(Moved from Ordnance Page 2 on 12 Feb 2002).
More on the 280mm Atomic Cannon - moved to this page 26 Aug 03.
On Ordnance Continuation Page 2:
RAILROAD GUNS.
ATOMIC CANNON - moved to this page 26 Aug 03.
SMALL ARMS.
On Ordnance Continuation Page 3:
CALIBER (Calibre).
Anzio Annie.
SMALL ARMS (moved from Page 2 on 13 Apr 00)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Russian Armor.
HELP!
On the Atomic Cannon Page:
ATOMIC CANNON
Atomic Cannon CQ (Seek You = HELP!)
On this Atomic Cannon Continuation Page 1:
(30 Oct 08)
Atomic Cannon in Asia!
(30 Oct 08)
On the Atomic Cannon Pictures Page:
Battery B, 265th Field Artillery
Battalion, Baumholder, Germany, 1955 and 1956.
Atomic Cannon Training Manual.
Comet Metal Products Authenticast Models Page.
Although I was either unaware of it or have forgotten, there was at
least one Atomic Cannon battalion stationed in Asia during the Viet
Nam War. The 663rd Field Artillery Bn was on
Okinawa from 1955 thrugh 1957 and was at Sukeran in 1956-57.
Dave Owen was the youngest volunteer there (RA - all the way!), just
18, whereas the majority of those he served with were WWII vets or
just out of Korea and in their late '20s-early '30s. That makes
most of them in their late '80s to over 100 now! Most of them
are slowly dying off and Dave would like to connect with his old
buddies before they are all gone.
Is there a 663rd FABn association or some similar group
where he can contact anyone he served with on Okinawa?
Dave dug up some old shots of 280s firing into the East China Sea
in 1956 (left, below) and firing at night at Yanaberu (right, below):
(Ca. 1956 photos courtesy of D. Owen - all rights reserved.)
[Thumbnail images; click on photos for larger images.]
Some more photos may follow.
Dave recalls that security around the arrival of the big guns was
quite lax, probably deliberately, so that all and sundry would know of
our deterrent capability. Five minutes after the six guns were
unloaded in the port of Naha, every nation in the world knew we had
them on Okinawa. They drove them up the only main paved highway
for all to see, flaunted them, and left them out in plain view in the
motor pool, observing mnay locals driving by and snapping pictures.
Even when they fired the guns, they had an audience and any security
they had was either non-existent or they 'deliberately' wanted the
world to see and understand what we had... PLUS they provided many
news releases to the local and Japanese press and the armed forces
newspapers. The point was to be a deterrent in the Far East...
and the 280s did their job exceptionally well, especially for the
Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, Viet Cong, and a slew of other
unfriendly nations which had to back down. One interesting point
Dave recalls is that periodically the Chinese Navy would send ships
around Okinawa just within the horizon but beyond the traditional
3-mile limit; after the 280s arrived, that stopped. Dave guesses
the Chinese understood we could have sunk their entire Navy with one
round!
Stay tuned and please let us know of any Okinawan veterans'
organizations Dave could contact.
280mm Cannoneers - see this site:
42nd FA Bn, USAREUR.
Much more on the Atomic Cannon follows on the
Atomic Cannon Pictures Page.
I found three fantastic sites with coverage of the 280 and of AFVs and also one with
coverage of superguns; I started a new, separate
page on the latter. The sites are:
Les Canons de l'Apocalypse (The Cannons of the Apocalypse), in French, as noted above,
AFV Database, and
JED Military Enthusiasts Directory
and
Encyclopedia Astronautica - Gun-Launched.
The ORDNANCE Main Page had to be split; it
continues on ORDNANCE Continuation Page 1,
ORDNANCE Continuation Page 2, and, in turn,
continues on ORDNANCE Continuation Page 3.
Similarly, the Atomic Cannon page had to be
split, continuing on this page.
THUMBS UP!
THUMBS UP! - Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!
S. Berliner, III
To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.
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of this series of Ordnance pages.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 2008
- All rights reserved.
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