Howitzer Display

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Here is a picture of one of C-6-16th FA guns that was destroyed on 12-27-1966 at LZ Bird.

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Another outstanding photo, really good to see iillum rounds in the picture

 

Thanks.

[RedLegGI]

Here is a picture of one of C-6-16th FA guns that was destroyed on 12-27-1966 at LZ Bird.

 

Thanks for sharing all of this information on some hard chargin' Red Legs in action. I went by snow hall quite often on Sill, but never got a chance to go in.

 

 

Brent

[skautdog]

Cannoncocker155mm, thanks for sharing a great display! It's obvious a great deal of time and effort went into your project.

 

1SG_1st_Cav, thanks for sharing the VN photos. They bring back firebase memories. As a former grunt platoon leader I always appreciate it when the big guns go boom!

 

You Redlegs even helped me a couple of times when I was temporarily disoriented!

 

Ken

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Ken: We were just doing our jobs. And are jobs were to support the Infantry with the most Timely, Accurate, and Deadly Firepower known to modern man. We just loved to reach out and touch the enemy with the finest explosives and metal objects we could to show them the affects of US Made products. Yes, that's right, we were marketing US Made products! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Danny Danny

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Ken: We were just doing our jobs. And are jobs were to support the Infantry with the most Timely, Accurate, and Deadly Firepower known to modern man. We just loved to reach out and touch the enemy with the finest explosives and metal objects we could to show them the affects of US Made products. Yes, that's right, we were marketing US Made products! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Danny Danny

 

Sounds like a Great Story to me . Thats the best kind of advertising I've ever seen, up close and personal

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Found this picture today in my collection of another sad looking 155, think this is WW2 or Korea, they do make a mess when they let go.

 

 

Here is another picture of a 155 looking very sorry for its self, I took this picture in 2001 during my trip to Vietnam, this was taken at Khe Sanh. What a waste, would love to see it restored making it a fitting Memorial to the Veterans who served out there.

 

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Cannoncocker155mm, thanks for sharing a great display! It's obvious a great deal of time and effort went into your project.

 

1SG_1st_Cav, thanks for sharing the VN photos. They bring back firebase memories. As a former grunt platoon leader I always appreciate it when the big guns go boom!

 

You Redlegs even helped me a couple of times when I was temporarily disoriented!

 

Ken

 

Thank you Sir for the kind words Glad you liked the display.

[1SG_1st_Cav]

The howitzer in the first pic above is a WWII vintage M-1. My Regiment used those in Europe during WWII after they served in the PTO from 1942-44. What I see could only be caused by a catastrophic failure of the tube. If you don't change the tube when it wears out it will blow up because too many rounds were fired thru it. The tremendous muzzle pressure that develops when the powder burns rapidly in a worn and weakened tube will cause it to blow apart like the one in this picture above. Howitzer tubes have a certain life to them, and is approximately 7,500 Full Service rounds before the tubes must be changed. It all depends on what charges they have been firing. In almost all cases it will be a mixture of charges from 1-7, and there are charts that describe the formula. But all rounds fired are kept in a log book by the Chief of Section. It is his responsibility to notify the XO when the number of Full Service rounds fired approaches 80%. We fired 1,260,000 rounds in a little over 5 years in Vietnam. On average, each of our howitzers fired about 14,000 each per year. So each howitzer underwent a tube change about twice each year. Shown below is a picture taken in January 1968 of a tube being changed of a howitzer from A-1-30th FA at LZ Ross. A Btry was hit hard on LZ Ross on 3 January and again on 14 January. They suffered over 28 WIAs during those two attacks. Danny

[skautdog]

Ken: We were just doing our jobs. And are jobs were to support the Infantry with the most Timely, Accurate, and Deadly Firepower known to modern man. We just loved to reach out and touch the enemy with the finest explosives and metal objects we could to show them the affects of US Made products. Yes, that's right, we were marketing US Made products! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Danny Danny

 

Danny,

 

I'll not only attest to the quality of your products, but to the implementation and effectiveness. Like I said, I liked it when the big guns went boom. Thank you, sir!

