120 mm Gun M1 file photo [7646]

120 mm Gun M1 Anti-Aircraft Gun

Country of OriginUnited States
TypeAnti-Aircraft Gun
Caliber120.000 mm
Length7.390 m
Barrel Length7.160 m
Weight22135.000 kg
Ammunition Weight22.70 kg
Ceiling17.500 km
Muzzle Velocity945 m/s

Contributor:

ww2dbaseThe origin of these very heavy anti-aircraft guns could be traced back to the prototype made in 1924, but at that time, it was considered too heavy to deploy in combat and too expensive to build. The research project was slowed to a grind, but it was never completely ended.

In 1938, the need for such heavy anti-aircraft guns arose, and the design was modernized. It was mated with a new eight-wheel carriage design to become the 4.7 inch M1, which was accepted in 1940. The approximately 550 produced were mostly deployed on fixed mounts around the continental United States, usually four guns for each battery; outside the United States, 15 of them were deployed to the Panama Canal Zone and 4 of them were sent to Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. They were typically manned by a crew of 18 men, which included a commander, a gun crew of nine men, and an ammunition crew with three men. None of them ever fired in combat during WW2. In 1944, they were re-designated 120 mm Gun M1 weapons as the metric naming system became standard in the United States Army. Due to their high altitude capabilities, they were nicknamed the "stratosphere guns". Many of them had radar fire control systems.

After WW2, they saw some combat in the Korean War. They were replaced by the Nike Ajax anti-aircraft missile systems between the mid-1950s and the early-1960s.

Source: Wikipedia.

 ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Apr 2009

Photographs

120 mm Gun M1 anti-aircraft weapon of US 85th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion loaded onto a rail flat car at Norfolk Army Base, Norfolk, Virginia, United States, 10 Apr 1944120 mm Gun M1 anti-aircraft weapon manned by men of Battery D, US 36th Anti-aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion during training, Fort George G. Meade, Odenton, Maryland, United States, Feb 1953120 mm Gun M1 anti-aircraft weapon on display at the United States Army Ordnance Museum, Maryland, United States, 14 Aug 2007; photo 1 of 3120 mm Gun M1 anti-aircraft weapon on display at the United States Army Ordnance Museum, Maryland, United States, 14 Aug 2007; photo 2 of 3
See all 5 photographs of 120 mm Gun M1 Anti-Aircraft Gun



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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Anonymous says:
10 Sep 2018 11:10:06 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCpI7MyB2U8 pretty sure thats the only footage of a 120mm m1 aa gun at 25 min
2. Anonymous says:
11 May 2023 02:31:05 PM

I seem to recall reading, a couple of decades ago now, that there was a find of the Northern Ireland guns in a warehouse in the '70's, I think. They had been put there and forgotten. I believe they were all with the radar fire control system of the time.
If anyone knows anything about this discovery, and what happened to it, I'd love to hear about it. I rather think that the electronics end of things would make a fine museum exhibit. Hell, all of it would.

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120 mm Gun M1 Anti-Aircraft Gun Photo Gallery
120 mm Gun M1 anti-aircraft weapon of US 85th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion loaded onto a rail flat car at Norfolk Army Base, Norfolk, Virginia, United States, 10 Apr 1944
See all 5 photographs of 120 mm Gun M1 Anti-Aircraft Gun


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