Does anyone know what towed the Long Tom 155mm artillery piece during world war 2?
I’m not sure myself but this says the 7.5 ton Mack type NO truck, and the M4 High Speed Tractor:
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Post WW2, the Mack NO was superceded by another truck for hauling the 155mm Gun “Long Tom”. I forget which. I think the M123.
Roy is correct. It was the M125 (cargo version, M123 is the tractor version) 10-ton truck that was the prime mover for a brief period after the Korean war and into the early days of the Vietman war. They were briefly used in Vietnam, then replaced by the M109 series of SP howitzers.
Was the M-35 Prime Mover (M-10 hull w/no turret) used for the Long Tom also? Or just with the bigger guns such as the 8 inch?
So, did the Mack NO 7.5 Ton ever see service in Vietnam? I would like to know because I found a kit and I was about to buy it for a 'Nam scenery.
Despite what AFV Club would have you believe, the M35 was NOT used for the 155mm Gun nor the 8" Howitzer. It was used for the 8" gun and the 240mm M1. As stated previously, the Mack NO and the M4 Allis-Chalmers HST (and Scammells in the Commonwealth) were the allotted Prime Movers for the 155mm Long Tom.
By Vietnam, the MACK NO was already out of service (they first appeared in 1941 – and definitely have a '30s look about them – I think they’re way cool!)
Gino: that M123 answer was a total guess on my part. I’m pretty ignorant about post WW2 stuff. Patting myself on the back for that one! LOL
So, for the long toms that were used in Vietnam, what was used to move them?
there were a lot more towed 155 howitzers than there were M109’s in Vietnam. I guess it to be three to one if not more. Reason? Mobility, and shooting from mountain tops out on the border. As for towing, a five ton truck was the standard truck in a 155 unit. Usually were a 5 speed manual transmissioned multi fueled deisel that had the govenor removed. A five ton was a prize, and were often stolen out front of the PX back in the rear ($13,665 when you had to pay for it). The only ten tons I saw, were wreckers. Then about the only times I ever saw them being used in the field was when a 175 gun ate a barrel.
gary
squeakie: you’re mixing up the 155mm Howitzers with the M59 155mm Guns. The howitzers were much smaller. As Gino said, the 155mm Long Toms were used briefly in Vietnam.
The M59 155mm Gun was definitely a WW2 era weapon
Roy is correct again. There were lots of smaller 155mm towed howitzers in Vietnam, such as the M114. The smaller 155s were towed by 5-ton M54 series trucks. The few M59s that were used there were pulled by M125 10-ton trucks.
Were any of the towed 155s sling loaded by CH-47s or CH-53s?
stikpusher: the 155mm howitzers: probably yes. The 155mm Long Tom was a “gun” and not a “howitzer”. Huge. Not able to be hung beneath a helo.
Here are pics of the Long Tom 155mm gun
http://www.primeportal.net/artillery/dieter_krause/155mm_long_tom/
Here’s the M1A1 WW2 era 155mm Howitzer
http://www.primeportal.net/artillery/jim_caddo/m1a1_155mm_walk.htm
Here’s the Vietnam era M114A1 155mm Howitzer
http://www.primeportal.net/artillery/de_craecker/m114a1-m1_walk_1.htm
HTH
As Roy says, the smaller howitzers were, but not M59s.
[:(]Of course, I can’t find a pic of an M114 under a CH-47. Here is an M198 (modern towed 155mm) under a CH-47D.
Here is the smaller M102 105mm under a CH-47A.
How about two at a time?
any chance somebody makes a 5 or 10 ton in 1/72 scale?
I never saw a 155 long tom in sotheast asia, and rather doubt that there was one. The Marines did use a long barreled 155 SP (older one). If long toms were in RVN they would have been used up north for their extended range. The real problem with the 8" and 155 long tom was the actual weight of the unit. This would limit it to travel by roads, and negate all advantages it had into shooting four or five miles into Laos. Where as a plain jane generic 155 howitzer stripped of it shields and spades could be transported by a Chinook to mountain tops along the border. A 105 or a 155 towed howitzer were the infantry’s queen, and went out on nearly every operation with them (sop was to always have the umbrella of cannon fire at your disposal). With the heavys II Corp would have been the only place they’d have been in use, as they could have drove them all the way out to Ben Het or Pleiku AO’s. remember that up and untill late 1969 you were pretty much limited to 12,000lb of lift (that’s why you stripped the 155). All those roads you see on Google Earth were virtually non existant in the sixties. Another problem with the long tom’s was that they were very difficult to shoot 360 degrees, and you had to have that no matter where you set the pig up. A parapit for a long tom would have been huge, and extremely difficult to use. Lastly a 155 towed howitzer with a half way decient crew (seven or eight men) could put nine rounds in the air before the first one hit. Where as an SP would be doing three rounds at best. When you want a zone sweep, you cannot wait for seven minutes to get the fire mission overwith.
an interesting conversation
gary
that’s one of the newer Chinooks that have a 14,000+lb. capability. (actually not very new). I was the hook up man in my company, and between the down blast and all that static electricity I’ll never forget it.
gary
refering to the last set of pics, the gun is right except for the jack. All 155 howitzers I ever saw used a completely different jack system. Somewhere I have a few pics showing the later style. But this is diffenitly a late series cannon as shown by the new style barrel. I also noticed that the shift handle was missing from the trails; seems like it was on the gunner’s side. Perhaps this was an add on done by users. Still everyone I ever saw had this (even stateside).
gary