Rock Island Arsenal M101

The first prototype was the M1 developed in 1920 by the Rock Island Arsenal. After long trials the M1 was replaced by the M2 in 1934 having been retooled to fire a shrapnel round. In 1940 the M2 was standardized as the M2A1. Such long periods of development were normal until the attack on Pearl Harbor when development of military hardware become the primary focus of the government. The M2 was produced in 1941 and saw action against Japan and Germany on all fronts and became the standard medium field howitzer. It was issued to the US Army and the USMC and was found to be reliable and very accurate and was well received by the troops in the field. After World War II the M2 was reclassified as the M101 using the two wheeled carriage, the production run lasted till 1953 and 10,202 units were manufactured.

The M101 was hardy and reliable with some draw backs including only moderate range and a rate of fire declined to 3 rpm from 10 rpm with sustained fire. In her favor was a life span of 20,000 rounds and large stock piles of units and parts. A horizontal breach block was used with a percussion firing system. To achieve consistent stability the recoil system was mounted over and under the short barrel.

The ammunition used was the standard NATO 105 mm round. Additional ammunition used like the M4 44 with 18 M39 grenades, a HESH round was able to penetrate 102 mm (4 in) of armor at 1500 m (1,640 yards). Various impact and fuses were also used. The crew was 8 enlisted men and the carriage is the simple split tail design. The gun fires on the road wheels and has an excellent center of gravity.

The reliability of the gun and high production runs led to many countries acquiring the M101 even after it was retired from service in the US military. At least 67 countries purchased the howitzer making it one of the most successful field pieces ever produced.

Elevation was -5 degrees to + 66 degrees with traverse of 46 degrees. Range of the M1 projectile was reported at 12,325 yards while the M548 projectile recorded a range of up to 15,965 yards. A rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute could be achieved with 3 rounds per minute in sustained fire.

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Last Updated: 4/18/2009