Mk 2 Mod 0 and Mod 1 .50 BMG/81mm Mortar

[Canadian Army]

The other day I was surf the web and found this weapon, I thought it could be useful for Twilight 2000, so I decided to post it.

Mk 2 Mod 0 and Mod 1 .50 BMG/81mm Mortar (http://www.warboats.org/stonerordnot...Mod1%20R3.html)



"Chief [Warrant] Gunner Elmer L. HICKS, USCG, has designed an adapter for a .50 caliber Browning machine gun on top of the recoil cylinder of the 81mm seagoing mortar mount which may eventually be standard armament on all Coast Guard cutters. The accompanying picture shows Chief Gunner HICKS beside his mount. The 81mm is designated a mortar but it can also be fired by trigger. It is light weight, has a simple pedestal mount and can be operated in train and elevation by one man. A variety of ammunition types are available to this gun making it a very effective weapon for WPB Class Coast Guard Cutters. The stability provided by using the 81mm mortar as a platform also increases the accuracy of the .50 caliber gun."

No date; photographer unknown.

Another view of the piggyback mortar;



No date; photographer unknown.

(Both pictures are from http://www.uscg.mil/history/uscghist...otoIndex_A.asp)

History: The Mk 2 Mod 0 and Mod 1 .50 BMG/81mm Mortar 81mm mortar was unique to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard small craft of the Vietnam and post war-era. The mortar itself is entirely different in design from all other mortars in U.S. service. This mortar is designed for direct and indirect fire. The difference between the Mk 2 Mod 0 and Mk 2 Mod 1 are mostly cosmetic and that the Mod 1 mounts an AN/M2HB .50 Browning machine gun above its recoil cylinder and either a 100 or 400 round ammunition box on its right side. The recoil cylinder for the mortar is above the barrel. Note the prominent ventilated basket. This is a guard to prevent injury to the gunner when the mortar recoils when fired. The mushroom-shaped knob is the mode of fire selector for the mortar: DROP or TRIGGER fire.

The Mk 2 Mortar was developed by the Naval Weapons Station, Crane, Indiana, in the early 1960s to provide offshore patrol boats with a light weight direct and high-angle fire weapon that could engage both surface and shore targets. It was adopted by the USCG in 1962 where it was first mounted on their large WHEC cutters in the Atlantic and Pacific. In mid-1964 the USCG recommended the fitting of a .50 Browning machine gun in "piggyback" fashion above the mortar's recoil cylinder. The prototype was built by the USCG at its Curtis Bay, MD, yard and it worked very well. The mortar's tripod mount was more than adequate for taming the .50 Browning's recoil. In late 1964, the Navy fired the Mk 2 Mod 1 at its Dahlgren, VA range. The Mk 2 Mod 1 was successful in its tests. Two Mk 2 Mod 1 units were then taken to sea aboard USCG 95-foot cutters for demonstration and operational evaluation. Both units passed with flying colors.

Ammunition: Typical ammunition used with the .50 Browning was armor piercing incendiary (API), incendiary (INC), and armor piercing incendiary tracer (API-T). It was linked two API, two INC, and one API-T. Ammunition for the 81mm mortar was the M43 series HE; M362 series HE or TP; M374 series HE; M301 series ILLUM; M57 series FS or WP smoke; M375 WP Smoke; Mk 112 Leaflet; Mk 115, Mk 133 to Mk 135 Chaff; and Mk 120 APERS*.






*The Mk 120 Mod 0 APERS (anti-personnel) round was specifically-designed for Navy and USCG use. The round made the mortar into an 81mm shotgun which fired 1,200 13-grain steel flechettes (these resemble nails with fins) that were effective to 600 feet.

[headquarters]

now all my players will want one for their PCs ..

"It CAN be done -just look at THIS!!!"

wait a minute - I will of course equip the NPC enemy with these .

Muaqahahaahahahahahaa!

thanks for finding and posting this.

[General Pain]

Originally Posted by headquarters

now all my players will want one for their PCs ..

"It CAN be done -just look at THIS!!!"

wait a minute - I will of course equip the NPC enemy with these .

Muaqahahaahahahahahaa!

thanks for finding and posting this.

If you design it I'll allow 2 of these on your ship in my campaign.

[Raellus]

The .50/81mm combo was used extensively on PCF "Swift" Boats and 82 foot Coast Guard cutters during the Vietnam War.

According to Riverine: A Pictoral History of the Brown Water Navy in Vietnam (Jim Mesko), "Because of the way the weapons were sited it was not possible to fire both at the same time." (p.24)

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing he means that the gunner could not switch instantly from the .50 to the mortar without having to re-aim first.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

From the looks of things, both weapons have completely seperate controls and sights. The mortar likely uses the offset sights you can see on the left side of the mortar while the M2 uses its iron sights. I would think that because you have one person standing behind the installation to fire the M2, he'd get in the way of anyone trying to operate the mortar and vice-versa.

[Snake Eyes]

Awesome. There's a drawing of that thing on the first page of Ruins of Warsaw and I've been wondering what the hell it was for over 20 years.

[copeab]

I forgot about this cute little thing

I wonder about using similar as a ground mount in my WWII campaign but using the 60mm M-19 mortar (which was also trigger fired but would have less recoil). Maybe mate it with a .30-cal instead of .50-cal for lower weight.