The M114 155 mm howitzer was a towed
howitzerA howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
used by the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. It was first produced in 1942 as a medium artillery piece under the designation of 155 mm Howitzer M1. It saw service with the US Army during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the
Korean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, and the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, before being replaced by the
M198 howitzerThe M198 howitzer is a medium-sized, towed artillery piece, developed for service with the United States Army and Marine Corps. It was commissioned to be a lightweight replacement for the WWII era M114 155mm howitzer. It was designed and prototyped at the Rock Island Arsenal in 1969 with firing...
. The gun was used by the armed forces of many nations, including
AfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
,
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,
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,
CambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
,
CameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
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CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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ChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
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Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
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CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
,
EcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
,
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GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
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IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
,
IraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
,
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
,
JordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
,
South VietnamSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
,
South KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
,
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,
LibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
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,
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,
ThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
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VenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
,
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, and
YugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. One hundred sixteen surplus howitzers were sent to
BosniaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
in 1997. In some countries the M114 still remains in service.
Development
A new carriage was under development for much of the 1930s for the existing
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
-era M-1918 155 mm howitzer, which was a license-built French
Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 SchneiderThe Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider, often abbreviated as the C17S, was a French howitzer designed by Schneider et Cie. It was essentially the Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 Schneider fitted with a different breech to use bagged propellant rather than the cartridge cases used by the older howitzer...
until 1939 when it was realized that it did not seem logical to put a new carriage underneath an obsolete howitzer. So development began anew with a carriage designed to be used for either the 155 mm howitzer or the 4.7 inches (119.4 mm) gun. This was completed by 15 May 1941 when the Howitzer M1 on the Carriage M1 was standardized.
The howitzer itself differed from the older model by a lengthened barrel of 20 calibers and a new breech mechanism. Uniquely it was the sole 'slow-cone' interrupted screw mechanism to enter service after 1920. This meant that two separate movements were necessary to open the breech, versus the single movement of the 'steep cone' mechanism that simultaneously rotated and withdrew the breech.
The M1A1 was redesignated as the M114A1 in 1962.
Carriage variants
The carriage was also used by the
4.5 inch Gun M-1The 4.5 inch Gun M1 was a field gun developed in the United States in the beginning of World War II. It shared the same carriage with the 155mm Howitzer M1 and fired the same ammunition as the British BL 4.5 inch Medium Field Gun...
. It went through a number of minor changes over time. The original Warner electric brakes were replaced by Westinghouse air brakes on the M1A1. Both the M1 and M1A1 carriages used a mid-axle firing pedestal that was extended by a ratchet mechanism. The M1A2 replaced the ratchet with a screw-jack system and also modified the traveling lock. The M1A1E1 carriage was intended for use in jungle and muddy terrain and replaced the wheels of the M1A1 with a free-wheeling tracked suspension, but the project was terminated after V-J day without having reached production. The T-9 and T-10 carriages were projects using low-grade steel alloys that were canceled when no longer needed. The T-16 was a light-weight carriage using high-grade steel that was estimated to save some 1200 lb (544.3 kg); work began in July 1945 and continued after the war, although nothing seems to have come from it. A mid-1960s variant was the 155mm M123A1 auxiliary-propelled howitzer with an engine, driver’s seat, steering wheel, and guide wheel, all fitted on the left trail, allowing it to be more rapidly emplaced when detached from the prime mover. The extra weight on the left trail displaced the howitzer after each round was fired requiring it to be realigned and the project was abandoned. The concept was copied from the Soviet 85mm SD-44 auxiliary-propelled antitank gun developed in 1954 and used by airborne forces.
Self-propelled mounts
The howitzer was experimentally mounted on a lengthened chassis of the
M5 light tankThe M3 Stuart, formally Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II and supplied to British and Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war—and used thereafter by U.S...
