8-inch gun M1888

8-inch M1888MIA1 railway gun
8-inch M1888MIA1 railway gun
	8-inch M1888MIA1 railway gun
Type	Coast defense gun or Railway gun
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1898–1946
Used by	United States
Wars	World War I,; World War II
Production history
Designed	1888
Manufacturer	gun: usually Watervliet Arsenal,; carriage: various, most designed by Watertown Arsenal
No. built	At least 96 with about 75 deployed;; 9 in fixed barbette emplacements,; about 64 in disappearing emplacements,; 37 or 47 on railway carriages (guns removed from fixed emplacements or storage)
Specifications
Mass	33,700 lb (15,300 kg)
Length	railcar: 40 ft 6 in (12.34 m)
Shell	separate loading,; 260 pounds (120 kg) AP,; 323 pounds (147 kg) AP shot & shell,; 200 pounds (91 kg) HE
Caliber	8 inches (203 mm)
Breech	Interrupted screw, De Bange type
Recoil	Hydro-spring
Carriage	M1892 barbette, M1894 and M1896 disappearing, M1918 barbette, M1918MI railway
Elevation	disappearing: 12 degrees,; railway: 42 degrees
Traverse	disappearing: 120 degrees,; railway: 360 degrees
Maximum firing range	disappearing: 14,200 yards (13,000 m),; railway: 23,900 yards (21,900 m)
Feed system	hand

8-inch gun M1888 on disappearing carriage M1896. The weapon in the upper left is a 12-inch coast defense mortar M1890.

8-inch gun M1888 on barbette carriage M1892; these preceded the disappearing carriage in US service.

8-inch gun M1888 on disappearing carriage M1894, Fort Constitution, New Hampshire.

The 8-inch gun M1888 (203 mm) was a U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps gun, initially deployed 1898–1908 in about 75 fixed emplacements, usually on a disappearing carriage. During World War I, 37 or 47 of these weapons (references vary) were removed from fixed emplacements or from storage to create a railway gun version, the 8-inch Gun M1888MIA1 Barbette carriage M1918 on railway car M1918MI, converted from the fixed coast defense mountings and used during World War I and World War II.

History

The M1888 8 in (203 mm) gun was a coastal artillery gun initially deployed as part of the Endicott system of fortifications. The first nine were deployed on the M1892 barbette carriage in 1898, but the improved M1894 and M1896 disappearing carriages soon became available, and approximately 64 additional weapons were deployed on these carriages by 1908. An "emergency" converted Rodman carriage was also used during the Spanish–American War in 1898 to quickly arm 21 emplacements with the modern 8-inch M1888 gun.^[4]^[5] These weapons were redeployed soon after the war ended. The disappearing carriage allowed the gun to remain behind a parapet resembling a hillside most of the time, thus largely invulnerable to low-angle enemy fire, which was the only type of enemy attack anticipated 1898–1910. Air and high-angle artillery attack would eventually severely impact US fortifications in the Philippines in World War II.

Numerous additional weapons of other calibers including the 10-inch gun M1895, 12-inch gun M1895, and 12-inch coast defense mortars were also deployed in US coastal fortifications alongside the 8-inch guns. The 8-inch guns were deployed in the harbor defenses of Portland, Maine, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Long Island Sound, New York, Eastern New York, Southern New York, Delaware River, Baltimore, Maryland, Potomac River, Chesapeake Bay, Cape Fear River, North Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Key West, Florida, Tampa Bay, Florida, Pensacola, Florida, Mobile, Alabama, Mississippi River, Galveston, Texas, San Francisco, California, Columbia River, and Puget Sound.^[6]

Railway mounting

After the American entry into World War I, the United States needed a medium-range heavy artillery piece that could be transported easily. The quick solution was to take the existing 8-inch coast artillery guns from the fixed mountings or from storage and mount them on a drop bed rail car.^[7] This was also done with a number of other weapons, including 10-inch (254 mm) guns, 12-inch (305 mm) guns, and 12-inch mortars. The 7-inch (178 mm) guns, 8-inch guns, and 12-inch mortars used a common carriage, with a depressed center and two 4-wheel or 6-wheel bogies. The bogies were interchangeable for standard gauge or (with 12-wheel bogies) 60 cm (23.6 in) gauge track. Outriggers and a rotating mount allowed all-around fire. This allowed the weapons to be used in coast defense against moving targets. A detailed description of the railway mounting is given in Railway Artillery, Vol. I by Lt. Col. H. W. Miller, USA.^[8]

A total of 96 8-inch guns (reportedly including spare Navy Marks 1 through 4 as well as M1888 guns) were considered available for railway mounting, and 47 were ordered to be mounted on railcars. Twenty-four were produced before the Armistice, and three of these had been shipped to France by that time.^[2]^[9]^[10] These three and several 10-inch guns were the only US Army railway guns shipped to France in World War I, although five US Navy 14"/50 caliber railway guns (356 mm) saw action.

