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Urgent Fury at 40: The Guns of Grenada

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Without diving too much into the background, the Caribbean Island nation of Grenada had its elected government overthrown by a Marxist-Communist coup in 1979 and suspended the constitution. In just a couple of years, Grenada was hosting nearly 700 Cuban engineers who were building a giant airstrip– though long enough to host Soviet bombers– while smaller groups of Soviets, Libyan, North Korean, East German, and Bulgarians had taken up residence. Meanwhile, the local Grenadian military was greatly expanded and armed with Warsaw Pact weaponry.

Things came to a head in October 1983 when the Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop, was overthrown by a military junta and executed. The military council instituted a national “shoot on sight” curfew.

With 600 American medical students attending classes on the island caught in the middle of the crisis, and Grenada’s neighbors asking for U.S. assistance, the Reagan administration mounted Operation Urgent Fury to invade the island with “D-day” set for Oct. 25, 1983, some 40 years ago this week.

The American units tasked with the operation included the reinforced 2nd Battalion/8th Marines of the 22d Marine Amphibious Unit, the ready brigade of the 82d Airborne Division, and two Ranger battalions. A small force of Navy SEALs performed beach reconnaissance for the Marines and took control of the island’s radio station. Meanwhile, the Navy supplied 22 ships including an aircraft carrier and an amphibious assault group. The Americans were joined by some 350 peacekeepers drawn from six assorted allied Caribbean nations.

While it may seem like the operation would be a cakewalk, planning for the invasion estimated that the combined Cuban engineer battalion and the Grenadian People’s Revolutionary Army, when fully mobilized, were equivalent to 10 infantry battalions backed by armored vehicles while just four light American battalions– the Rangers, Marines, and one battalion of paratroopers– would be able to land on Oct. 25, the first day, meaning they expected to be outnumbered.

It wasn’t until Oct. 28, when the Americans and the Eastern Caribbean Peace Force counted seven (ish) battalions on the ground by which time the Cubans and PRA had laid down their arms.

Three battalions of paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division– the “All Americans” of 2/325th Inf, 2/505th Inf, and 1/508th Inf–would land in Grenada, although by helicopter and airlift, not via parachute. As a rapid deployment force, they were equipped with lots of new gear including the Army’s new M81 woodland camouflage BDUniforms and Kevlar PASGT helmets and vests. They were typically armed with M-16A1s, M-60 machine guns, and M-21 sniper rifles. (All photos: National Archives)

The Rangers of the 1st and 2nd battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, accompanied by 35 Delta Force operators, would conduct a combat parachute jump at Point Salines, Grenada, to capture the island’s airport. They were more distinctive from the other American forces on the island due to their old-school OG-107 olive drab fatigues and M1 steel pot helmets, whenever they weren’t wearing patrol caps.

The Marines of the 22nd MAU typically wore the older ERDL style of leaf camouflage uniform with M1 helmets. As you can see, the Corps had more of a shoestring budget with the radio operator in the center having a sling made from a length of rope. Also, you gotta love the ciggy in the hand of the radio operator to the left and the double pistol magazine pouches on the Marine to the right. Across the board, American forces used the M1911 as a sidearm as the Beretta M9 would not be adopted until 1985.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Just heading out for a little Dshk Gun or two

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Near Con Thien, RVN, 3rd Recon Marines tote back some captured antiaircraft guns, namely dismounted Soviet DShK 1938 heavy machine guns, in 1969:

“Antiaircraft Guns: Three Marines of 3d Reconnaissance Battalion carry captured North Vietnamese Army 12.7mm antiaircraft guns. Front to the rear is Private First Class Albert O. Covington (Hamlet, North Carolina), Corporal Lester L. Reardon (East Greenwich, Rhode Island), and Lance Corporal James B. Taylor (Miami, Florida). The three were members of a small reconnaissance force that uncovered a large enemy munitions cache (official USMC photo by Corporal Bob Partain).”

