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. It was named after American soldier, Congressman and folk hero Davy Crockett (1786-1836). Davy Crockett Bomb (U.S. Government Archive photo) File links The following pages link to this file: Nuclear weapon Nuclear artillery Davy Crockett (nuclear device) Categories: U.S. Army images ... Davy Crockett Bomb (U.S. Government Archive photo) File links The following pages link to this file: Nuclear weapon Nuclear artillery Davy Crockett (nuclear device) Categories: U.S. Army images ... American scientists examine a mockup of a W48 155-millimeter nuclear shell, a very small tactical nuclear weapon. ... M67 recoilless rifle. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... This article is about a military rank. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... A folk hero is type of hero, real or mythological. ... Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; usually referred to as Davy Crockett and by the popular title King of the Wild Frontier. He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the...

Development

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. 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x628, 249 KB) U.S. officials examine a M-388 Davy Crockett nuclear weapon. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x628, 249 KB) U.S. officials examine a M-388 Davy Crockett nuclear weapon. ... CCCP redirects here. ...

The M-388 round used a version of the W54 warhead, a very small sub-kiloton fission device. 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 W54 nuclear warhead was used in the man-portable M-388 Davy Crockett projectile. ... A B61 nuclear bomb in various stages of assembly; the nuclear warhead is the bullet-shaped silver cannister in the middle-left of the photograph. ... A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ... For the generation of electrical power by fission, see Nuclear power plant. ...

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. They were operated by a three-man crew. ^[2] East German BRDMs on parade during celebrations of the 40th anniversary of East Germany in 1989 Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are light armoured fighting vehicles for the transport of infantry. ...

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. 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). ^[3] The U.S. Army Ordnance Museum is a museum located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Aberdeen, Maryland. ... For other uses, see Radiation (disambiguation). ... The röntgen (roentgen) equivalent in man or rem (symbol rem) is a unit of radiation dose. ...

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 1.7 miles (2.72 km) in the Little Feller I test shot on July 17. This was the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site. is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Davy Crockett (nuclear device). ... 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. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 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 Las Vegas, near . ...

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. H-912 transport container for Mk-54 SADM 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 never used. ... The Hughes AIM-26 Falcon was a larger, more powerful version of the AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missile. ...

Popular culture

• In the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Yevgeny Volgin fires a Davy Crockett.
• In the video game Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Lt. Cunningham threatens to fire a Soviet-made version of the Davy Crockett.
• In the Battletech series of books, Davy Crockett devices mounted on armoured personnel carriers are used in the destruction of the Knights of the Inner Sphere, Comstar, and the Rashleg Republic Battle Mechs.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (commonly abbreviated MGS3) is a stealth-based game directed by Hideo Kojima, developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. ... BattleTech is a wargaming and science fiction franchise, launched by FASA Corporation and currently owned by WizKids. ... Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport infantry on the battlefield. ...

Survivors

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

• Air Force Space & Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
• National Atomic Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning, Georgia
• United States Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
• Watervliet Arsenal Museum, Watervliet, New York
• West Point Museum, West Point, New York
• Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada

The Bumper V-2 was the first missile launched at Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Florida. ... National Atomic Museum, soon to be renamed the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ... Albuquerque redirects here. ... Fort Benning is a United States Army base, located southwest of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama It is part of the Columbus, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. ... The U.S. Army Ordnance Museum is a museum located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Aberdeen, Maryland. ... Aberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army facility located at Aberdeen, Maryland (in Harford county). ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Largest metro area Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 101 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N... Watervliet is a city located in Albany County, New York. ... West Point painting West Point is a federal military base (and a census-designated place) located in the Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York. ... For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ...

See also

• Nuclear weapon
• Nuclear artillery
• Nuclear weapon design
• Nuclear strategy

The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter A nuclear weapon derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of fusion or fission. ... A nuclear artillery shell is a limited yield nuclear weapon delivered by artillery. ... The first nuclear weapons, though large, cumbersome and inefficient, provided the basic design building blocks of all future weapons. ... Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. ...

References

External links

• Facts about the "Davy Crockett" missile
• Characteristics of all US nuclear weapons designs
• Davy Crocketts in Southern Avenue of Fulda Gap
• Davy Crocketts during Oct 62 Cuban Crisis (Southern Avenue of Fulda Gap)
• Source of some of the information
• Video showing testing of device on youtube.com
• Operation Ivy Flats — testing of the Davy Crockett, 1962 (17:46)
• Wee Gwen - a UK weapon similar to Davy Crockett