Since the railway weapons were on the M1918 carriage and railway car, some references erroneously refer to them as M1918 weapons.

All (or perhaps 37, references vary) of the 47 ordered were completed by the end of 1919 and the contract was cancelled at that point.^[9] Unlike almost all other US railway weapons, the 8-inch guns were widely deployed in the inter-war years, and by 1942 were augmented by 32 ex-Navy Mark VI guns. Approximately twelve M1888 guns were deployed for the defense of Oahu, Hawaii. Others were stationed for the coastal defense of Manila, eventually one each on Corregidor and Bataan (dismounted from the railway carriage), with batteries at Newfoundland, Bermuda, Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River, and Fort Hancock, New Jersey (near New York City).^[11]^[12] Some 8-inch disappearing guns remained in fixed emplacements in the US until late in World War II, when they were scrapped as 16-inch guns and 6-inch guns on long-range mountings replaced all previous coast defense weapons.

Combat service

An anecdotal account of the 8-inch M1888 railway guns in the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941–42 states that eight guns (another account says seven guns) were shipped to Manila in late 1940, as part of the Inland Seas Defense Project. Initially, difficulties were encountered because the railway carriages were 36-inch (914 mm) gauge and the Philippines used a 42-inch (1,067 mm) gauge. In late December 1941 all eight guns were sent north in one train to oppose the Japanese landings at Lingayen Gulf, but six guns were damaged beyond repair by enemy air attack.

The remaining two guns (possibly only one) were eventually shipped to Corregidor and Bataan by early March 1942, where they were mounted on improvised pedestal mounts. The account states that the one gun that information is available on fired only five proof rounds and sat idle for want of a crew until it was destroyed by air and/or artillery attack.^[13]^[14] One reference states that the other gun was mounted near Bagac, Bataan.^[15]

Variations

Model	Size	Gun Length	Weight
M1888 Rifle	8 in (203.20 mm)	23 ft 2.5 in (7.07 m)	32,218 lb (14,614 kg)
M1888MI Rifle	8 in (203.20 mm)	23 ft 2.5 in (7.07 m)	32,218 lb (14,614 kg)
M1888MII Rifle	8 in (203.20 mm)	23 ft 2.5 in (7.07 m)	33,200 lb (15,059 kg)
MkVI-M3A2 Rifle	8 in (203.20 mm)	30 ft 9 in (9.37 m)	42,000 lb (19,051 kg)

Sighting and fire control equipment

The following sighting equipment was used with the gun.

M1 fire adjustment board
M1A1 Range correction board
M3 Spotting board
M1912 Clinometer
M1 Percentage corrector
M1A1 Height finder, or M2A1
M8 Helium filling kit
M1 Gunners quadrant
M1818 Aiming rule
M1 prediction scale
Bore site
Firing table, 8-G-2
M1923 Telescope
M1922 Panoramic telescope

Support cars

M1918 fire control car
Ammunition car (modified box car)

Surviving examples

Spanish–American War Memorial, Plant Park, University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida. 8-inch M1888MIA1 No. 32 Watervliet, railroad gun originally from Battery Bowyer, Fort Morgan, Alabama.

One 8-inch Gun M1888MIA1 (#32 Watervliet) on Barbette Carriage M1918MI (#9 Morgan Eng.), Spanish–American War Memorial, Henry B. Plant Museum, Tampa, Florida, (gun formerly at Battery Bowyer, Fort Morgan, Alabama)
One 8-inch gun M1888MII, Bethlehem No. 8, Bottomside, Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, Philippines (gun thought to be formerly at Bty RJ-43, Fort Mills)

References

^ ^a ^b Berhow, pp. 106-113
^ ^a ^b US Army Railway Artillery in World War I
^ ^a ^b Berhow, p. 61
^ Berhow, p. 182–183
^ Congressional serial set, 1900, Report of the Commission on the Conduct of the War with Spain, Vol. 7, pp. 3778-3780, Washington: Government Printing Office
^ Berhow, pp. 202–217
^ Berhow, pp. 108–113
^ Miller, H. W., LTC, USA Railway Artillery, Vols. I and II, 1921, Vol. I, pp. 131-155
^ ^a ^b Hogg, Ian V. (1998). Allied Artillery of World War I. Ramsbury, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, Ltd. pp. 139–140. ISBN 1-86126-104-7.
^ Lewis, pp. 102–110, 140–141
^ Lewis (1979) pp. 102–110, 140–141
^ Berhow, pp. 199–228
^ The Doomed Philippine Inland Seas Defense Project
^ Account of the 8" railway guns in the Philippines, 1940–42
^ Berhow, p. 222