“Enemy Weapons: Two Marines of the 3d Reconnaissance Battalion carry captured North Vietnamese Army antiaircraft guns. Left to right are Corporals Mike Schatz (Tonkawa, Oklahoma), Robert I. Scheid (Hartford, Connecticut), and Ken B. Williams. The 12.7mm antiaircraft guns were part of a large enemy munitions cache uncovered near Con Thien (official USMC photo by Corporal Bob Partain).”

For reference, Dushka weighs 75-pounds without any ammo or mounts, so PVT. Covington, who is humping that hefty girl solo in the top picture while still carrying bandoliers and field gear, is truly a man amongst men.

Letting Dushka sing a song of her people

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75 years ago today:


Caption: Soviet Sergeant Fyodor Konoplyov and his crew firing a DShK anti-aircraft gun, Leningrad, Russia, October 9th, 1942

The standard service heavy machinegun in the western world is the vintage 1933 Browning M2. Those who have used them lovingly call this .50-caliber warlord, the “Ma Deuce”. What you may not know is that, on the other side of the fence, the Soviets invented their own equivalent heavy machine gun. Like the ‘Deuce, this Russia design, while officially labeled as the DShK 1938, it is better known to the russ simply as, Dushka.

During World War 1, the German Army introduced the Mauser 13.2mm TuF round, a huge cartridge of more than four inches in length. This elephant round was introduced to kill British tanks that were just then starting to lumber about in No Man’s Land. In 1921 the US Army, with a little help from John Browning, developed the 12.7x99mm BMG round in response, known and loved today as the ’50-cal.’ The Army, however, did not have a gun that fired the round, the 121-pound water-cooled M1921 Heavy Machine Gun, until 1929. At the same time, the German army was secretly developing a new 13mm round that would be used in a new series of heavy aircraft machine guns.

With Soviet military intelligence well aware of both these developments, they pressed for a monster machine gun of their own.

Vasily Degtyaryov, the Russian machine gun maker equivalent of John Browning, was scratching his head in 1930. Over the course of a forty-year career, this Hero of Socialist Labor personally invented no less than seven machine guns of all sizes, from the PPD-40 submachine gun to the PTRD anti-tank rifle. He had studied directly under Vladimir Fyodorov, the man who invented one of the first assault rifles in the world: the Fedorov Avtomat.
Dushka in technical development.

However, as gifted Vasily was, he had an issue with designing a large caliber heavy machine gun. His efforts led to the creation of the DK (Degtyaryov Krupnokalibernyi) in 1930, a huge air-cooled, gas-operated full auto weapon that used the new 12.7x108mm BT-3 round capable of piercing a half-inch or armor plate at 500-meters.

It weighed in at about 75-pounds and fired from a number four, right turn threaded 42.29-inch long barrel with numerous distinctive fins on its surface to dissipate heat. This innovative barrel system saved the gun from having a heavy water jacket to cool it, which made it about 50-pounds lighter than Browning’s M1921 design while firing a slightly larger bullet. A large donut-shaped muzzle break further identifies the weapon. When firing, a pair of spade grips at the rear of the gun provided a control surface. Fed from a 30-round drum atop the receiver, the gun had a nasty of bending cases, jamming, and other issues. In short, the Red Army loved the gun and the ammunition but hated the feed system.

Enter Georgy Shpagin. Twenty years younger than Degtyaryov, Shpagin had also studied under Fyodorov and worked in the same programs as his elders. Shpagin picked up the task of modifying the DK gun while Degtyaryov moved on to other projects. By 1938, he had effectively designed a metal link system of 50-round belts that are pulled left-to-right into the DK gun, spitting out brass and links downward through the receiver. This new gun was labeled the DShK “Krupnokaliberny Pulemet Degtyareva-Shpagina, DShK” (Degtyarev-Shpagin, large caliber) and by 1939 was being produced as part of a new Five Year Plan. This soon became changed in the field to “Dushka,” which is a Russian slang word that roughly means baby or sweetie.