The Firing Battery: Ballistics, Effects of Projectiles, Dispersion
Washington DC: United States War Department, 1941. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Wraps. [4], 53, [1] pages. Illustrations. Tabular Data. Organizational stamp on the front page. This was prepared under the direction of the Chief of Field Artillery. Pending inclusion in a revision of FM 6-40, the following instructions are published for the information and guidance of all concerned. In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, grouped to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems. Historically the term "battery" referred to a cluster of cannons in action as a group, either in a temporary field position during a battle or at the siege of a fortress or a city. Such batteries could be a mixture of cannon, howitzer, or mortar types. A siege could involve many batteries at different sites around the besieged place. The term also came to be used for a group of cannons in a fixed fortification, for coastal or frontier defense. During the 18th century "battery" began to be used as an organizational term for a permanent unit of artillery in peace and war, although horse artillery sometimes used "troop" and fixed position artillery "company". They were usually organized with between 6 and 12 ordnance pieces, often including cannon and howitzers. In the 20th century the term was generally used for the company level sub-unit of an artillery branch including field, air-defence, anti-tank and position (coastal and frontier defenses). This is an important snapshot into the state-of-the-art, state of knowledge, and the state of practice of Artillery Battery firing during the early period of the Second World War, prior to the entry of the United States into that global conflict. Gunner is the practical handling of artillery fire. It consists generally of two phases; The preparation of initial data and the conduct of fire. Gunnery is based on practical experience. When selecting gunnery methods, the officer must use initiative and judgment. The contents of this memorandum should be supplemented by the FM 6-series on service of the piece; Field Manuals on camouflage, fortification and defense against chemical attack, and by Technical manuals pertaining to materiel and ammunition. The procedure described herein refers primarily to a firing battery of four pieces commanded by an executive. When pieces are emplaced singly or in pairs, the modification to be made are obvious. The officer conducting fire is referred to as such, regardless of the number of assistants he may utilize. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Artillery, Field Manual 6-40, Projectiles, Ballistics, Dispersion, Military Instruction, Aiming Circle, Adjusted Compass, Trajectory, Point of Burst, Time-Setting, Quadrant Elevations
[Book #90560]
Price: $125.00