Mk 18 Mod 0 grenade launcher

The Mk 18 Mod 0 was a 40x46mm grenade launcher used by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War and also the last known hand crank operated firearm since the Gatling gun. It was replaced by the Mk 19 grenade launcher in service with the United States Armed Forces.

Design

This weapon is manually-operated and belt-fed. The use of a split breech mechanism allowed the weapon to be simple. The Mk 18 Mod 0 featured a pistol grip, iron sights, and a control knob with three different settings: Safe, Load, and Fire. The only hand-cranked weapon to enter US military service since the Gatling Gun, two rounds were loaded and fired for every complete rotation, while spent cases were reinserted into the belt. The weapon was light, weighing only , and had an effective range of .

For watercraft 48-round ammunition boxes were issued while for ground operations a 24-round box was used. Belts had to be manually loaded by the crews before use and could be reused up to four or five times.

Employment

About 1,200 launchers were produced primarily for the US Navy, while the US Army purchased 20 for testing.

The Mark 18 was used primarily on small boats or in fixed positions such as bunkers. The US Army mounted some on M151A1 Jeeps for patrols; their primary users were the so-called " river rats" and the SEALs. They could be mounted on M2HB, M60, M1919 tripods, or pintle mounts, but could not be fired without such a mount.

Armored Troop Carrier (LCM)s of the Mobile Riverine Force usually mounted two Mk 18s.

After the Vietnam War, the Mk 18 Mod 0 was replaced by the Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher.

Gallery

References

Bibliography

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External links

Mk 18 Mod 0 at Securityarms





Automatic grenade launchers
40×46mm grenade launchers
Grenade launchers of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1960s