Name This...(280)

[Brady]

???

[m10bob]

U.S.Army gun crew,looks like a 75mm M1897,(or the equivelant at maximum elevation.)Pre-war with old 30.06 cartridge pouches...Staged photo..

[LargeSlowTarget]

Couple of guys suffering from backaches and sore biceps next day.

[Twotribes]

You sure that isnt an antiair raft gun of some sort? Why would it be in a fixed position as a 75 mm gun? It doesnt look like it is on a carriage, but rather a set position.

[m10bob]

I believe you are correct about the mount,but only one of those shells looks like an aerial shell..Possible "dual purpose" use at this emplacement??..The gloves of course do not necessarily mean "cold environ",as those guys may have to assist with the "hot" casings..
I see rifles leaning on the walls in the rear.
"Hard stripe" is near front,left..

[rhohltjr]

If not staged, is this an antiaircraft gun pict from Philippines; Corrigadore maybe?

How about Wake?

[PeteG662]

It is an AA gun, either a 75mm or 90mm. Judging from the size of the ammo, I would be more inclined to say 75mm. One thing that is strange is that the guys are holding the projos with the fuse down instead of up. Safety considerations would suggest that the fuse be skyward in case it was dropped accidentally, even though the fuse arming mechanism would normally require imparting spin ala the lands and grooves in the barrel.

[pompack]

AA gun

Note the data cable entering the mount from the right side.

Also, they are holding the rounds nose down because of the fuse setter, located on the left side of the mount. Note that the man sixth from the left is inserting the fuse into the fuse setter (I think!!). The two men immediately to the right of this are loading a round into the gun.

Just as a curosity, note the color of the gun barrel itself. This is either a strange camo job or (just possibly) heat scorching the paint.

[Cap Mandrake]

likely an obsolescent 3 in AA gun. Look at the hats and leggings. This is either pre-war or early war.

There were several 3 in batteries at Wake and almost certainly in the PI and Hawaii.

[PeteG662]

The fuse setting needs to be done earlier than the "ready line" which is what the train of folks seem to be doing here with their rounds. They should already be set so they can shove those suckers in to have a high rate of fire as an AA mount. Holding it down is a safety issue so they are setting themselves up to be blown up!

[Desertdaddy]

I say 3”AA gun but not in the tropics. Alaska like Dutch Harbor or Sitka. The uniforms look rather warm and that might be snow on the ground near the troops holding the cartridges. More then the loaders have gloves on possible indicating cold hands.

[pompack]

ORIGINAL: Tallyman662

The fuse setting needs to be done earlier than the "ready line" which is what the train of folks seem to be doing here with their rounds. They should already be set so they can shove those suckers in to have a high rate of fire as an AA mount. Holding it down is a safety issue so they are setting themselves up to be blown up!

Sorry, but the time delay between fuse setting and firing was the greatest single source of error in the fire control problem (assuming good optics, a nice electro-MECHANICAL analog computer that didn't pack up that particular day, and a target that cooperated by flying staight and level). The time delay had to be super-consistent (the value was dialed into the computrer) and as short as possible to minimize the effect of angular and range rate errors). The fuse setting was always the last step before the round was slamed into the breach.

The actual fuse setting mechanism is a nice bit of mechanical jiggery-pokery. The shell was shoved hard into the mechanism; when the shoulder of the shell struck a release, two little calipers engaged two recesses in the fuse ring and gave it a twist. The amount of the twist was specified by a voltage provided by the computer and routed along that data cable. The twist rotated the fuse ring relative to the shell body and set the time delay. By 41 the time delay should be controlled by a clockwork mechanism (I forget the ordnance number for that fuse) but a lot of old, obsolete ammo was still in the stocks that used a burning powder train for a time delay. Once the delay was set (took less than a second I believe) the shell is passed to the ramming team that shoves it into the breach. The passage of the shell up the barrell was what actually started the time delay; there was no safety issue with a set fuse (after the fuse was set, it was still not ARMED; only the delay is set)

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Desertdaddy

I say 3”AA gun but not in the tropics. Alaska like Dutch Harbor or Sitka. The uniforms look rather warm and that might be snow on the ground near the troops holding the cartridges. More then the loaders have gloves on possible indicating cold hands.

Dang..you are right...that is snow [:)]

[khelvan]

ORIGINAL: pompack
Just as a curosity, note the color of the gun barrel itself. This is either a strange camo job or (just possibly) heat scorching the paint.

Frost, maybe?

[Brady]

It is, 90mm M1A1.

[Desertdaddy]

Is it bad form to disagree with the “official answer”? If so ban me from active posting for a while and I’ll just go back and lurk.[:)]

I believe the 90mm AA M1A1 is incorrect.

I believe it is actually an M3 76mm (3”) AA Gun. My reasons with web page evidence to back it up:

The white (or discolored) barrel visible on the far left side of the original picture is important.
-M3 on wake island, note the discolored barrel section
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Wake.html

-Costal defense M3 3” AA guns in NY, note the white barrel and single long tube part of the recoil mechanism (just below the barrel)
http://www.geocities.com/fort_tilden/aaguns.html

-3’ AA gun on Sitka Island, note the different colored barrel area and single tube part of the recoil mechanism again. Also note the metal deck looks just like the original photo
http://mchunter1.tripod.com/ww2pic/f3-inch.html

-90mm no discolored barrel and double recoil mechanism below the barrel (no longer tube). Recoil mechanism looks sturdier and more “encased” then the original photo
http://users.belgacom.net/artillery/art ... tml#232870

-90mm, again no discolored barrel, twin recoil mechanism look to be beneath the barrel. Also 2 long metal thingies (I’ve no idea what these are called) that are parallel with the barrel (supports?). Rear area around the breech again looks sturier and “encased” note the hone in some type of metal cover
http://www.nps.gov/wapa/indepth/extCont ... 0/sec9.htm

-And finally there are 2 elevation struts (the things that are almost perpendicular with the barrel) that are evident in most of the 3” pictures but not evident in any of the 90mm one.

-I think this photo shows best the same AA gun type (3” not 90mm) as the original, and it’s from Alaska where I think the original photo was taken.
http://mchunter1.tripod.com/ww2pic/f3-inch.html

[Brady]

I Stand Corected...Thats what I get forscaning an image from a book published in 1942 and not double checking it:)


It is, M3 3 inch AA gun[:)]


Thank you for pointing that out, Cool links BTW[:)]

[mlees]

I stand (sit, actually) stunned. Have we seen the first cracks in the "Brady for WW2 Historian of the year" award??[;)]

I'm still left in the dust by a lot of you guys...

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: mlees

Have we seen the first cracks in the "Brady for WW2 Historian of the year" award??[;)]

Luckily for Brady this is a new year and shouldn't affect the votes for 2004.

[DrewMatrix]

It looks to me like the three guys with the bullets are planning to do something rude to the loader when he bends over to open that little door in the back of the gun.