8 inch Gun M1
Encyclopedia
The 8 inch Gun M-1 was a 203 mm towed heavy gun developed in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It was used by the US Army and the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Development

Serious development began in June 1940 of an 8 inches (203.2 mm) gun that would have a range of 33500 yards (30,632.4 m), a road speed of 25 mi/h, be transported in 2 loads weighing no more than 44000 lb (19,958.1 kg) and be suitable for rail movement. Use of the carriage of the 240 mm howitzer M1
240 mm howitzer M1
The 240 mm howitzer M1, popularly nicknamed the "Black Dragon", was a towed howitzer used by the United States Army. The 240 mm M1 was designed to replace the World War I era 240 mm Howitzer M1918 which was based on a 1911 French design and was outdated by World War II.The project to replace...

 eased development, but the gun was very troublesome and wasn't standardized until January 1944. The main problems were excessive bore wear and poor accuracy, but it was felt that nothing better could be produced in a timely manner. Thus it entered production at a low rate and in small numbers.

Like the 240 mm howitzer, it was mounted on a stretched Heavy Tank T26E3
M26 Pershing
The Heavy Tank M26 Pershing was an American heavy tank briefly used in World War II and in the Korean War. It was named after General John Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I....

 chassis that had an extra bogie wheel per side as the 8in Gun Motor Carriage T93
T92 Howitzer Motor Carriage
The 240 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage T92 was self-propelled howitzer developed by the United States of America during World War II.The 240 mm M1 howitzer was mounted on a slightly modified Heavy Tank T26E3 later chassis - it used an extra bogie wheel, to bring a total of seven.A limited...

, but the war ended before they could be used and were later scrapped.

Transport

It also shared transport wagons with the 240 mm howitzer. One six-wheeled wagon carried the M2 carriage and the other carried the barrel as shown below: This separate configuration required the use of the M2 truck mounted crane for set up.

External links

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