8-inch gun M1888

8-inch M1888MIA1 railway gun
8-inch M1888MIA1 railway gun
	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 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

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

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.

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

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

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,
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
^
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] 
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

[1]

[3]

[6]

[15]

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 120mm 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