Mountain guns were also used because of their ability to be broken down and carried by pack animals. The following is an article from the November 1944 issue of the Intelligence Bulletin on German antitank weapons of World War II. It's only in the later war when the T-34 and KV-1 appear that guns and armor begin a rapid arms race. The aim of this post is provide some context around this and distinguish two separate issues – use of the gun in the ground role, and use in the anti-tank role. Whilst the 3.7cm Pak 36 anti-tank gun had acquitted itself very well during the Spanish Civil War, it was thought that an upgraded version was needed in order to stay ahead of the gun-armor spiral. 1 Towed anti-tank guns 2 Self-propelled anti-tank guns 3 References and citations 4 References Self-propelled anti-tank guns are anti-tank guns mounted on vehicles. A 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun in the Western Desert, 27 June 1941. These were the BK 5 (also briefly used for air combat in the anti-bomber role) which was a PaK 38 fitted with an autoloader and a 22-round magazine for its 50 x 419R ammunition. During 1944, a second major version of the T-34 was used, which was the T-34-85 with a larger 85mm gun in order to deal with newer German tanks. My vote however would go to the British ( me biased, never ) 17 pdr which for its size(76.2) is a deadly tank gun, better than any other gun of similar caliber. Modern anti-tank missiles such as AGM-114R, Spike, Javelin, and Red Arrow 12 provide armed forces with the capability to stop a heavily armoured tank in its tracks. Army-technology.com lists some of the best modern anti-tank missiles currently available, based on precision strike capability and deployability. 88-mm anti-aircraft gun FlaK 18/36/37/41. Their tanks kept them alive for 2 years in many cases. Examples from the table are the US 90mm M3 L/51 and the Soviet 85mm ZiS-S-53 L/54.6. This video discusses what killed the most tanks in World War 2. The weapon, along with the famous 88 mm, was considered one of the best anti-tank guns of the war. Written by David Boyd Thursday, 01 January 2009 21:23 British Gun penetration tables. To destroy hostile tanks, artillerymen often used field guns depressed to fire directly at their targets. See more ideas about Wwii, World war, World war ii. The report covers all types of antitank weapons used by the German military in WWII including traditional antitank guns, antiaircraft guns, self-propelled guns, and infantry weapons such as the Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck. Honestly, the best anti-tank gun in my opinion of the war was the German PaK 40 75mm. Regular price $13.00 Shipping calculated at checkout. Different approach this time. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance of tanks during World War I. German 42/29mm PAK41: 560 kg, 1,265 m/s, 87mm at 500 meters 3. The first American export, the M-3 Grant, had a 75-millimeter low-velocity gun mounted in the hull for engaging infantry, and a high-velocity 37-millimeter anti-tank gun in the turret. In this context, a 20 mm, 12.7 mm, or even 7.92 mm anti-tank rifle made sense. auf Geschutzwagen 39H(f) self-propelled gun. There were two main types of self-propelled guns in the German Army during WW2. One some of the above rifles of the 1939 - 1945 era can be collected by the UK Firearms license holder (Section 1), in that they are all manually operated bolt action or manually operated sliding breech block rifles. Because light and strong metal alloys were needed elsewhere in German war production, the PaK 40 was produced primarily from steel. 37mm anti-tank guns were found to be useless against allied medium tanks and due to this AP ammunition was developed for all gun types. Instead, "Armored Champion" hedges its bets by spreading them. The Panzer III's 37 mm was considered a good anti-tank gun in 1940. May 18, 2020 - Explore Philip Barnett's board "Anti-Tank Weapons in WWII", followed by 1052 people on Pinterest. Gun crews had difficulty repositioning the weighty weapon quickly and long moves always required a vehicle. Soviet 45mm M1942: 570 kg, 1,070 m/s, 95 mm armor at 300 meters (APCR) 2. Designed to destroy both aircraft and tanks it was also often used as artillery. rolled homogenous and "FH" is face hardened armour. The historical test data used in this table uses the most consistent information from reputable sources. But it also had significant drawbacks. Home 1 › WW2 American Anti-Tank Gun - Build Kit 2. During the North African campaign, the Germans began to use the 88mm Anti-aircraft gun as an anti-tank gun. The German 88mm Cannon. This was an up-rated cannon compared to the 75 mm cannon on the standard Sherman tank. Panther 424 lasted 22 days in combat