. The resulting vehicle received the designation 155 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage T64. A single prototype was built before the T64 project was abandoned in favor of T64E1, based on the
M24 ChaffeeThe Light Tank M24 was an American light tank used during World War II and in postwar conflicts including the Korean War and with the French in the War in Algeria and First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee, after the United States Army General Adna R...
light tank chassis. This was eventually adopted as 155mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M41 and saw action in the
Korean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Ammunition
The gun fired separate loading, bagged charge ammunition, with seven different propelling charges, from 1 (the smallest) to 7 (the largest). Muzzle velocity, range and penetration in the tables below are for maximum charge in form of complete M4A1 propelling charge.
| Propelling charges |
| Model |
Weight |
Components |
| M3 |
2.69 kilogram |
Base charge and four incremental charges (for charges 1 to 5) |
| M4 |
6.29 kilogram |
Base charge and two incremental charges (for charges 5 to 7) |
| M4A1 |
6.31 kilogram |
Base charge and four incremental charges (for charges 3 to 7) |
| Mk I Dummy |
3.63 kg (8 lb) |
Base charge and six incremental charges |
| M2 Dummy |
3.34 kilogram |
Base charge and six incremental charges |
-
| Projectiles |
| Type |
Model |
Weight |
Filler |
Muzzle velocity |
Range |
| HE |
HE M102 Shell |
43.13 kg (95.1 lb) |
TNT, 7.06 kilogram |
|
|
| HE |
HE M107 Shell The M107 155mm projectile is the US Army and US Marine Corps' standard high explosive projectile for howitzers. It is a bursting round with fragmentation and blast effects.The M107 is being superseded in the US military by the M795 projectile....
|
43 kg (94.8 lb) |
TNT, 6.86 kilogram |
564 m/s (1,850.4 ft/s) |
14955 m (16,355 yd) |
| Smoke |
FS M105 Shell |
45.14 kg (99.5 lb) |
Sulfur trioxide Sulfur trioxide is the chemical compound with the formula SO3. In the gaseous form, this species is a significant pollutant, being the primary agent in acid rain. It is prepared on massive scales as a precursor to sulfuric acid.-Structure and bonding:Gaseous SO3 is a trigonal planar molecule of...
in Chlorosulfonic acid, 7.67 kilogram |
|
|
| Smoke |
WP M105 Shell |
44.55 kg (98.2 lb) |
White phosphorus (WP), 7.08 kilogram |
|
|
| Smoke |
FS M110 Shell |
45.45 kg (100.2 lb) |
Sulfur trioxide Sulfur trioxide is the chemical compound with the formula SO3. In the gaseous form, this species is a significant pollutant, being the primary agent in acid rain. It is prepared on massive scales as a precursor to sulfuric acid.-Structure and bonding:Gaseous SO3 is a trigonal planar molecule of...
in Chlorosulfonic acid, 7.67 kilogram |
|
|
| Smoke |
WP M110 Shell |
44.63 kg (98.4 lb) |
White phosphorus (WP), 7.08 kilogram |
|
|
| Smoke, colored |
BE M116 Shell |
39.21 kg (86.4 lb) |
Smoke mixture, 7.8 kilogram |
|
|
| Smoke |
HC BE M116 Shell |
43.14 kg (95.1 lb) |
Zinc chloride (HC), 11.7 kilogram |
564 m/s (1,850.4 ft/s) |
14955 m (16,355 yd) |
| Chemical |
CNS M110 Shell |
44.05 kg (97.1 lb) |
Chloroacetophenone (CN) Phenacyl chloride is a substituted acetophenone. It is a useful building block in organic chemistry. Apart from that, it has been historically used as a riot control agent, where it is designated CN.-Preparation:...
, 6.26 kilogram |
|
|
| Chemical |
H M110 Shell |
43.09 kg (95 lb) |
Mustard gasThe sulfur mustards, or sulphur mustards, commonly known as mustard gas, are a class of related cytotoxic, vesicant chemical warfare agents with the ability to form large blisters on exposed skin. Pure sulfur mustards are colorless, viscous liquids at room temperature...
, 5.02 kilogram |
564 m/s (1,850.4 ft/s) |
14972 m (16,373.6 yd) |
| Illumination |
Illuminating M118 Shell |
46.77 kg (103.1 lb) |
Illuminant candles, 4.02 kilogram |
|
|
| Drill |
Dummy Mk I Projectile |
|
- |
- |
- |
| Drill |
Dummy M7 Projectile |
43.09 kg (95 lb) |
- |
- |
- |
-
| Concrete penetration, mm |
| Ammunition \ Distance |
0 |
914 m (999.6 yd) |
2743 m (2,999.8 yd) |
4572 m (5,000 yd) |
| HE M107 Shell (meet angle 0°) |
884 millimetre |
792 millimetre |
610 mm (2 ft) |
488 millimetre |
| Different methods of measurement were used in different countries / periods. Therefore, direct comparison is often impossible. |
External links
- http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m114.htm
- M114