The 8-inch Gun Mk. VI, mod 3A2, on railway mount M1A1 was a World War II version of the earlier M1888 gun. and was used to support coast artillery fortifications.

History

The MK. VI railway gun was quickly put together at the start of World War II, to supplement and replace the older World War I M1888 railway gun. these guns had a very short life, rolling out in Feb. of 1941, and being cut up for scrap immediately after the war. The gun was based on the Navy's 8 inches (203.2 mm) Mark VI, and may have been built at Watervliet Arsenal

Watervliet Arsenal

The Watervliet Arsenal is an arsenal of the United States Army located in Watervliet, New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River. It is the oldest continuously active arsenal in the United States, and today produces much of the artillery for the army, as well as gun tubes for cannons, mortars,...

. It was mounted both en Barbette

Barbette

A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...

 as well as on the M1A1 railway carriage.

Sighting and fire control equipment

The following sighting equipment was used with the gun.

• M1 Deflection board
• M1 fire adjustment board
• M1A1 Range correction board
• M3 Spotting board
• M1912 Clinometer
• M1 Percentage corrector
• M1A1 Height finder, or M2A1
• M6 Azmuth indicator
• M5 Elevation indicator
• M1910A1 Azmuth instrument
• M8 Helium filling kit
• M1 Gunners quadrant
• Type B, set forward rule
• M1 prediction scale
• bore site
• firing table, 8-I-1. http://www.eugeneleeslover.com/USN-GUNS-AND-RANGE-TABLES/FT8I1-FIRING-TABLES-8-A-TABLE-OF-CONTENTS.html
• M7 stereoscopic trainer
• M1 generating unit

Surviving Artifacts

• one survivor at Fort Miles
  Fort Miles
  Fort Miles was an American military installation located on Cape Henlopen near Lewes, Delaware. Although funds to build the fort were approved in 1934, it was 1941 before the fort was constructed. It was built to defend Delaware Bay and River and to protect domestic shipping from enemy fire within...
  
   http://www.fortmiles.org/firepower/batteries/batt2021.html
• Two 8-inch Guns Mk VI M3A2 (#160L2 & #154L2)

Battery 404, Fort Abercrombie

Fort Abercrombie

Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River in Dakota Territory to be used for a military outpost, but the exact location was left to the discretion of...

, Kodiak, AK

• One 8-inch Gun Mk VI M3A2 (#134L2)

Kodiak Airport, Kodiak, AK (gun formerly at Battery 403, Fort J.H. Smith, Kodiak, AK)

• One 8-inch Gun Mk VI M3A2 (# ) on railway carriage (bored to 9.12-inches)

Naval Surface Warfare Center

Naval Surface Warfare Center

The Naval Sea Systems Command Warfare Centers are composed of the Naval Surface Warfare Centers and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center . They operate in a seamless, integrated manner, and they collaborate with customers using a common work assignment process to get the right work to the right...

 Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, VA

See also

• List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation

External links

• http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_8-45_mk6.htm
• http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_8-45_mk6_pics.htm
• http://www.skylighters.org/wwiirr/index.html
• http://corregidor.org/chs_bogart/bogart3a.htm
• http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=kllg72QjncI
• http://www.kadiak.org/artillery/8in.html
• http://www.airdefenseartillery.com/online/2010/Coast%20Artillery%20Journal/Extract/CA%201942/Nov-Dec%201942.pdf