Artillery in the USA: Massachusetts: Mattapoisett, Medway, Milford, Millbury, Monson, Nattick, New Bedford, Newburyport, North Attleboro, Northborough, North Bridge, Norton, Norwood, Orange, Paxton, Pembroke, Quabbin Park, Quincy, Rehoboth, Rochester

Mattapoisett

(Scott Barrow Photos)

10-inch Rodman Gun, (Columbiad, 10-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, M1861), weight 16,145-lbs, mounted on an iron rail carriage.  S.B.F.n1879, No. 8, C.B., WPF 8 PI on the muzzle, in front of the Library and Civil War Memorial.

In the 1870s and 1880s, efforts focused on converting existing Rodman guns into rifles. 10-inch Rodman smoothbore guns were converted into 8-inch rifles. The first method used was inserting a wrought iron rifle sleeve through the muzzle; a similar steel sleeve was also used later. The last method involved drilling and tapping the breech of the 10-inch Rodman and inserting a rifled steel sleeve and screwing it in tight with a threaded breech plug. These breech-inserted guns are easily recognized by the square cascabel which was designed to provide purchase for screwing the breech plug and liner securely into the gun. (Wikipedia)

Medway

(PanzerAlarm Photos)

5-cm Panzerabwehr Kanone 38 (L/60) Anti-Tank Gun, aka PaK 38.  Shown here when it was on display outside the American Legion Post 367.  This post is now closed and the Pak 38 has been moved, location unknown.

The 5-cm PaK 38 (L/60), (5-cm Panzerabwehr Kanone 38 (L/60)) was a German Anti-Tank Gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG as a successor to the 3.7-cm PaK 36.  This weapon was in turn followed by the 7.5-cm PaK 40.  The PaK 38 was first used by German forces in April 1941.

Milford

(Ernie Jones Photos)

German First World War 10.5-cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 (10.5-cm leFH 16) light field howitzer (Serial Nr. 7534), 1918, mounted on a wheeled gun carriage, standing in front of Memorial Hall on the corner of School and Spruce St.

(Ernie Jones Photos)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on a concrete stand, in front of Memorial Hall on the corner of School and Spruce St.

(Ernie Jones Photo)

Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, strapped to a concrete stand, Confederate Army, in front of Memorial Hall on the corner of School and Spruce St.

 (Ernie Jones Photo)

Cast Iron Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, strapped to a concrete stand, also in front of Memorial Hall on the corner of School and Spruce St.

(Magicfingers Photo)

Milford, Northeast Military vehicle services

M18 Hellcat (Serial No. 1240)

M18 Hellcat (Serial No. 1550)

M8 Greyhound

M20

M20

M24 Chaffee Light Tank (Serial No. T2883)

M26 Pershing Tank

M5A1 Stuart Light Tank

Millbury

(Daderot Photos)

4.7-inch Gun M1906, weight 2,665 lbs, Serial No. 379, RBH, built by the Northwestern Ordnance Co., mounted on Carriage Serial No. 700, built by the Studebaker Corp 1918.

Monson

(cmh2315fl Photo)

3.67-inch (20-pounder) Naval Parrott Rifle, mounted on a granite stand in front of the Civil War memorial near the center of town.

Natick

(Author Photos)

Natick War Memorial, Town Common.

(Author Photos)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, No. 100, Revere Copper Co., 1,245 lbs, T.J.R., 1862.  No. 1 of 4 in the Town Common.

(Author Photos)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, No. 296, Revere Copper Co., 1,235 lbs, T.J.R., 1863.  No. 2 of 4 in the Town Common.

(Author Photos)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, (Federal Gun with muzzle swell used in the Civil War), Ames No. 65, weight corroded, No. 3 of 4. Town Common.

(Author Photos)

Bronze 12-pounder Napoleon Model 1857 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun-Howitzer, No. 293, Revere Copper Co., 1,229 lbs, T.J.R., 1862.  No. 4 of 4 in the Town Common.

105-mm M3 Howitzer.  Town Common (not observed).

Natick, Museum of WWII

M42B1E9 Sherman Tank (Serial No. 415), RN  3015171, 8 Mercer Road.  This tank from North Africa campaign was later refitted for the planned invasion of Japan.

