Precursor to the Atomic Age

Precursor to the Atomic Age. The T1 240mm Gun. In November of 1944, the U.S. Army requested a 240mm cannon be designed for the purpose of long range fortification and communication center destruction. Because of delays by strikes, lack of materials and testing, the two prototypes, Gun No. 1 and Gun No. 2, were not finished until the summer of 1950. By the time of its completion, the T1 was approaching obsolescence. Just as the forgings were arriving at Watervliet Arsenal in 1949, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced the creation of a new 280mm nuclear artillery shell., While the T1 gun was cast aside, the Army did retain a piece of its design. On May 25, 1953, 280mm M65Gun Tube No. 11 successfully fired an atomic projectile as part of nuclear test Upshot-Knothole Grable, while mounted on the T72 carriage developed for the abandoned T1 gun., The gun and carriage displayed in the park are both the earlier T1 240mm prototypes., (captions) , Large caliber gun tubes being turned on lathes at Watervliet Arsenal, c. 1943. This is the production floor where the T1 240mm gun tube was later manufactured. Photo: National Park Service. , May 1950 saw the launch of the 280mm T131 Gun project (aka Atomic Canaon), and the shelving of the T1. , “Atomic Annie," the larger cousin of the T1, was tried in the field in several locations. By 1963, it too had been supplanted by other weapons. , The mushroom cloud from the test firing of an atomic cannon in the Nevada desert, 1953.