The atomic artillery peace ‘Atomic Annie’

The Atomic artillery peace ‘Atomic Annie’. Author: en:User:Mytwocents.

The plan

Picatinny Arsenal was tasked to create a nuclear capable artillery piece in 1949 to be ready for use by the early 1950s.

The device

The artillery peace was based on a bigger variant of the Nazi German's K5 railway gun "Anzio Annie". Robert Schwartz, the engineer who created the preliminary designs, essentially scaled up the 240mm shell of the K5 railway gun. The Davy Crockett Weapon System was also envisaged as another short range stand off atomic weapons system with a 0.020kt (20 tonne) or 0.010kt (10 tonne) yield warhead.

Tests

It was tested at the Upshot-Knothole Grable Test at 8:30am PDT (1530 UTC) on May 25, 1953, in Area 5 of the, over a part of the Nevada Test Site known as Frenchman Flat. The codename Grable was chosen because the letter Grable is phonetic for G, as in "gun", since the warhead was a gun-type fission weapon. It is a hydrographic basin in the landscape of the Nevada National Security Site, south of Yucca Flat and north of Mercury, Nevada. The flat was used as an American nuclear test site and has a 5.8 sq mi (15 km2) dry lake bed (Frenchman Lake) that was used as a 1950s airstrip before it was chosen after the start of the Korean War for use as the the Nevada Proving Grounds. It is repetitively close to Nellis Air Force Base.

Shell stats

1. Type- Mark 9 nuclear.
2. Diameter- of 280 mm (11.02 in).
3. Length- 138 cm (54.4 in) long.
4. weight- 364 kg (803 lb).
5. Nuke shell's yield- 15kt.

Test blast stats

1. Air burst explosion- 160 m (524 ft) above ground.
2. Radius of error- (7 m (24 ft) above its designated burst altitude), 26 m (87 ft) west and 41 m (136 ft) south of its target (slightly up-range).
3. Nuke shell's yield- 15kt.

Artillery peace Stats

1. Type- Towed artillery.
2. Nationality- United States.
3. Weight- 83.3 tons (gun and carriage).
4. Weight- 77 tonne (85 short ton) (gun only).
5. Length- 84 feet (26 m).
6. Width- 16.1 feet (4.9 m).
7. Height- 12.2 feet (3.7 m).
8. Crew- 5–7 people.
9. Calibre- 280 mm.
10. Effective firing range approximately 20 miles (30 km).
11. Nominal range of 32 km (20 mi)
12. Nuke shell's yield- 15kt.
13. Unit production cost- $800,000 each.
14. Muzzle velocity of 625 m/s (2,060 ft/s)

Servace in S. Korea and W. Germany

It was deployed in S. Korea during 1958 and W. Germany at a similar time, but was not used. Thankfully the gun's mushroom clouds did nout push up over the Korean Penisular or Germany. 

Strategic paradox

West Germany was concerned that if it was used there, it would kill innocent W. Germans unless fired at close range over the border directly into E. Germany and officially complained at one point! The American test range staff were concerned the shock wave was to strong in the outer 'safe area' of test zone and would injurer those the gun was trying to defend if not those using the gun it self! Many American troopers were also concerned that atomic fall-out would blow back on to their own troops as well. As far as I can gather, S. Korea was also concerned over a similar scenario as W. Germany was and France thought it was a stupid weapon anyhow.

Videos

The Atomic Cannon (Upshot-Knothole Grable) 15 kt

The Atomic Cannon (Upshot-Knothole Grable) 15 kt.

The Atomic Cannon Devastation! Full HD!!!

The Atomic Cannon Devastation! Full HD!!!

ATOMIC CANNON-0

Atomic Cannon (AKA "Atomic Annie).

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Also see

• Atomic warfare information notes.
• Atomic War
• Nukes
• West Germany
• East Germany
• A nuclear\atomic holocaust or nuclear apocalypse

Links

1. http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Upshot-Knothole_Grable.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Upshot%E2%80%93Knothole.
3. http://www.nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Upshotk.html.
4. http://wn.com/upshot-knothole_grable_atomic_bomb_test_footage.
5. http://www.atomicarchive.com/Photos/LANL/image39.shtml.
6. http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Upshot-Knothole_Grable.
7. http://www.zazzle.co.uk/grable_event_operation_upshot_knothole_atomic_test_sticker-217596696193562055.
8. http://www.angelfire.com/planet/nuclearflower/grable.htm.
9. http://www.wikiwand.com/en/M65_Atomic_Cannon.
10. http://olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_atomic.php.
11. http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_atomic.php3.
12. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m65.htm.
13. http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?
14. http://www.army.mil/article/45311/atomic-annie-on-the-move.
15. http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Plumbob.html.
16. http://military.wikia.com/wiki/M65_Atomic_Cannon.
17. http://galnet.wikia.com/wiki/Davy_Crockett_Weapon_System.