the form of Canada or Mexico did not particularly disturb the United States.
This, perhaps, explains the fact that the US army practically does not use stationary artillery systems even in coastal defense. The mobility of guns has always been a prerequisite for their adoption.
So it happened with the famous American field 155-mm gun M1 / M2 "Long Tom". Long (lanky) Vol. A weapon born … by the First World War! It sounds a little defiant, but it was the study of the use of artillery systems by the belligerent armies in the First World War that made the Americans go to create their own large-caliber mobile weapons.
The Americans took the study of the artillery systems of the European armies quite seriously. On December 11, 1918, by order of the Chief of Staff of the US Army, a Caliber Commission was created, headed by Brigadier General Westervelt. For most of those interested in American artillery systems, it is known precisely as the Westervelt Commission.
The commission studied practically all systems of that time. And it had a very specific task - to define the concept of the development of American artillery for the next 20 years. As you can see, the strategic thinking of American staff officers was already drawing correct conclusions about trends in world politics.
So, on May 5, 1919, General Westervelt presented a report that determined the further development of American artillery. For those who are interested, we advise you to read this report in full. It applies to almost all weapons. From light to powerful weapons. But today we are interested in the Lanky (Long) Volume.
Among the "ideal" guns of the modern army, the commission named a 155-mm heavy cannon with a firing range of up to 23 km, circular fire and mechanical thrust. At the end of World War I, the US Army adopted the French 155mm "Great Power Cannon" Model 1917 GPF, horse-drawn.
Naturally, buying a gun and transporting it to the United States was expensive. Therefore, in the United States, they began to produce this gun under its own designation M1918.
With all the advantages of the system, some disadvantages also appeared. First of all, horse traction. For a mobile, expeditionary type of army, it was quite expensive to carry herds of horses. In addition, it was necessary to increase the firing range and the firing sector. And finally, in addition to the 155-mm cannon, a howitzer on the same gun carriage was also needed. Simply put, you need a duplex.
By the way, the first developments of such duplexes, a 155-mm cannon and a 203-mm howitzer, were already in metal in 1920! Moreover, according to some sources, they even passed field tests. But the work was stopped due to lack of funding.
However, the development of the new gun continued. Once again, the development of the new 155-mm cannon took into account such requirements as an increase in the range and sector of fire, mechanical (tractor) traction, unification of carriages for a heavy cannon and a howitzer.
In 1933, a 155-mm gun on a T2 carriage was tested at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Later, the T4 gun appeared with an increased barrel length. In 1938, the T4E2 cannon with a 12 carriage was put into service under the designation "155-mm M1 cannon". In March 1939, the first regular battery fired. It was this weapon that later became the famous "Tom".
By the beginning of World War II, 65 M1 guns were in service with the US Army. Which was extremely small for such an army. That is why the American industry (Waterlite Arsenal) ramped up the production of these systems in a fairly short time.
Now about why Tom became Long or Lanky. The story is common enough for immediate Americans. What I see is what I call. The gun had a barrel length of 45 calibers, for which it received the nickname "Long Tom" (Long Tom). There are 48 right-hand grooves in the bore. The barrel was connected to the breech through an intermediate sleeve.
Charging - separate, cap, for ignition, a Mk IIA4 primer was used.
The piston valve with a plastic seal is made according to the scheme patented by J. L. Smith and D. F. Esbury. Unlocking the bolt, removing it from the socket and tilting to the side was done with one movement of the lever. So does the shutter locking.
Recoil devices - hydropneumatic, with variable recoil length. To increase the elevation angle, the trunnions of the upper machine are raised and carried back, which required a balancing mechanism with two hydropneumatic cylinders.
The combat drive of the lower carriage machine was two biaxial bogies - only four twin wheels with wide rubber tires. In the combat position, the frontal part of the lower machine was lowered to the ground with the help of two screw jacks, the wheels were hung out, the beds were pulled apart.
The support of the frontal part of the carriage on the ground and the driven openers of the beds ensured stability when firing. The carriage is unified with the heavy 203 mm M1 howitzer.
