My late father was an inventor and a tool & amp; adjuster. In the 1940s, he
built the stamping and tooling dies for a company which manufactured
fishing lures. During his tenure with the company, he invented a fishing
lure used for Walleye Pike.
In the 1950s, he worked for a machine shop where he invented a machine used
to remove the logs tree bark out of the timber industry. In 1960, Father
went to work for Honeywell Corporation aviation products division, Hopkins,
Minnesota.
One night, while he was still a little boy, I'm sitting with my father on
the couch watching a Western movie on TV. In the film, the cavalry used a
Gatling. Unbeknownst to me, my father had an epiphany. He later became the
Honeywell MK 18 Hand-cranked multiple grenade launcher.
the Backstory
During the Vietnam War, the US Army used the M79 grenade launcher. The gun
boop, like soldiers on the ground called, was a simple single shot weapon
that fired a grenade 40mm.
The United satays Navy had expressed an interest in the rapid-fire weapon
that fires grenades of 40 mm for use on gunboats in Vietnam.
My father presented his concept of a bent hand grenade launchers rapid fire
to a colleague named Wilford Martwick. Martwick was a brilliant engineer
who had worked for Boeing. He got the project approved, and signed it.
Initially, the marketing director expressed disapproval of the MK 18. He
said at a meeting that the MK 18 would never sell, and if she did, he would
eat his hat.
The design of the two men came with a yoke was used rotary split by the
ammunition supply. This eliminated the need for an alternative bolt,
extracting an ammunition belt, and extraction of ammunition bedroom. The
weapon would fire at a variable rate of up to 250 revolutions per minute
varies from 300 yards to 2000 yards. Two rounds were fired by each full
rotation of the crank, and the loaded gun at three and nine o'clock
positions.
The firing sequence was six and twelve o'clock positions. A three position
switch was in the back of the gun to fire, safety and load. He used a 48
ammo box. The ammunition belt was impregnated Dacron with Mylar, and then
heat sealed. A metal fork situated belt, a shuttle belt spread apart, and
the metal fingers opened the pocket in the area for receiving the handle.
This was accomplished in a fraction of a second. The empty shells remained
in the spent belt.
My father and Martwick, built the first model on their own time, spare
parts. I remember that my father spent many late nights in his studio
basement. I often fell asleep listening clacking and hit my father ran
dummy rounds by the pitcher.
Between 1965-1968, 1200 Honeywell manufactured the MK 18s. Typically
mounted on top of two .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns on the stern of
the gun, the weapon proved deadly against the Viet Cong. The pivoting
movement of the MK 18 has enabled the rapid fire area and maximum coverage
with fragmentation grenades 40 mm. It could also be mounted on a standard
tripod for use in bunkers and fire bases.
Another invention
In 1965, my father and Martwick have lunch at the company cafeteria to
discuss ideas. My father proposed a shot grenade launcher mounted on the
M16 rifle. They went to work developing the weapon. The names of the two
men appeared on the patent. Honeywell then sold the patent to Colt
Industries. In 1969, the M203 Grenade Launcher was born.
In 1968, my father decided to leave Honeywell. He saw the liquidation of
the Vietnam War down. The MK 19 automatic grenade launchers, replaced the
MK 18.
My father, with his invention
Years later, I met a veteran of the Vietnam War who served the Rat River in
the Brown Water Navy in 1967. He asked me if I was a human parent who
invented the MK 18. When I told him that this man was my father, the
veteran said the time he used the MK18 against him in firefights Viet Cong
while patrolling the Mekong River.
My father died in 2009. Before his death, I had the opportunity to learn
the history of the MK 18. And what became the marketing manager who said
the MK 18 would never sell? The Navy Day in the United States awarded the
contract to Honeywell, they had a party. A cake shaped like a hat was
presented. The marketing director had to cut the first piece and eat it. I
guess he had to eat his hat after all.
Learn more: The history and evolution of Rifles
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