U. S. 81mm mortars
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Title (Dublin Core)
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U. S. 81mm mortars
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Article Title and/or Image Caption (Dublin Core)
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Title: Pillbox destroyer
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extracted text (Extract Text)
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Big brother fo the 60-mm. mortar
which the Army uses principally
as a machine-gun destroyer (P.S.M.
Oct. ‘42, p. 56) is the weapon
shown at right. In a well con-
cealed spot, two men of a seven-
man team get the mortar ready
for action. While one aims the
piece, another crouches alongside
waiting fo drop a charge into it
sommanding the seven-man
sguad is a sergeant who carries
one sight for the mortar, firing
lables, compass, field glasses
No. | man carries the bipod which
supports the barrel, and aims the
piece. Strapped-on shoulder pads
help to cushion his 46-pound load
In charge of the business end of the
weapon—the mortar itself—is No.
2 man, who takes over as the loader
once the piece is set up and aimed
The spherical projection at the base of
the mortar eno) is placed in one of
these three seats in the base plate and
then locked by being turned 90 degrees.
Projectiles are fired by adjusting the
propelling charge, removing the fuse's
cotter pin, and letting round slide down
the barrel until it strikes the firing pin
Here the No. 2 man is inserting a round into the mouth of |
the mortar while No. I, having lined up the piece, ducks
away. Squad leader, lying on in crest of the embankment, |
waits to observe the result of the fire. Depending on the
weight of the projectile as well as the adjustment of its
propelling charge, this mortar has a range of 100 to 3,300 |
yards. As a smooth-working team, No. | and No. 2 men can
pump projectiles at the enemy at the rate of 35 a minute
The Mé aiming stake and the base
plate, to which bottom of mortar
is attached, are carried by No. 3
man. The plate weighs 45 pounds
No. 4, 5, and 6 men carry ammunition.
Equipped with rifles, they also have
the important job of covering their
comrades while they work the mortar
Because the men int
the squad must acti
as their own pack)
horses, they wear 1
shoulder pads to¢
ease their burdens..
The mortar itself 1
weighs 44 pounds; ;
mortar rounds (de--
pending on whether 1
they are chemical, ,
smoke screen, ora
demolition projec =
tiles) weigh from six x
to Il pounds apiece ¢
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Language (Dublin Core)
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eng
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Date Issued (Dublin Core)
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1943-08
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pages (Bibliographic Ontology)
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118-119
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Rights (Dublin Core)
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Public Domain (Google Digitized)
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Archived by (Dublin Core)
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Matteo Ridolfi
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Marco Bortolami (editor)
Popular Science Monthly, v. 143, n. 2, 1943
