Marine defense battalions
Marine Defense Battalions were United States Marine Corps battalions charged with coastal and air defense of advanced naval bases during World War II. They maintained large anti-ship guns, anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, and small arms to repel landing forces.
3rd Defense Battalion with a 90 mm antiaircraft gun at Guadalcanal
155 mm Long Tom gun "Scorpion" of the 4th Marine Defense Battalion at Barakoma Airfield on Vella Lavella in the South Pacific.
Japanese Imperial Army Captain Sakee Oba surrenders his Samurai sword to Lieutenant Colonel Howard G. Kurgis, USMC, at Saipan, Mariana Islands on Saturday morning, December 1, 1945.
Image: 8th AAA Bn
The 155 mm gun M1 was a 155 millimeter caliber field gun developed and used by the United States military. Nicknamed "Long Tom", it was produced in M1 and M2 variants, later known as the M59. Developed to replace the Canon de 155mm GPF, the gun was deployed as a heavy field weapon during World War II and the Korean War, and also classed as secondary armament for seacoast defense. The gun could fire a 100 lb (45 kg) shell to a maximum range of 14 mi (23 km), with an estimated accuracy life of 1,500 rounds.
Long Tom in travelling position, US Army Ordnance Museum.
A wooden mock-up of a modified GPF gun with equilibrators to increase maximal elevation and range, 1920
Long Tom at crew training in England
M2 during the Battle of Okinawa.