The gun was towed at speeds up to 19-20 km / h by wheeled or tracked tractors, including high-speed tractors M4 and M5, armored vehicles M33 and M44. Before towing, the barrel was separated from the recoil devices and pulled back on the carriage.
The uniaxial front end of the M2 limited the towing speed and overcoming irregularities due to the vibrations of the long carriage. The front of the M5, which limited vibrations, turned out to be unsafe in operation, and the calculations preferred the front of the M2 even when using high-speed tractors.
On the march, the wagon had a length of more than 11 m and a width of 2.5 m. The dimensions made it difficult to move on narrow roads, obviously the excessive weight of the system - on dirt roads and light bridges. Some calculations hooked the gun to the tractor with chains without the use of limbs.
The ammunition included high-explosive fragmentation, high-explosive armor-piercing, smoke, chemical shells, similar to the 155-mm howitzer ammunition. The charges, of course, are not interchangeable with howitzer charges. The main propellant charge of 9, 25 kg of nitroglycerin powder provided a firing range of a high-explosive projectile up to 17 km, for the maximum range, an additional charge of 4, 72 kg was used.
The Long Tom began its combat path in North Africa on December 24, 1942. During Operation Torch, the guns were part of Battery A of the 36th Field Artillery Battalion.
Subsequently, these systems were actively used in the Pacific theater of operations (7 divisions). In Europe, "Long Tom" fought in the British army. Even the French, who were also organizationally part of the British army, received several guns. In total, 40 M1 / M2 divisions took part in the European theater of operations.
Later, the system was used during the Korean War. For the total number of such systems in the US Army, the numbers vary. Most likely no more than 50 divisions.
Now it is necessary to clarify the designation of the "Long Volume". Where did the confusion come from, M1, M2, M59.
It is quite logical that a successful artillery system is being modernized, simplified, and installed on the chassis of vehicles. If you like, this is one of the indicators of "success". "Tom" did not escape this fate either.
In 1941, a modification of the M1A1 with a breech screwed onto the barrel was adopted, in September 1944 - the M2 with a simplified connection of the barrel and breech pipe and simplification of a number of other details.
During the war, a number of experimental modifications were developed, but not adopted - with a "rifled" projectile in the ammunition load, with chrome plating of the barrel bore, with liquid cooling of the barrel, with a carriage made of cheaper alloys to save high-quality steel, on stationary coastal defense installations, shortened for installation on a heavy tank.
To increase the mobility of the heavy 155 mm M1 or M1A1 cannons, several SPGs were developed during the war. In 1945, under the designation M40, a self-propelled version of the Long Tom was put into service on the rearranged chassis of the M4A3E8 medium tank.
With the advent of the M2, it is clear. Remains M59. Here the story is completely banal and uninteresting. The usual bureaucratic "reshuffle" caused by the reorganization of the US Army in the 50s of the last century. Just a new designation for M2, nothing more.
The performance characteristics of the "Lanky Tom":
Caliber, mm: 155
Barrel length, mm: 7020 (45 calibers)
Mass of the gun in combat position, kg: 13 800
High-explosive fragmentation projectile weight, kg: 43, 4
Muzzle velocity, m / s: 853
Maximum firing range, m: 23,500
Elevation angle of the trunk: from -2 ° to + 63 °
Horizontal guidance angle: 60 °
Maximum combat rate of fire, rds / min: 1-2
Calculation, people: 14
Time of transfer from traveling to combat position, min: 20-30
It remains to tell about the weapon that you see in our pictures. This "Long Tom" was "born" in 1944. The official name is the 1944 M2. It is located in the UMMC Museum of Military Equipment in Verkhnyaya Pyshma.
History is not exactly silent, but it has not yet been possible to establish exactly how the weapon turned out to be with us. It came to the museum from storage warehouses near Perm, and there …
Apparently, "Long Tom" became an object of study, therefore, either the North Koreans or the Vietnamese shared the trophy.
