3-inch M1902 field gun

3-inch M1902 field gun

M1905 model
Type Light field gun
Place of origin  United States
Service history
In service 1902–1920s
Used by US Army
Wars World War I
Production history
Designer Watervliet Arsenal
Designed 1902
Produced 1902–1917
Number built
  • M1902: 182
  • M1904: 40
  • M1905: 441
Variants M1902, M1904, M1905
Specifications
Weight gun & breech : 835 lb (379 kg) (1902 & 1904)
788 lb (357 kg) (1905);
2,520 lb (1,140 kg)
gun & carriage total.
Barrel length 28 calibers, 7 feet (2.1 m) (bore)
Shell Fixed ammunition, 15 lb (6.8 kg) shell
Calibre 3-inch (76.2 mm)
Breech Interrupted screw, De Bange type
Recoil hydrospring, 45 inches (1.14 m)
Carriage wheeled
Elevation -5° to +15°
Rate of fire 15 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity 1,700 ft/s (520 m/s)
Effective firing range 6,000 yd (5,500 m)
at 15° elevation
Maximum firing range 8,500 yd (7,800 m) approx.
Feed system hand

The 3-inch field gun M1902 (76.2 mm), a.k.a. M1904 and M1905, was the U.S. Army’s first nickel steel, quick-firing field gun with a recoil mechanism. Like its predecessor the 3.2-inch gun M1897, it was a rifled breechloader.

Design

The features of rifling, breech loading with fixed ammunition, and a hydraulic-spring system to absorb the gun's recoil and quickly return it to the firing position combined to improve the range, accuracy, and rate of fire of the gun compared with previous weapons, allowing it to be used more effectively in operations with infantry. These new capabilities allowed the gun to provide accurate indirect fire on targets not in a direct line of sight, which provided crucial firepower for infantry attacks. It was also one of the first US artillery guns with an armored shield to protect the crew from small arms fire. The gun fired 3 inches (76 mm) steel, shrapnel, or explosive shells that weighed 15 pounds (6.8 kg).[1] The use of nickel steel construction meant that the M1902 could fire a heavier shell at a higher muzzle velocity and greater accuracy (due to tighter rifling) than any other field gun of American origin to that point.[2] It had a muzzle velocity of 1,700 ft/s (520 m/s) with an effective range of 6,500 yards (5,900 m), and a maximum range of 8,500 yards (7,800 m). The maximum rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute.

This was not the same weapon as the 3-inch M1902 seacoast gun, which was designed by Bethlehem Steel and was mounted in fixed defenses.

Service history

This weapon replaced the 3.2-inch gun M1897 in most combat units, but both weapons remained in service until after World War I. General John J. Pershing brought several of the guns with him during the Mexican Punitive Expedition in 1916–17, but they were not fired in combat.[2]

The M1902/5 was in service from 1905 through 1919. During World War I, the Army primarily used the French 75 mm gun instead of the M1902s, which were mostly kept in the United States for training. Very few of the M1902s were used in combat in Europe. They were gradually phased out of active service in the 1920s.

Surviving examples

M1902 field gun at the First Division Museum tank park at Cantigny Park.
A 3-inch M1902 field gun exhibited at the Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin, Texas.

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Notes

  1. 1 2 M1902 3 Inch Field Gun, 1st Division Museum, Cantigny
  2. 1 2 Williford, pp. 22-25
  3. ↑ 3-inch gun, Westminster, MA at Waymarking.com
  4. ↑ 3-inch gun, New London, MO at Waymarking.com
  5. ↑ Photos of weapon formerly at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
  6. ↑ M1905 field gun at Historical Marker Database
  7. ↑ 3-inch gun, Oklahoma City, OK at Waymarking.com
  8. ↑ 45th Division Museum

References

External links

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