TM 9-2300 Standard Artillery and Fire Control Material. dated 1944
SNL E-6
SNL E-17
Artillery Circular, 1895, pp. 165-183
Instructions for mounting using and caring for 8-inch disappearing carriages L. F. model of 1894 for 8-inch guns models of 1888 1888 MI and 1888MII...June 6, 1903
Handbook of Ordnance Data, 15 Nov 1918
Handbook of Artillery, May 1920, 7-inch tractor mount
Description of Seacoast Guns 8, 10, 12, 14, 16-inch
Berhow, Mark A., ed. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide (Second ed.). CDSG Press. ISBN 0-9748167-0-1.
Lewis, Emanuel Raymond (1979). Seacoast Fortifications of the United States. Annapolis: Leeward Publications. ISBN 978-0-929521-11-4.
Miller, H. W. (1921). Railway Artillery. Vol. I. Washington: US Government Printing Office. pp. 131–155. (Vol. II at this link)

External links

[Berhow,_pp._106-113-1] Berhow, pp. 106-113

[freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com-2] US Army Railway Artillery in World War I

[Berhow,_p._61-3] Berhow, p. 61

[4] Berhow, p. 182–183

[5] Congressional serial set, 1900, Report of the Commission on the Conduct of the War with Spain, Vol. 7, pp. 3778-3780, Washington: Government Printing Office

[6] Berhow, pp. 202–217

[7] Berhow, pp. 108–113

[8] Miller, H. W., LTC, USA Railway Artillery, Vols. I and II, 1921, Vol. I, pp. 131-155

[Hogg1-9] Hogg, Ian V. (1998). Allied Artillery of World War I. Ramsbury, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, Ltd. pp. 139–140. ISBN 1-86126-104-7.

[10] Lewis, pp. 102–110, 140–141

[11] Lewis (1979) pp. 102–110, 140–141

[12] Berhow, pp. 199–228

[13] The Doomed Philippine Inland Seas Defense Project

[14] Account of the 8" railway guns in the Philippines, 1940–42

[15] Berhow, p. 222

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v t e United States artillery of World War I
Tank guns	Puteaux SA 18 QF 6-pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss
Small and pack guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP 37 mm Infantry Gun Model 1917 QF 2.95-inch mountain gun
Field, medium and heavy guns	3-inch M1902 field gun 75 mm gun M1897 75 mm gun M1916 75 mm gun M1917 3.2-inch gun M1897 4.7-inch gun M1906 5-inch gun M1897 6-inch howitzer M1908 6-inch gun M1903 6-inch gun M1917 155 mm GPF M1918 155 mm howitzer M1917 BL 8-inch howitzer Mk VI – VIII BL 9.2-inch howitzer 240 mm trench mortar
Anti-aircraft guns	75 mm gun M1897 75 mm gun M1916 3-inch gun M1917 3-inch gun M1918
Coast artillery guns	3-inch gun M1903 4.72-inch Armstrong gun 5-inch gun M1897 6-inch Armstrong gun 6-inch gun M1897 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 14-inch gun M1907 16-inch gun M1895 16-inch gun M1919 155 mm gun M1918MI
Railway artillery	7"/45 caliber gun 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 12-inch gun M1895MIA1 14"/50 caliber railway gun

v t e United States artillery of World War II
Tank guns	37 mm gun M5/M6 75 mm gun M2/M3/M6 76 mm gun M1 3-inch gun M7 90 mm gun M3 90 mm gun T15 105 mm howitzer M4 105 mm gun T5 120 mm gun T53 155 mm gun T7
Anti-tank guns	37 mm M3 57 mm M1 75 mm field gun M1897 on M2 carriage 3 inch M5 90 mm T8 105mm T8
Field, medium and heavy guns	75 mm field gun M1897 on M2 carriage 75 mm howitzer M1 105 mm howitzer M2 105 mm howitzer M3 4.5 inch gun M1 155 mm howitzer M1918 155 mm howitzer M1 155 mm gun M1918MI 155 mm gun M1/M2 "Long Tom" 8 inch howitzer M1/M2 8-inch gun M1 240 mm howitzer M1
Mortars	60 mm mortar M2 81 mm mortar M1 4.2 inch mortar M2 Little David
Other vehicle-mounted	75 mm howitzer M2/M3 75 mm gun M1897 105 mm howitzer M2 155 mm gun M1917MI 155 mm gun M2 8 inch howitzer M1/M2
Anti-aircraft guns	37 mm M1 40 mm M1 3-inch gun M1917 3-inch gun M1918 3-inch anti-aircraft gun M3 90 mm M1 120 mm M1
Coast artillery guns	3-inch gun M1903 90 mm M1 6-inch gun M1903 155 mm gun M1918MI 7"/45 caliber gun 8-inch Mk. VI 8-inch gun M1888 10-inch gun M1895 12-inch coast defense mortar 12-inch gun M1895 14-inch gun M1907 16-inch gun M1895 16-inch gun M1919 16-inch Marks 2 and 3 16-inch howitzer M1920
Railway artillery	8-inch Mk. VI 8-inch gun M1888 12-inch coast defense mortar 14-inch M1920