Panama Mount

The 241st Coastal Artillery Battery C used this Panama Gun Mount as a firing base. At the onset of World War II, the United States Army positioned 155 MM Field Artillery pieces at critical coastal locations. Defense of the easterly entrance to the Cape Cod Canal was critical to the war effort because Allied shipping used the canal as a safe passageway and assemblage area for convoys going overseas. Developed by the U.S. Army for defense of the Panama Canal, the Panama Mount gave the 155 MM greater accuracy and enabled the gun crew to rotate the weapon 360 degrees. The field artillery piece weighed 12 tons and fired 120 pound projectiles at a rate of four per minute. With a range of approximately 20 miles, it helped keep the easterly entrance to the Cape Cod Canal well protected.

Sandwich, Massachusetts · United States