120mm Gun M1 “Stratosphere Gun” (multiple)

I photographed this M1 120mm towed Anti Aircraft gun during a Boy Scouts outing with Mitchell at Ft Flagler in 2013. Apparently, it was moved just a few months later. About five years after that, I found a similar (if not the very same) example on display in the New Tacoma Cemetery where my son performs TAPS during the Memorial Day services. The one in Tacoma was labeled as a “Sky Gun” with a description: “The 119.37-mm gun was designed to defend rear-area installations from high-level bombing. It fired shells weighing 101 pounds more than 47,000 feet in the air at a rate of 12 rounds per minute.” Because of the high reach of the gun, it was nicknamed the “Stratosphere Gun”

Although I see some differences, it is possible that these are actually the same weapon repainted with some changes made in restoration or during the relocation. I’ll treat them as two examples until I find out otherwise.


M1 120mm Anti Aircraft gun

Ft Flagler 2013


M1 120mm Anti Aircraft gun

Label on site indicated 119.37-mm Sky Gun

New Tacoma Cemetery 2018

New Tacoma Cemetery 2019