 

Ken

[Cannoncocker155mm]

The howitzer in the first pic above is a WWII vintage M-1. My Regiment used those in Europe during WWII after they served in the PTO from 1942-44. What I see could only be caused by a catastrophic failure of the tube. If you don't change the tube when it wears out it will blow up because too many rounds were fired thru it. The tremendous muzzle pressure that develops when the powder burns rapidly in a worn and weakened tube will cause it to blow apart like the one in this picture above. Howitzer tubes have a certain life to them, and is approximately 7,500 Full Service rounds before the tubes must be changed. It all depends on what charges they have been firing. In almost all cases it will be a mixture of charges from 1-7, and there are charts that describe the formula. But all rounds fired are kept in a log book by the Chief of Section. It is his responsibility to notify the XO when the number of Full Service rounds fired approaches 80%. We fired 1,260,000 rounds in a little over 5 years in Vietnam. On average, each of our howitzers fired about 14,000 each per year. So each howitzer underwent a tube change about twice each year. Shown below is a picture taken in January 1968 of a tube being changed of a howitzer from A-1-30th FA at LZ Ross. A Btry was hit hard on LZ Ross on 3 January and again on 14 January. They suffered over 28 WIAs during those two attacks. Danny

 

Everytime I go on here I find out something new and interesting, I just love the information that flows, I can't thank you for all your knowledge and time.

 

7,500 rounds is still a hell of a lot to go through one tube before being changed, the wear and pressure must be amazing. Again goes to the show the quality of the Weapon.

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Field Artillerymen just loved to blow S^#@ up. Especially when it was protecting the grunts. Thank you for your kind words! Danny

[1SG_1st_Cav]

1st Pic is one of our "PIGS" on LZ Dolly in late 1968. 2nd pic is A-1-30th FA firing alongside a major runway, also in late 1968 down south in the III CTZ. Gun is in full recoil firing Charge 7. Note the C-130 in the background waiting to take off as soon as the Fire Mission is finished.

[Cannoncocker155mm]

1st Pic is one of our "PIGS" on LZ Dolly in late 1968. 2nd pic is A-1-30th FA firing alongside a major runway, also in late 1968 down south in the III CTZ. Gun is in full recoil firing Charge 7. Note the C-130 in the background waiting to take off as soon as the Fire Mission is finished.

 

 

In the last photo you see a clear look at the cleaning rods, are they natural metal / alloy colour or were they painted white? Ive been told that they were sometimes white so they could be clearly seen / found during night firing ???

[skautdog]

Danny,

 

You ever have occasion to fire what I call "direct fire" i.e. horizontal or near so elevation? Sorry, I don't know the proper artillery term.

 

Ken

[RedLegGI]

Danny,

 

You ever have occasion to fire what I call "direct fire" i.e. horizontal or near so elevation? Sorry, I don't know the proper artillery term.

 

Ken

 

Direct fire is the correct term. I have some video of my battery doing this in Kuwait a few days prior to our move in to Iraq.

 

Charge 7.

 

When we shot charge 7 it was with a 30 yard long lanyard attached.

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Stuart: I'm not sure what you mean by white cleaning rods. We had very large rammer staffs that were aluminum alloy. You may be referring to the Aiming Stakes that were red and white with battery powered night lighting devices attached. Those devices were illuminated for night firing. I was trained as a Fire Direction Specialist, but after a ran afoul of my Btry CO, who was from Mississippi [he didn't like Italians from Ohio}. He busted me back to PVT on some BS charge and sent me to the guns. I spent 9 months humping a PIG. Yes we did fire direct fire with a 155mm Howitzer. And we always fired Charge 7 so the trajectory would stay as flat as possible. And we did not use a 30 yard long lanyard .This was in Korea in 1960-61.This picture was taken with 155's in the background, right after I was promoted to PFC at the ripe old age of 17 years, 11 months in 1960. And I was promoted back to PFC in June 1961. Danny

