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Davy Crockett mounted to a recoilless rifle on a tripod
Davy Crockett mounted to a recoilless rifle on a tripod

The M-388 Davy Crockett was a tactical nuclear recoilless rifle projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. A tactical nuclear weapon (or TNW) refers to a Nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations A recoilless gun or recoilless rifle (RCL is a lightweight form of Weapon that allows the firing of a heavier projectile than would be practical with a recoiling The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the It was named after American soldier, Congressman and folk hero Davy Crockett (1786-1836). A soldier is a general English term that refers to a member of a land component of National Armed forces. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses A folk hero is type of Hero, real or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name personality Colonel David Stern Crockett ( August 17, 1786 March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American Folk hero,

Contents

Development

U.S. officials view a Davy Crockett casing.
U. S. officials view a Davy Crockett casing.

One of the smallest nuclear weapons ever built, the Davy Crockett was developed in the late 1950s for use against Soviet troops in West Germany. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( Small teams of the Atomic Battle Group (charged with operating the device) would be stationed every few kilometers to guard against Soviet attack, using the power of their nuclear artillery shells to kill or incapacitate advancing troop formations and irradiate the area so that it was uninhabitable for up to 48 hours, long enough to mobilize NATO forces.

The M-388 round used a version of the W54 warhead, a very small sub-kiloton fission device. The W54 was the smallest Nuclear warhead deployed by the United States. Typically a warhead is the Explosive material and Detonator that is delivered by a Missile, Rocket, or Torpedo. Units of mass There are three similar units of Mass called the ton: Long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United Nuclear fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into parts (lighter nuclei) often producing Free neutrons and other smaller nuclei which may The Mk-54 weighed about 51 lb (23 kg), with a selectable yield of 10 or 20 tons (very close to the minimum practical size and yield for a fission warhead) up to 0. 5 kiloton. The complete round weighed 76 lb (34. 5 kg). It was 31 in. (78. 7 cm) long with a diameter of 11 in. (28 cm) at its widest point; a subcaliber piston at the back of the shell was actually inserted into the launcher's barrel for firing. [1]

The Davy Crockett could be launched from either of two launchers: the 4-inch (120 mm) M28, with a range of about 1. 25 mi (2 km), or the 6-in (155 mm) M29, with a range of 2. 5 mi (4 km). Both weapons used the same projectile, and could be mounted on a tripod launcher or carried by truck or armored personnel carrier. Armoured personnel carriers (APCs are Armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport Infantry on the Battlefield They usually have only a Machine They were operated by a three-man crew. [2]

A Davy Crockett preserved in the United States Army Ordnance Museum
A Davy Crockett preserved in the United States Army Ordnance Museum

Both recoilless guns proved to have poor accuracy in testing, so the shell's greatest effect would have been its extreme radiation hazard. The US Army Ordnance Museum is a Museum located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Aberdeen, Maryland, USA. Radiation, as in Physics, is Energy in the form of waves or moving Subatomic particles emitted by an atom or other body as it changes from a higher energy Even at a low yield setting, the M388 would produce an almost instantly lethal radiation dosage (in excess of 10,000 rem) within 500 feet (150 m), and a probably fatal dose (around 600 rem) within a quarter mile (400 meters). The Röntgen ( roentgen) equivalent in man or rem (symbol rem) [3]

The warhead was tested on July 7, 1962 in the Little Feller II weapons effects test shot, and again in an actual firing of the Davy Crockett from distance of 1. Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Little Feller II and Little Feller I were codenames for a set of nuclear tests undertaken by the United States at the Nevada Test Site on 7 miles (2. 72 km) in the Little Feller I test shot on July 17. Little Feller II and Little Feller I were codenames for a set of nuclear tests undertaken by the United States at the Nevada Test Site on Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians This was the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site. The Nevada Test Site is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km northwest of the City of

Production of the Davy Crockett began in 1956, with a total of 2,100 being made. The weapon was deployed with U. S. Army forces from 1961 to 1971.

Versions of the W54 warhead were also used in the Special Atomic Demolition Munition project and the AIM-26A Falcon. The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM was a United States Navy and Marines project that was demonstrated as feasible in the mid-to-late 1960s but was The AIM-26 Falcon was a larger more powerful version of the AIM-4 Falcon Air-to-air missile built by Hughes.

Popular culture

Survivors

Below is a list of museums which have a Davy Crockett in their collection:

See also

References

  1. ^ Characteristics of all US nuclear weapons designs, accessed October 20, 2006
  2. ^ Guntruck.com Davy Crockett page, accessed Oct 20, 2006
  3. ^ Nuclear Weapons FAQ Section 5.6, Mechanisms of Damage and Injury, accessed October 20, 2006

External links

The Air Force Space & Missile Museum is located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS is a detachment of the 45th Space Wing (45 SW Patrick AFB provides headquarters functions from the 45 SW a major airfield Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The National Atomic Museum is a national repository of nuclear science information chartered by the 102nd United States Congress under Public Law 102-190 and located in Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southwest The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule The US Army Ordnance Museum is a Museum located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Aberdeen, Maryland, USA. Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen Maryland (in Harford County) Watervliet is a City in Albany County, New York, United States. West Point is a federal military reservation (and a Census-designated place) located North of the Village of Highland Falls in Orange County New York Las Vegas ( Spanish: "The Meadows" is the most populous City in the state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Nuclear artillery is subset of limited- yield Tactical nuclear weapons, in particular those weapons that are launched from the ground at battlefield targets Nuclear weapon designs are physical chemical and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of Nuclear weapons As a sub-branch of Military
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