14-inch M1920 railway gun

The 14-inch M1920 railway gun was the last large caliber railway gun to be deployed by the U.S. Army. It was an upgrade of the Navy 14"/50 caliber railway gun. This was meant to build a better railway gun, from past mistakes.

History
After the close of World War I, the US Army wanted to incorporate the lessons learned from other railway gun mounts and fulfill coastal artillery requirements for hitting a moving target. An effort to design a more universal mount for the Navy's Mk. IV 14"/50 caliber gun was undertaken.

The primary difference from the earlier Navy versions lies in the M1920 carriage, which could be raised and lowered. Prepositioned fixed mounts were installed at the forts, and the gun's rail trucks could be taken out from under the frame. After the removal of the rail trucks, the gun was lowered and bolted onto a pivot point for 360 degree movement. The M1920 carriage made the gun much more flexible. It allowed for the standard practice of using a curved piece of rail to traverse the gun, and it enabled the gun to be used in a fixed position.

Two guns were deployed to Fort MacArthur. The remaining two guns were deployed to Fort Grant and Fort Randolph in the Panama Canal Zone. The two guns deployed to the Panama Canal Zone could be moved to either coast on the Panama Canal Railway.

Models
The Mk.IV gun was manufactured in two models:


 * M1920MI Centerline of breechblock mechanism canted 16 degrees counterclockwise to fit recoil band
 * M1920MII Breech mechanism is set straight in relation to axis of tube.

Sighting and fire control equipment
The following sighting equipment was used with the gun:


 * M1 fire adjustment board
 * M1 plotting and relocating board
 * M1A1 Range correction board
 * M7 spotting board
 * M1912A1 clinometer
 * M1A1 height finder
 * M1910 Azimuth Instrument
 * M8 Helium filling kit
 * M1 Gunners quadrant
 * M1918 Aiming rule
 * M1 prediction scale
 * bore sight
 * firing tables- 14-m-1, 14-e-3, 14-g-2.
 * M1917MI Panoramic telescope
 * M1922 Panoramic telescope
 * M1 generating unit (mounted on the forward railway truck)

Support cars

 * M1 powder car
 * M1 projectile car
 * M2 fire control car
 * M1918 repair car

Surviving artifacts
All four guns were cut up for scrap in 1946.