New Bedford, Fort Rodman

(Marc N. Belanger Photo)

Fort Rodman, New Bedford, Fort Taber District or the Fort at Clark's Point.

Fort Rodman is a historic American Civil War-era military fort on Wharf Road within the former Fort Rodman Military Reservation in New Bedford.  The fort is now part of Fort Taber Park, a 47-acre town park located at Clark's Point.  Fort Taber was an earthwork built nearby with city resources and garrisoned 1861-1863 until Fort Rodman was ready for service.

After the Civil War began in April 1861, it was apparent that the Fort at Clark's Point was still years from completion.  Fort Taber, a small earthwork with six cannon, was built nearby with city resources and named after New Bedford's mayor during that period.  It provided a temporary defense until the stone fort was garrisoned in 1863.  Fort Taber is marked by a stone outline today.  However, the outline's position directly behind the stone fort is probably not Fort Taber's original location.  The Fort Taber name was unofficially used to refer to the Fort at Clark's Point for many years, even by the garrison in letters home, and is used to refer to the stone fort in some recent references.  Also known as the Old Stone Fort, Fort Rodman (known as "Fort at Clark's Point" until 1898) began construction in 1857 under the third system of US fortifications.  The fort as built had emplacements for 72 guns in three tiers.  Construction was halted in 1871 and the fort as planned was never completed.  (Wikipedia)

With new batteries being constructed under the Endicott program in 1898, the U.S. Army officially named the military reservation at the site and the fort as Fort Rodman Military Reservation, in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Logan Rodman, a New Bedford native with the 38th Massachusetts Infantry who died in the assault on Port Hudson, Louisiana in 1863.  It was the primary fort of the Harbor Defenses of New Bedford. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The Endicott period batteries at Fort Rodman were built 1898-1902, with other batteries added later as follows:

Battery Walcott with one 8-inch M1888 Gun mounted on an M1896 disappearing carriage; Battery Barton with one 8-inch M1888 Gun mounted on an M1896 disappearing carriage; Battery Cross with two 5-inch M1900 gun mounted on M1903 barbettes, Battery Craig with two 3-inch M1898 guns mounted on M1898 masking parapets; Battery Gaston with two 3-inch M1898 guns mounted on M1898 masking parapets; Battery Milliken with two 12-inch M1895 guns mounted on M1917 long-range barbettes; and one un-named Battery with two 155-mm M1918 towed guns set on Panama mountes.

Battery Walcott was named for William H. Walcott of the 17th US Infantry in the Civil War. Battery Barton was named for William Barton of the Revolutionary War. Battery Cross was named for Charles E. Cross, an engineer officer killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg in the Civil War. Battery Craig was named for Presley O. Craig, 2nd US Artillery, killed at the First Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War. Battery Gaston was named for William Gaston, 1st US Dragoons, killed in 1858 fighting Native Americans. Battery Milliken was named for Alfred S. Milliken, an engineer officer killed in the First World War.

After the American entry into the First World War many 5-inch guns were withdrawn from forts for potential service on field carriages on the Western Front. However, Battery Cross's two guns were removed in 1917 and installed on the Army transport ship USAT Kilpatrick.  They were returned to Fort Rodman in March 1919, and scrapped in 1921 under a general removal from Coast Artillery service of 5-inch guns.  The 8-inch guns of Batteries Walcott and Barton were dismounted for potential service as railway artillery in June 1918, but were remounted later without leaving the fort.  In 1920 the Driggs-Seabury M1898 3-inch guns of Batteries Craig and Gaston were removed due to a general removal from service of this type of gun; they were not replaced.

(US Army Photo)

12-inch M1895 on long-range barbette carriage M1917.

Battery Milliken was built 1917-1921 as part of a general upgrade of the Coast Artillery with existing 12-inch M1895 guns on new long-range carriages, initially in open mounts.  Compared with disappearing carriages, this increased the range of this type of gun from 18,400 yards (16,800 m) to 30,100 yards (27,500 m).  This effectively replaced the fort's previous 8-inch guns, but these were not removed until the Second World War.

In 1938 a battery of two 155-mm guns on "Panama mounts" (circular concrete platforms) was built at Fort Rodman. In 1940-1941 numerous temporary buildings were constructed on site to accommodate newly mobilized units.  In 1942 the two 8-inch guns of Batteries Walcott and Barton were scrapped, leaving only the 12-inch Battery Milliken and the 155-mm battery active. Battery Milliken was casemated for protection against air attack during the war.  In 1946, with the war over, Fort Rodman was disarmed and subsequently turned over to the Commonwealth.