conditions, and kept its crew alive in spite of being damaged several times, and receiving multiple hits. The Flak 88 was a legendary WWII-era anti-air and an anti-tank gun used by Nazi Germany and their allies. Like any weapon system, the design of the Panther was an attempt to balance combat requirements with practical considerations. Contemporary anti-tank weapons, too, were very small. As a result, the German’s instructed their tanks and their anti-tank gun crews to attack the Sherman Fireflies first. Lethality measured by: * Kill ratio * Cannon capabilities * The tank that most enemy tanks killed The WWII tank that most enemy vehicles destroyed wasn’t nor the King Tiger, nor the T-34, nor the the Stug. The Wehrmacht was always trying to stay ahead of the arms race that had developed in the 1930s. Production started in 1944 and total 2252 IS tanks with 50% being new IS 2s were built. The remaining German guns were adaptations of ground anti-tank guns with long-recoil mechanisms, and saw little use. Due to its excellent firepower and protection, these tanks were considered as one of the best tanks of WWII. No not really, its an excellent tank gun, its only drawback is that its large and heavy. An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. Below are penetration values for British guns, for the plate type "HH" is armour of high hardness, "MQ" is machineable quality armour i.e. Penetration of each at 1,000 yards, striking at 30 degrees from the optimum, was as follows: It was the most common antitank gun in their armory, and despite being 'only' a mere 75mm gun it was ferocious, packing more firepower than any gun of similar caliber (76.2mms don't count.) The Best Tank of WWII? T-34 – This medium Soviet tank was in production from 1940 thru 1958. Boys Anti-Tank Rifle: Mk I and Mk I* Improvements April 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 17 These rifles are lots #1087 and #1088 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction: The Boys Anti-Tank Rifle was adopted by the British military in 1937, and remained in production until 1943 when it was replaced by […] It was difficult for contemporary anti-tank weapons to penetrate its heavy, sloped armor. By the time U.S. ground forces entered combat in 1942, both of these pieces were being replaced by modern and much more effective guns. While German tanks and anti-tank artillery happened to be useless against these Soviet heavy tanks, 88m anti-aircraft guns demonstrated they could deal with the “monster” best of all. and even equaling some bigger guns. Here are the choices and their very basic performance (wieght/muzzle velocity/armor penetration): 1. "A tank armed with a 76-millimeter gun was a world-beater in 1941, but by 1945 was a pop-gun in a tank-versus-tank duel." Anti-tank units would have had priority in supplies over tanks, but scrounging and barter probably took place. The 37mm Anti-Tank Gun from my video 'The Battle Of The Bulge.' The initial T-34 had a powerful 76.2mm high velocity tank gun, which provided substantial increase in firepower. WW2 American Anti-Tank Gun - Build Kit. Anti-tank guns are typically high-velocity guns designed to fire anti-tank shells. They are usually designed to be easily transported and concealed to maximize responsiveness and surprise. Japanese artillery regiments were equipped with 75mm field guns, 105mm field howitzers and 150mm heavy howitzers. This frontal armor proved impenetrable to German 88mm anti- tank flak guns at 1000m. Was the Panther the best tank of World War II? Vote for which you think was the best anti-tank gun employed by the Infantry during WWII and explain your reasons why. This new gun was one of the most powerful anti-tank guns … Note the substantial gun crew and the size of the gun. Applying these equations to some of the best known tank and anti-tank guns used during the Second World War and comparing them with historical test results leads to the results shown in the table below. 88 mm FlaK 18/36/37/41 which was also known as “Eight-eight” – a German anti-aircraft, anti-tank artillery gun that was widely used by German troops during the Second World War. Backbone of the German Anti-Tank Corps. At the beginning of World War II, the U.S. Army’s primary field artillery pieces were the French-designed M1897 75mm gun and M1918 155mm howitzer (above). One was fitted with an anti-tank gun and the other with an artillery howitzer, like the 10.5cm leFH 18 (Sf.) Quite often there is a claim that this was not allowed. During the battle of Berlin, IS 2 tanks were used to destroy entire German buildings by High Explosive rounds fired from the main gun. American Pershing tank with 90mm M3 L/51 gun from the RAC Tank Museum. 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