RGJ/H. Alan Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 This thing is big!! Video link to see the beast in action an also some jeeps an a massive truck thing(One for antarmike) thrown in for good measure http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fa9_1284436848 An heres a Wiki link for the SP on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_artillery#United_States_nuclear_artillery Eddie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Is the such a thing of a Civilian Mobile Nuclear Artillery, The nuclear artillery that gets me was called the Davy Crockett a nuclear mortar bomb fitted on a 155mm recoiless gun firing a weapon with a yeld of upto 250tons equiv. out to a max range of 4,000metres. :nut: it was carried in a M113 personel carrier Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 Massive truck is IMHO a T10 transporter built by Kenworth It was in fact the onle "double ender" out into production by the USA It was popularly known as the Atomic Cannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Big - not required - all that was needed was a Davey Crocket tripod - anybody got one in their collection ? I suppose the yanks had them on the North German Plains , did the British have a equiv. ?? Must have done but will still be subject of the OSA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 ruxy Big - not required - I think Booky was refering about the 280mm atomic cannon- But it would be intersting to see if any Davy Croketts exist outside artillery museums in the USA. Off hand I don't think the British had anything like it -they certainly had access to 203mm shells though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon_M Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 One of the US dealers has the rear end truck of the pair up for sale about $15000 or so. Not sure if it would be a lot of use without the front end and the bit in the middle though Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Harrison Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 In the mid 50's BAOR had Corporal which was a modified V2- its fuel was very unpleasant ( I think fuming nitric acid came in somewhere!) of US origin with US provided warheads. In about 1961 BAOR received Honest John Mk1 and 8" towed Howitzers (1941 or earlier vintage).These latter were towed by vintage (1938?) MACK's that were truly awful,,,each gun had a spare tractor for when the first broke down! I recall one gun & tractor celebrated their 50th combined birthday shortly after we were issued with them! The H.J. were mounted on current 6x6 US GMC (maybe Internationals). The warhead and free flight rocket were carried on an LWB chassis truck (and 4 wheel trailer) similar to the launcher. The warhead & Rocket were "mated" using a US supplied "Wrecker" (after totally unsuitable British "Coles" cranes had been tried & rejected!) There were three sizes of warhead (again under US control...but we had to guard them!)for the free flight Honest John - up to Hiroshima size) and one fractional yield shell for the 8". A mark 2 launcher vehicle came in in about 1963/4 with a shorter "fold back" launch rail- a big improvement & "into action" times were cut down appreciably. Belgian forces certainly had HJ also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 David Harrisonand 8" towed Howitzers (1941 or earlier vintage). Good first post -welcome to forum. The manufacture date would be about 1941 or later as the 8inch howitzer was finally standardised on a M1 carriage in 1940, they played about with the design of the 8inch tube way back into the 1920s - lots of redundant WW1 guns and carriages to play with and get things right:-). Whether by the 1960s a towed 8inch howitzer, -even for that matter an open mounted SPG like the M43, was valid on a potentially nuclear battlefield is debatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Harrison Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 I sered with HJ & our lifespan if the Russians came was not expected to be long as Speznaz had nuclear artillery as a prime target. We adopted "scoot & shoot" to have minimum exposure, otherwise we hid! The 8" was smaller & easier to hide & came into action relatively quickly. Its advantage as a weapon was that its accuracy (compared to HJ) was excellent, so it was to be used against relatively small pinpoint targets,,,evena quarter kt would give a serious headache! The shell only weighed about 100kg, so could be (and was) carried in the back of a Landrover! But don't tell the Americans who required there prcious warheads to be escorted by armoured cars, platoons of infantry all covered in warning flags! D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 David HarrisonThe shell only weighed about 100kg, so could be (and was) carried in the back of a Landrover! But don't tell the Americans who required there prcious warheads to be escorted by armoured cars, platoons of infantry all covered in warning flags! Yes, the last thing you need with the S'naz looking for targets is warning flags or lots of activety:cool2: good stuff:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon_M Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Your 8" Howitzers were towed by Mack NO series 7.5 ton 6 x 6 trucks. Although the variants were almost identical, they weren't old trucks, having started off as NO2 series during WW2 and getting to the NO7 by the time you got them. Never driven one myself, but there are a lot around, and very popular, since as late as about 1995 you could by an obselete complete unit in drive-away condition for £1300 - couldn't give them away as petrol had just increased to a whopping 55p a GALLON, not litre. Anyone here own one and want to say a word in their defence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 The warhead and free flight rocket were carried on an LWB chassis truck (and 4 wheel trailer) similar to the launcher. The warhead & Rocket were "mated" using a US supplied "Wrecker" (after totally unsuitable British "Coles" cranes had been tried & rejected!) We have an International Harvester M55 which was designed for this purpose. It was never fitted out for missile transporting though, unlike Firepower museums example which we once saw in open storage. Have seen a picture of it towing the trailer, one hell of a long rig! The wrecker was the M62, the chassis and cab of the whole HJ units' vehicles being common to the M54 5 ton truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 a shot of a rear tractor as mentioned earlier in a scrap yard back in the late 80's I think when I saw it and a number of those long wheel base/ cargo bodied trucks Would these have been the missile trailers ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 No, the missile trailers were 4 wheelers, with the axles in the centre. We once spoke to a chap who had been towed half way across Germany by Militant in an M55 with trailer. The vehicle had been "bulled up" and the paint brushes had been cleaned out in the fuel tank. Unsurprisingly green paint found its way into the fuel system and clogged it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 ruxy....I suppose the yanks had them on the North German Plains , did the British have a equiv. ?? One of those wekends when odd things are found on the net. Evidently the British were develping there own version of the Davey Crockett, surprising for its time it was a form of Netron bomb hence the relatively low yield. Refered to as Wee Gwen it was discontinued due to absorbing too much fissle material and probably cash. http://www.nuclear-weapons.info/vw.htm#Wee%20Gwen Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Interesting site - will have to wait for the next wet afternoon to slowly read through it. I have done a bit of Gooooooogling around the words "Wee Gwen" with suitable words such as MOD & nuclear - strange - nothing turns up !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Just goes to proove that search engines aren't infalible- I found and image of a Davy Crockett and found it to the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 The site owner - probably obtains his source material from the US where it will have been cleared , British munition for Davey Crockett probably still subject to UK OSA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Just been skimming through some "Soldier" magazines which I was given as a child - found a few bits on artilery missiles - these from May 1956 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 September 1959 issue celebrates the first test firing of Corporal - on a range in the outer Hebrides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Is the such a thing of a Civilian Mobile Nuclear Artillery, The nuclear artillery that gets me was called the Davy Crockett a nuclear mortar bomb fitted on a 155mm recoiless gun firing a weapon with a yeld of upto 250tons equiv. out to a max range of 4,000metres. :nut: it was carried in a M113 personel carrier Steve I suppose when terrorists finally get hold of Nuclear weapons, they will be still be classed as civilians.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 From July 1957 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I had an Honest John, when I was a kid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I had an Honest John, when I was a kid! Likewise!!! Always wanted he Corgi Corporal missile set, but the finances would never run to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rog8811 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I thought this was the same animal as in the first post until I counted the wheels, I will post as it looks very much like its bigger brother. Regards rog8811 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.