The Panama Mount is a form of gun mount for fixed coastal artillery developed by the U.S. Army in Panama during the 1920s. Widely used during the buildup to and during World War II by the United States military,Berhow, pp. 200-223 it was typically equipped with a rifled gun.
The term Panama mount is often incorrectly used to describe other gun mounts with similar layouts and/or purpose.
Description
The Panama mount was constructed as needed to provide 180, 270, and 360 degrees of traverse, with its gun mounted on a central diameter concrete pier surrounded by a full or partial approximately concrete-embedded steel rail. Concrete beams connected the two for alignment and stability.
Originally the guns were traversed by pivoting their trailing arms around the steel ring with prybars. Later installations added a geared steel ring inside the rail.
The principle weapon employed was the Canon de 155mm GPF, the primary gun of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps' tractor-drawn mobile units 1920-1945 (designated 155 mm gun M1917 (French-made) or M1918 (US-made) in U.S. service).
In World War II, Panama mounts were used to rearm six Harbor Defense Commands that had been disarmed in the 1920s; augment existing and new harbor defenses in the US and overseas; and for new defenses in Texas, Alaska, Newfoundland, Puerto Rico, and Australia.Berhow, pp. 200-223
Many surviving examples of these mounts can be found throughout former US coast defense sites including California, Florida, Alaska, and Panama.
See also Barbette mount Disappearing carriage Seacoast defense in the United States List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation
References
List of all US coastal forts and batteries at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
External links Sitka's 155mm Battery USACE Cape Cod Canal Americans in Aruba