Several additional small-caliber batteries defended New Bedford and Buzzards Bay during the Second World War.  Chief among these was Battery 210 at Mishaum Point Military Reservation in Dartmouth.  It had two 6-inch M1 guns in long-range shielded mounts with a large bunker for ammunition and fire control between them.  It currently has a private residence built on it. A two-gun 155-mm battery was at the location until the 6-inch battery was completed in 1945, along with the harbor entrance control post for New Bedford.

Defending the passage to New Bedford between Dartmouth and Cuttyhunk Island were two batteries of 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft guns, one at Barneys Joy Point Military Reservation and one on Cuttyhunk Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands Military Reservation.  These were called Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat Batteries (AMTB) 931 and 932, respectively.  The AMTB batteries had an authorized strength of four 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft guns, two on fixed mounts and two on towed mounts. An additional 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft gun battery, AMTB 933, was on Nashawena Island, just east of Cuttyhunk Island.

(AWM Photo 054026)

Towed 155-mm M1917 Field Gun employed in Coastal Defence, Garden Island, Washington, 1943.

Protecting the southern entrance to the Cape Cod Canal was a two-gun 155-mm battery on Panama mounts, replaced in 1943 by AMTB 934, at Butler Point Military Reservation in Marion. The Clarks Point Light stands on the parapet of the fort.  Originally established as a freestanding tower, it was moved to the fort in 1869 because the fort's walls obscured the beacon from some angles. it was deactivated in 1898, but was relit in 2001 by the city as a private aid to navigation. (Wikipedia)

New Bedford

(Brian "Hrefna" S. Photo)

Cast Iron 24-pounder M1844 smoothbore muzzle-loading Siege and Garrison Howitzer, used to cover blind approaches and moats around masonry fortifications, specifically the flanks of the walls, thereby earning the nick-name “Flank Howitzer”. No. 1 of 3. Rural Cemetery.

Cast Iron 24-pounder M1844 smoothbore muzzle-loading Siege and Garrison Howitzer, No. 2 of 3. Rural Cemetery.

Cast Iron 24-pounder M1844 smoothbore muzzle-loading Siege and Garrison Howitzer, No. 3 of 3. Rural Cemetery.

(Metro2 Photos)

Cast Iron 24-pounder M1844 smoothbore muzzle-loading Siege and Garrison Howitzer, dated 1846, the muzzle is marked “112”.  It is on display in Peter Francisco Square.

3-inch M1905 Field Gun, tube dated 1910, Serial No. 171, carriage M1902, dated 1911.  National Guard Armory, Sycamore Street.

Bronze 12-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading “Insurance” Howitzer, dated 1847 on one trunnion, mounted on a Naval gun carriage.  Located in front of the New Bedford Sewage Treatment Plant.

(Metro2 Photos)

Whaling Gun, dated 1936, mounted on an iron pintle stand.  This gun has an attached plaque that reads: "KONGSBERG VAABENFABRIK BREMSEN FYLDES HELT MED 2/3 GLYCERIN OG 1/3 VAND.  DER MEDGAAR 3.2L. VAESKE."  This gun is located in a small park within the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park.

M4A1(76) HVSS Sherman Tank, Exercise Tiger Memorial, VFW Post 1531, 477 Park St.  This Sherman Tank stands near the Fort Taber Military Museum at the southern tip of eastern New Bedford.  It is the centerpiece of a monument dedicated to those who lost their lives in Exercise Tiger, in preparation for the D-Day landings at Normandy.  During this exercise on 28 April 1944, German E-boats sank two tank landing ships and crippled a third, killing 749 US servicemen (551 Army and 198 Navy).  These were the heaviest American losses for a battle up to that point in the war after Pearl Harbor.  The exercise and D-Day went on as planned.

