75 MM Howitzer - Colville, WA
Posted by: T0SHEA
N 48° 32.840 W 117° 52.943
11U E 434877 N 5377512
The VFW post, Number 6963, Kelly O'Keefe Post, in Colville keeps itself well defended against vandals and other marauders with this World War II Howitzer.
Waymark Code: WMJDEP
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 11/03/2013
Views: 4
The post is on the north side of Highway 20 on the eastern edge of Colville, WA, at Aladdin Road. This howitzer sits at the corner of the building, aimed over the highway. There are no plaques or signs apprising us of its history or specifications, unfortunately.
There are several stampings on the castings, all of which are meaningless to me. There is a name plate, however, which states:
75 MM Pack Howitzer
M1A
Hannifin Mfg.
Interestingly, the "Pack" in the name means that it was designed to be broken down into 6 pieces and "packed" by 6 mules. The 75 MM had a range of about 9489 yards with a muzzle velocity of 1,250 FPM. It could fire up to 6 rounds per minute in short bursts and weighed 1,487 lbs., all up. When necessary, it could be towed by vehicles as small as a Jeep. Apparently, when packed, it could be reassembled in as little as 3 minutes by an experienced crew.
First designed just after WWI, it was deployed until the end if WWII. During WWII a total of 4,939 were manufactured.