Historic Power Projection Capability Returns to Navy, Dahlgren

DAHLGREN, Va. (NNS) -- The Navy regained a piece of its historical power projection capability July 20, when a historic gun returned to its original home in Dahlgren, Va.

On Oct. 16, 1918, a 7-inch, 45-caliber tractor-mounted gun boomed out the birth announcement for the U.S. Navy's premier proving ground. Earlier this month, that same gun returned to what is now Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren.

"It's great to have this important piece of Dahlgren history back here because it began this place," said Peter Kolakowski, operations department head for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) headquartered at NSF Dahlgren.

Kolakowski was the principal mover and shaker in securing the artillery piece from the Museum of the United States Marine Corps at Quantico.

"We'll have it to honor the 200th birthday of Rear Adm. (John Adolphus) Dahlgren this November."

Dahlgren was born Nov. 13, 1809.

Kolakowski said the gun is on loan to Dahlgren for 10 years.

According to Wayne Harman, a former NSWCDD physicist and a current historical researcher for Kolakowski, a celebration of Dahlgren's acquisition of the gun will occur on the anniversary of the admiral's birthday with the head of the Navy's Historical and Heritage Foundation, retired Rear Adm. Jay A. DeLoach, unveiling the gun to the public.

"We're going to clean the gun to its original condition," Harman said. "It will be stored in a place where all can see and appreciate it."

He noted that 20 of these 7-inch field guns were built for the U.S. Marine Corps to use on the Western Front of World War I.

"But none ever made it over there as the war ended before they could be used. Not one shot was ever fired in anger," he pointed out. "During World War II they were secured for mostly coastal defense purposes."

In the Dahlgren gun's case, despite its long unused condition and long storage, the gun is in remarkable condition considering its 91 years. There are even a few chips of the original green Marine paint still visible on parts of its mechanism.

The gun was retrieved from storage at Marine Corps Base Quantico and transported to NSF Dahlgren by employees from Dahlgren's public works department.

Transportation Director Ron Cheek said the operation mostly went "like a snap."

"The gun rolled pretty easily despite being 91 years old and weighing as much as it does (65,000 pounds)," he said. "We had very little trouble rolling it up on our drop neck trailer and transporting it. It was just a great cooperative effort by everyone involved."

In 1918, when the 7-inch gun fired its first shot, the world was in chaos. World War I had been raging in Europe for four long years. The United States had declared war April 6, 1917, and the first American troops saw World War I combat action in France, exactly a year before that first Dahlgren gun fired.

World War I was an artillery war. There were more battle deaths and casualties inflicted from artillery during World War I than in any war previous or since combined.

At the beginning of World War I, the most advanced artillery weapon was considered to be the French 75-mm field gun which entered service in 1898. It had an effective range of more than 7,500 yards and could fire about 15 rounds per minute.

However, with technology expanding so rapidly, the war was demanding bigger and better weapons, and America was responding with artillery such as the 7-inch, 45-caliber tractor-mounted MK 5 gun. It was first produced for the Department of the Army but was soon adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps.

The gun had an effective range of more than 19,000 yards and fired projectiles weighing 153 pounds. At extreme elevations, the gun could theoretically reach ranges of 25,000 yards with the new smokeless nitrocellulose powder produced at the Naval Powder Factory in Indian Head, Md.

The counter recoil mechanism adopted on the gun's mount was copied from the French 75-mm gun. It had a muzzle velocity of about 2,500 feet per second, and the weight of just the gun's fully equipped barrel and firing apparatus was about 22,800 pounds.

Marines on the Western Front desperately needed this kind of firepower. The German high command launched a spring offensive in France, and on June 1, 1918, that offensive came squarely against the 6th Marine Regiment and 5th Marines at a place called Belleau Wood.

The battle was a costly one in terms of lives: more than 9,777 casualties, including 1,811 killed.

But, as Harman pointed out, none of the 7-inch naval
guns destined for the Western Front ever made it. The German offensive stalled in late summer at the Second Battle of the Marne. In September, 260,000 U.S. soldiers went "over the top" and penetrated the German resistance in Belgium.

By October -- and at the time the gun was fired at Dahlgren -- it was evident that Germany could no longer mount a successful defense. Germany was increasingly outnumbered, with few new recruits. German field marshal Erich Ludendorff decided that Germany had two ways out - total annihilation or an armistice. He recommended the latter at a summit of senior German officials.

The war continued for the rest of the month while those officials struggled with capitulation. Finally, on Nov. 11, 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front.
But while the Mk 5 7-inch gun never made it to Europe, it did signal the establishment of a new naval proving ground at Dahlgren, which has since evolved into what has more recently been described as "the crown jewel" of naval technology in researching and developing the tools to defend America against enemies whom would threaten her.

Since that inaugural gun firing at Dahlgren, other large-caliber naval weapons and guns were proof tested as well as actually researched and designed here. Even today, every gun barrel that goes to the Navy fleet comes through NSF Dahlgren for proof testing - just as that 7-inch/45 caliber gun back in October of 1918.

For more news from Naval Support Activity South Potomac, visit www.navy.mil/local/NSASP/.