M4A3(75) Sherman Tank (Serial No. 2703), RN 3055663, Pvt. Norbert A. Papineau Memorial, Mount Pleasant St & Lang St.  Abrams Company, 4th Battalion "Burt's Knights", United States Army Brotherhood of Tankers.  T5 Norbert Papineau was the youngest of 3 brothers who served in the Army during the Second World War.  All three were in Germany in February 1945. The two older brothers crewed Shermans in different Tank Companies.  Norbert served on an M18 Hellcat in a Tank Destroyer Company. T5 N. Papineau was KIA 17 Feb 1945.

M26A1 Pershing Tank (Serial No.1693), Reg. No. 30128439 . The turret casting (Serial No. 977) is from Scullin Steel Company, St Louis, Missouri.  This tank is on display in the Franco-American Square, at Mount Pleasant St & Nauset St.

Newburyport

 (Allen Tanner Photos)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on a concrete stand, on Atkinson Common, No. 1 of 2.

(Allen Tanner Photo)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on a concrete stand, on Atkinson Common, No. 2 of 2.

(Allen Tanner Photos)

Bronze Lyle Gun, WPF No. 424, 1894, JCA.  Newburyport Customs House.  Used to fire a rescue line to ships in distress

(Author Photos)

German First World War 10.5-cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 (10.5-cm leFH 16) light field howitzer (Serial Nr. 12160), mounted on a wheeled gun carriage, in the George Washington Memorial Park.

North Attleboro

Belgian FN 4RM-62F armoured car, only 62 built in 1971-72, all served with the Belgian Gendarmerie.  This AFV's hull is made of all-welded steel.  The three man crew included a driver sitting in the center-front of the vehicle, having a single piece hatch (opening upwards) and three periscopes.  He can also see through a bullet-proof window at the very front of the hatch, which had an armored cover in case the vehicle came under fire.  

This particular version was armed with a 60-mm (2.36 in) breech-loaded mortar and a 7.62 mm (0.3 in) FN MAG machine gun mounted co-axially, while another was pintle-mounted in front of the commander’s cupola.  For concealment, six electrically-fired smoke dischargers were installed on either side of the turret.

A single door on either side of the hull allowed access to the vehicle, the right one being fitted with an observation port.  The rest of the crew, the commander (right) and the gunner (left) were seated in the all-welded turret placed in the middle of the vehicle.  Each of crewman has his own one-piece hatch and searchlight.  The commander’s cupola has 8 vision blocks, while the gunner has three and the main gun optical sight.  The turret has an electric-powered traverse, with two-speeds and manual backup.  The crew was also protected by an NBC system.  This FN 4RM is the only one of its kind in the USA.  It appeared in the 1980 movie "Dogs of War", that starred Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger.  Its stands outside G.I. Joe's Army & Navy Surplus Store.

Northborough

M60A0 Main Battle Tank, American Legion Post 234, 402 W Main St.

Northbridge

(nomadwillie Photos)

M116 75-mm Pack Howitzer M1.  This Howitzer is on display at the Northbridge Veteran Hall on Hill Street.

The 75-mm Pack Howitzer M1 (also known by its post-war designation M116) was designed in the United States in 1920s to meet a need for an artillery piece that could be moved across difficult terrain. The gun and carriage was designed so that it could be broken down into several pieces to be carried by pack animals. The gun saw combat in the Second World War with the US Army (primarily used by airborne units), with the US Marine Corps, and was also supplied to Canada and foreign forces. In addition to the pack/air portable configuration, the gun was mounted on a non-dismantling carriage to serve as a field artillery piece.

Norton

(Author Photos)

German First World War 15-cm schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 (15-cm sFH 02), (Serial Nr. 51) heavy field howitzer, Ingolstadt, mounted on an American Second World War gun carriage.

The 15-cm schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 (15-cm sFH 02), was a German Heavy Field Howitzer introduced in 1903 and served in the Great War. It was the first artillery piece to use a modern recoil system in the German Army. Some 416 were in service at the beginning of the war. Its mobility, which allowed it to be deployed as medium artillery, and fairly heavy shell gave the German army a firepower advantage in the early battles in Belgium and France in 1914 as the French and British armies lacked an equivalent.

Norwood

(Author Photos)

German First World War 15-cm schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 (15-cm sFH 02), (Serial Nr. 1860), 1917, heavy field howitzer.  The sFH 02 and mount were donated to the Town of Norwood by the Norwood American Legion (Post 70) in 1928.  It is currently located in front of the Norwood Memorial Municipal Building.

