US M2 4.2-Inch Mortar

By Crusader1307

Fielded in 1943, the US 4.2-Inch Mortar was a crew served  (4-man) weapon capable of firing firing a 25-pound round up to 4,500 yards. A typical crew could deploy up to 5 such rounds per minute (with a 60 second detonation rate). The nicknamed "Four Deuce" and "Goon Gun", weighed 335-pounds with a 4-foot long tube (4.2 inch diameter). The Mortar featured a 3-foot in diameter stabilization plate (to keep the tube from burying itself in the mud after each shot). The M-2 also featured a traversing/elevation system designed to fix firing location. So effective when deployed, that German soldiers initially thought the Mortar was an "automatic cannon". Although Mortars were not a new weapon to The US (having fielded several versions during World War I), The 4.2-Inch Mortar was one of the first to give an artillery type shell that could be deployed by Infantry Forces. The M-2 "War Production Model", carried on until 1951, when "smaller" and less heavier Mortar types were used in the following Conflicts that America became involved with. The M-2 was somewhat redesigned and was used heavily in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. It continues to still be in The US Arms inventory, today.