M1 57mm Antitank Gun #2 - Gadsden, AL
N 34° 02.156 W 086° 01.445
16S E 590087 N 3766569
One of two M1 57mm Antitank Guns located in Ola Lee Mize Patriots Park
Waymark Code: WMEAQW
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 04/28/2012
Views: 2
The 57mm Gun M1 on Carriage M1 was towed anti-tank artillery, based on the British "6 pounder" anti-tank gun. In Feb 1941, U.S. Army Ordnance started a program to adapt the British 6 pounder antitank gun to U.S. production, in order to supply the British under the Lend Lease program. The U.S. version was designated 57mm Gun M1 on Carriage M1. Production began in February 1942.
The M1 57mm antitank gun replaced the M3 37mm Antitank Gun in the European Theater, starting in Tunisia. Due to a lack of production planning, only antitank rounds were produced until near the end of the war, limiting the gun's usefulness without HE rounds. Although intended to replace the underpowered 37mm M3 antitank gun, the 57mm gun was still too light to be uniformly effective against German armor. It was better, with a muzzle velocity of 2700 feet/sec, the ability to penetrate 2 inches of armor plate at 100 yards, and a higher rate of fire, but it was still a stopgap until more effective Panzer killers were produced.
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