Orange

(US Army Signal Corps Photo, 14 May 1901)

3-inch gun M1898M1, No. 88 Driggs-Seabury, rapid fire breech-loading artillery gun with a 360-degree traverse.

Paxton

(neoc1 Photos)

Four Civil War Cannon embedded muzzle down at the base of the Paxton Civil War Memorial.

Pembroke

Civil War boat howitzer on an iron carriage.

Plymouth

Cast Iron smoothbore muzzle-loading replica Gun, dated 1601 on the breech, mounted on a naval carriage.  Plymouth Village.

Quabbin Park

(ZMANS BOARDS Photo)

(WN1E Photos)

3.67-inch (20-pounder) Naval Parrott Rifle, mounted on a concrete stand in the Quabbin Park Cemetery.

(WN1E Photo)

Bronze 6-pounder M1841 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, Cyrus Alger & Company, mounted on a concrete stand in the Quabbin Park Cemetery.

At one time these guns were located in Enfield.  In 1938 the town of Enfield was disincorparated to make way for the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir. These guns and the bodies buried in the cemeteries were moved to the Quabbin Park Cemetery.

Quincy

32-pounder Gun of 57 cwt Naval Gun, No. 1 of 4.  Downtown Cemetery.

32-pounder Gun of 57 cwt Naval Gun, No. 2 of 4.  Downtown Cemetery.

32-pounder Gun of 57 cwt Naval Gun, No. 3 of 4.  Downtown Cemetery.

32-pounder Gun of 57 cwt Naval Gun, No. 4 of 4.  Downtown Cemetery.

German First World War 7.7-cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art (7.7-cm FK 96 n.A.), Field Gun, (Serial No. unknown).  Downtown Cemetery.

The 7.7-cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art (7.7-cm FK 96 n.A.), Field Gun, combined a barrel of the older 7.7-cm FK 96 with a recoil system, a new breech and a new carriage. Existing FK 96s were upgraded over time. The FK 96 n.A. was shorter-ranged, but lighter than the French Canon de 75-mm modèle 1897 or the British Ordnance QF 18-pounder Field Gun as the Germans placed a premium on mobility, which served them well during the early stages of the Great War. However, once the front had become static the greater rate of fire of the French guns and the heavier shells fired by the British guns put the Germans at a disadvantage. The Germans countered this by developing the longer-ranged, but heavier 7.7-cm FK 16.

As with most Guns of its era the FK 96 n.A. had seats for two crewmen mounted on its splinter shield. Guns taken into service by Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia upon independence in 1919 served until replaced during the 1930s.

(US Army Photo)

US Gunners manning a 37-mm AA Gun in the Solomon Islands area, 1942.

37-mm anti-aircraft gun M1 mounted on an M3 carriage, Serial No. 2385, dated 1942.  Gilbert Memorial Square in Squantum.

The 37-mm Gun M1 was an anti-aircraft auto-cannon developed in the United States and used by the US Army in the Second World War.

(Emw Photo)

Cast Iron smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, No. 1 of 2 in front of the Civil War Memorial, Mount Wollaston Cemetery.  

 (Sswonk Photo)

Cast Iron smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, No. 2 of 2 in front of the Civil War Memorial, Mount Wollaston Cemetery.

Rehoboth

(Jonathan Skaarup Photos)

4.7-inch M1906 Field Gun, made at the Watervleit Arsenal, dated 1918. (Serial No. 120). Corner of Moulton Street (Route 118) and Bay State Road opposite American Legion Post 308.

The 4.7-inch M1906 Field Gun was designed and issued by the US Army Ordnance Department in 1906.  The design was orthodox for its time with a box trail and hydro spring recoil system.  When the United States entered the First World War 60 had been produced and issued to the army.  Once the US entered the war the US Army came under pressure to adopt French artillery systems and the 4.7-inch Field Gun was re-chambered to fire French 120-mm ammunition.  The switch to French 120-mm ammunition eased logistical problems due to the availability of French ammunition.  However the decision to change ammunition upset production and only 16 new pieces were finished before the end of the war.

155-mm M114 Howitzer, 1 Pond Street.

Rochester

M3A1 Half-track (Serial No. 230), Fighting Iron.

M5A1 Stuart Light Tank, Fighting Iron.