M2 4.2-inch mortar

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
M2 4.2-inch mortar
U.S. Marine Corps
WarsWorld War II
Korean War
First Indochina War
Vietnam War
Portuguese Colonial War
Production history
DesignerU.S. Chemical Warfare Service
Specifications
Mass151 kg (332.89 lbs)
Length1.22 m (4 ft)
Barrel length1 m (3 ft 3 in)
Shell11–13 kg (24 lb 4 oz – 28 lb 11 oz)[1]
Caliber107 mm (4.2 in)
Rate of fire5 rpm for 20 minutes
1 rpm indefinitely
Muzzle velocity250–256 m/s (820–840 ft/s)
Effective firing range515 m (563.21 yd)
Maximum firing range4.4 km (2.7 mi)
M2 4.2-inch mortars in action on Utah Beach, 1944
A crew of an M2 mortar fires on North Korean positions in 1953
A 4.2-inch mortar in Korea, 1952.

The M2 4.2-inch mortar was a U.S.

Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It entered service in 1943. It was nicknamed the "Goon Gun" (from its large bullet-shaped shells, monopod, and rifled bore) or the "Four-Deuce" (from its bore size in inches). In 1951 it began to be phased out in favor of the M30 mortar
of the same caliber.

History

The first 4.2-inch mortar in U.S. service was introduced in 1928 and was designated the M1 Chemical Mortar. Development began in 1924 from the

smoke shells, as the postwar peace lobby opposed military spending on explosive or poison gas shells.[a][b]

The M2 could be disassembled into three parts to allow it to be carried by its crew. The mortar tube weighed 105 pounds (48 kg), including a screw-in cap at the bottom. The cap contained a built-in fixed firing pin. The standard, a recoiling hydraulic monopod that could be adjusted for elevation, weighed 53 pounds (24 kg). The baseplate had long handles on either side to make it easier to carry; it weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).[3]

Upon the entry of the United States into World War II, the U.S. Army decided to develop a high explosive round for the mortar so that it could be used in a fragmentation role against enemy personnel.[c] In order to extend the range to 3,200 yards (2,900 m), more propellant charge was used and parts of the mortar were strengthened. Eventually, the range of the mortar was extended to 4,400 yards (4,000 m). The modified mortar was redesignated the M2. The M2 was first used in the Sicilian Campaign, where some 35,000 rounds of ammunition were fired from the new weapon. Subsequently, the mortar proved to be an especially useful weapon in areas of rough terrain such as mountains and jungle, into which artillery pieces could not be moved. The M2 was gradually replaced in U.S. service from 1951 by the M30 mortar.

Starting in December 1942, the US Army experimented with self-propelled 4.2-inch mortar carriers. Two pilot vehicles based on the

M3A1 halftrack were built, designated 4.2-inch Mortar Carriers T21 and T21E1.[d]
The program was cancelled in 1945.

Before the invasion of

Okinawa and adjoining islands with Navy personnel operating the mortars.[4]

Tactical organization

4.2-inch mortars were employed by chemical mortar battalions. Each battalion was authorized forty-eight M2 4.2-inch mortars organized into four companies with three four-tube platoons. Between December 1944 and February 1945, the battalions’ Companies D were inactivated to organize additional battalions. In World War II, an infantry division was often supported by one or two chemical mortar companies with twelve mortars each. In some instances an entire battalion was attached to a division. In the Korean War, an organic heavy mortar company of eight 4.2-inch mortars was assigned each infantry regiment while Marine regiments had a mortar company with twelve mortars.

Ammunition

The M2 has a rifled barrel, unusual for a mortar. Thus its ammunition lacks stabilizing tailfins common to most mortars.[5]

The mortar's M3 high explosive (HE) shell packed 3.64 kilograms of explosive charge, placing it between the

Chemical Weapons Treaty
came into force. Destruction efforts to eliminate this stockpile are continuing with a few of these aged shells occasionally found to be leaking.

Available ammunition
Type Model Weight Filler Muzzle velocity Range
HE HE M3 Shell 11.11 kg (24 lb 8 oz)
TNT
, 3.64 kg (8 lb 0 oz) 		256 m/s (840 ft/s) 4 km (2.5 mi)
Smoke WP M2 Shell 11.57 kg (25 lb 8 oz)
White phosphorus (WP)
 250 m/s (820 ft/s) 3.9 km (2.4 mi)
Chemical H M2 Shell 13 kg (28 lb 11 oz)
HT
, 2.6 kg (5 lb 12 oz) 		256 m/s (840 ft/s) 4.4 km (2.7 mi)[6]

Users

  •  Tunisia: used as of 1984[7]
  •  Turkey: used as of 1984[7]

    • See also

    Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

    Notes

    1. Chloroacetophenone and Chloropicrin in Chloroform). Later, Cyanogen chloride was added to this list. Some measure of the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service's opinion of the relative value of different toxic agents for gas shoots may be gauged from the number of shells filled with various agents from 1940 to 1946: 540,746 contained mustard, 49,402 phosgene, 41,353 CNS, 12,957 CNB, and 175 lewisite.[2]
    2. ^ Thermite and other incendiary rounds could also be fired.
    3. ^ Experimentation along this line had first begun in 1934.
    4. ^ The CWC already had the T81 Chemical Mortar Motor Carriage, based on the M5A1, in service.

    Notes

    1. OCLC 2067459
      .
    2. ^ Bruce Elliott; Rodney Young. "History of the 4.2" Chemical Mortar". www.4point2.org. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
    3. ^ "'Mortars: 4.2-inch M2 Mortar". Infantry Weapons of the Korean War. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2007.
    4. ^ Kleber, Brooks E.; Birdsell, Dale (1990) [1966], The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat, Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, pp. 520–533 – via Hyperwar Foundation
    5. ^ Mortar Cartridges, 1998, Federation of American Scientists
    6. ^ U.S. Army TM 43-0001-28, p. 4-84, April 1994.
    7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Janes, pp. 918–926
    8. ISBN 978-1841769042
      .
    9. ^ a b "Vũ khí Việt Nam trong hai cuộc kháng chiến".
    10. ^ "107 mm Mortar M2". Gallery Rightwing. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
    11. ISBN 978-9623616331
      .
    12. ^ Abbott, Peter; Rodrigues, Manuel (1998). Modern African Wars 2: Angola and Mozambique 1961–74. Osprey Publishing. p. 18.
    13. ISBN 979-11-5598-079-8. Archived from the original
      (PDF) on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
    14. ISBN 978-1-84908-181-8
      .

    References

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to 4.2 inch Mortar M2.

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M2_4.2-inch_mortar&oldid=1180733594"