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Some folks like to blow smoke up your butt. I'm not one of them. I've stated my unit, the 1st Bn, 30th FA fired 1,260,000 rounds of 155mm ammo during a little over 5 years in Vietnam. Here are three pictures to back up that claim from Nov 1965 to April 1971. At least the first 1,000,000 for right now. There were actually two rounds fired on this occasion. The Red Round was fired by COL [later MG] Morris Brady, 1st Cav DIVARTY Commander. Then the White Round was fired by the commander of the 1st ARVN Airborne Brigade, LTC luong. I miss-labeled the tag on the picture as being fired in February 1970, when it was fired in January 1970. The article was not published until 11 February 1970. Our unit continued to fight until the last rounds were fired in April 1971. Multiply 1,260,000 rounds by 96 pounds, then divide by 2,000 to see how many tons we shot in 5 years and 4 months. Hard Charger ~ Sir! Danny PS: Check out our website at: [WWW.HardChargers.Com]

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Stuart: I'm not sure what you mean by white cleaning rods. We had very large rammer staffs that were aluminum alloy. You may be referring to the Aiming Stakes that were red and white with battery powered night lighting devices attached. Those devices were illuminated for night firing. I was trained as a Fire Direction Specialist, but after a ran afoul of my Btry CO, who was from Mississippi [he didn't like Italians from Ohio}. He busted me back to PVT on some BS charge and sent me to the guns. I spent 9 months humping a PIG. Yes we did fire direct fire with a 155mm Howitzer. And we always fired Charge 7 so the trajectory would stay as flat as possible. And we did not use a 30 yard long lanyard .This was in Korea in 1960-61.This picture was taken with 155's in the background, right after I was promoted to PFC at the ripe old age of 17 years, 11 months in 1960. And I was promoted back to PFC in June 1961. Danny

 

Hi,

Sorry yes I meant rammer staffs

 

I like the Red and White rounds, a great way to mark the event.

 

Sounds like you and your Btry CO didnt hit it off to well ???

 

You mention about being promoted to PFC at the ripe old age of 17 years, 11 months in 1960, I find it hard to belive that any of the 17 year olds I know today would be able to work and function on a firebase, most of them have enough trouble holding a converstation , How times have changed.

[1SG_1st_Cav]

I was 17 when I went to Korea in 1960. I got promoted while I was still 17 as I said above. My Btry CO and I did not get along, so he busted and sent me to the guns. I stayed a PVT till he rotated and the Btry XO became the CO. He promoted me to PFC the day after the other butt head left. That's nothing, I made E-8 twice also. When I got promoted to E-9, Department of the Army told me to pack my bags as I was going back to Germany after only 10 months in the states. They wanted me to go back to the same unit I had been in for 3 years. I asked for another Battalion and they said no way. I was the next guy in line and had to go right then. I asked for a 90 day deferment, and they said no way, you got to go right now. I declined the assignment and put in my retirement papers which were approved. Because I did not have the required two years in grade as E-9, they busted me back to E-8 when I retired. I retired with 20 years and 17 days in the Army. It was their loss as I was in an MOS that was critically short [15Z50]. But I did okay in civilian life when I retired so no big deal. Most 17 year-old kids cannot tie their shoes by themselves. They cannot get off of their Ipads or Iphones long enough to brush their teeth. Or turn loose of the X-Box controller long enough to take a shower. And facebook pretty much dominates their lives now. It is really quite sad. Danny

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Hi,

Danny, can you or anyone else ID what this bracket is for on my Howitzer, its on the left hand shield by the two hand wheels. I've looked through my manuals and found nothing to tell me what it is for ???

 

Thanks

 

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Stuart: Show me a wider shot of the shield. Thanks ~ Danny

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Try this picture, if you need a better shot I'll try and get it tommorow

 

 

In the picture you can see the bracket just above the sight box and below where the shield is folded on the left hand side

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Stuart: I've never seen that attachment ever used. And I've looked thru TM 9-1025-200-12 dated March 1965. I cannot find anything in it that shows its use. The mystery is the BCS (Battery Computer System) as I've never seen one. It may be something related to the BCS. I'm sorry but I don't have an answer for you. Danny

[Cannoncocker155mm]

Hi Danny,

Ok no problem, thanks for trying to ID it, I'll keep looking and let you know if i find anything

 

Thank you