As early as 1915, the U.S. Army, recognizing the need for a high-angle firing antiaircraft gun and resolving to build one from existing stocks, chose the M1903 seacoast defense gun and redesignated it the M1917. Soon after America’s entry into World War I, however, the requirement for a mobile mount (one with less recoil) compelled the selection of the less powerful M1898 seacoast gun for conversion to the M1918. Development of both guns and mounts continued throughout the interwar years, leading ultimately to the standardization of the gun as the M3 on the M2 wheeled mount. On the eve of World War II, each of the seven Marine defense battalions then activated had 12 3-inch guns in three four-gun batteries. Each mount weighed a little over six tons. The normal crew of eight could fire 25 12.87-pound high-explosive shells per minute. The guns had an effective ceiling of nearly 30,000 feet and an effective horizontal range of 14,780 yards. ] [Sidebar (page 6): [Illustration: National Archives Photo 80-G-179013 ] The Nells, Bettys, and Claudes of Japan A formation of Mitsubishi G3M1 and G3M2 Type 96 bombers (Nell), above, fly in formation in 1942. The first models flew in 1935, and more than 250 were still serving in the Japanese land-based naval air arm in December 1941. Nells, instrumental in the reduction of Wake’s defenses, served alongside the newer, more powerful Mitsubishi G4M1 Type 97 bombers (Betty)--earmarked to replace them in front-line service--in helping to sink the British capital ships HMS _Prince of Wales_ and HMS _Repulse_ off Malaya on 10 December 1941. Two 1,000-horsepower _Kinsei_ 45 engines enabled the Nell to reach a speed of 238 miles per hour at 9,840 feet. Normally crewed by seven men, the G3M2 model carried a defensive armament of one 20-mm and two 7.7-mm machine guns, and a payload of either one 1,764-pound torpedo or 2,200 pounds of bombs. * * * * * Although Mitsubishi A5M4 Type 96 carrier fighters (Claude), also equipped the _Chitose Air Group_, none accompanied the group’s Nells because of the long distances involved. Marine antiaircraft or fighter aircraft gunfire at Wake destroyed at least four Nells during December 1941. Since the number of G3Ms engaged varied from raid to raid--no more than 34 or fewer than 17--so, too, did damage figures. On at least two occasions, though, as many as 12 returned to their base in the Marshalls damaged. ] ‘_Humbled-by Sizeable Casualties_’