Talk:M65 atomic cannon

Atomic Annie

Does anyone have a first citation of the nick-name "Atomic Annie" from a contemporaneous source? A member of the crew who trained on the gun (assembling conventional and atomic warheads) at Ft. Sill in late 1952 wrote that he did not recall the 280mm being called "Atomic Annie" in 1952. So, does anyone know when, where and by whom the M65 gun was names "Atomic Annie"? Naaman Brown (talk) 16:48, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

I added a couple of sources that provide seemingly reliable information on the origin of the name. It originally applied only to the specific cannon that fired the nuclear test shot but was later popularly applied to the M65 in general. The man you reference is quite correct as "Atomic Annie" was known as "Able Annie" before she fired at Frenchman Flat in 1953 so that name would not have been in use then.SEWalk (talk) 01:24, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

The first Atomic  Cannon was made by the Mesta Machine Company in 1954. The President of the Company Lorenz Iverson kept a picture of the armament by the door to his office. The streets had to be cleared of all cars to bring out the big gun for delivery.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sammessinger (talk • contribs) 16:19, 22 September 2018 (UTC) 

Operating units

Details concerning array would be helpful. Where, when and how long was that piece deployed ? --88.217.113.219 (talk) 18:53, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

Only 20 pieces produced ?

1953/55 there were 6 battalions 280 mm cannon deployed to West Germany. One reads, the battalion with 3 batteries, 2 pieces with each battery. That is 6 pieces per battalion (=36). Even if there was only 2/3 equipment, that counts for more than 20 pieces in West Germany alone. And the same time there were deployments to South Korea, too ? (and some pieces would have remained in mainland US). - ? So, only 20 produced sounds somewhat low. --129.187.244.19 (talk) 06:15, 12 July 2018 (UTC)

I wonder why they even bothered designing this all-new 11in gun when excellent surplus 12in naval guns from Alaska class battlecruisers already existed. 185.5.70.116 (talk) 21:45, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

Technical Specifications

An external page uses an .mp4 video of this gun being fired , something is awry - the framerate probably - from firing to impact at the stated 7 miles takes about 3 seconds - this equates to around 8400mph - came here to read up and clarify but it's not in the specifications listed. Pyrofex 23:07, 29 September 2019 (BST)

References