3.7 cm FlaK 43
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Germany produced a series of 37 mm guns prior to and during World War II as their primary medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun. Unlike other nations, the German forces generally did not see much need for this class of weapon, and the 37 mm series remained fairly rare until the end of the war.
The original 37 mm gun was the 3.7 cm Flugzeugabwehrkanone 18, essentially an enlarged version of the 2 cm FlaK 30 firing a standard-caliber 2 pound round (37 mm) from an L/89 barrel. Like the Flak 30, it used a mechanical bolt for automatic fire, but nevertheless featured a fairly good rate of fire, about 160 RPM. The complete gun, including wheeled mount, weighted 1757 kg.
Developed by Rheinmetall in 1935, the Flak 18 was produced only in small numbers, and production had already ended in 1936 in favor of well known 2 cm Flakvierling 38, a four-barrel development of the Flak 30. Some development continued, however, resulting in a lighter two-wheel mount produced as the 3.7 Flak 36 that cut the complete weight to 1544 kg. A new sighting system introduced the next year produced the 3.7 Flak 37 that was otherwise similar. It appears existing weapons were brought up to the Flak 37 standard, while new production started in 1942 and produced 1178 before production ended in 1944.
As Allied air power grew dramatically during the mid-period of the war, the 20 mm quad-mount proved to have too little power and the 37 mm was turned to as its replacement. Not content with the existing versions, the gun was modified with a new gas-operated breech that improved firing rates to 250 RPM, while at the same time dropping in weight to 1247 kg. Many detail changes were also made to ease production. The resulting 3.7 Flak 43 was also produced in a twin-gun mount, the 3.7 cm Flakzwilling 43.
The Flak 37 could be found in some numbers mounted to the ubiquidous SdKfz 7 or (later) the sWS. The newer Flak 43 was almost always used in a mobile mounting. Most famous of these were the converted Panzer IV's, first the "interim" Möbelwagen, and later the Ostwind, which was considered particularly deadly.
Compared to its closest Allied counterpart, the 40 mm Bofors, the Flak 43 had over double the firing rate, could set up in much smaller spaces, and was considerably lighter when considering the gun and mount together. Luckily for Allied aircrews, this fearsome weapon was put into production far too late to have any real effect on the war effort. Apparently this was due to some political wrangling, and although the weapon was complete in 1942, production did not start until 1944. About 928 single and 185 double versions were produced by end of the war[1].
[edit] Note
Some sources claim the gun had an L/89 barrel, as stated above, while others claim it was a L/60. It is not clear if this refers to a change for the Flak 43.
| German artillery of World War II |
|---|
| Tank guns |
| 2 cm KwK 30 | 3.7 cm KwK 36 | 3.7 cm KwK 38(t) | 5 cm KwK 38 | 5 cm KwK 39 7.5 cm KwK 37 | 7.5 cm KwK 40 | 7.5 cm KwK 42 | 8.8 cm KwK 36 | 8.8 cm KwK 43 |
| Anti-tank guns |
| 2.8 cm sPzB 41 | 3.7 cm PaK 36 | 4.2 cm PaK 41 | 5 cm PaK 38 | 7.5 cm PaK 97/38 7.5 cm PaK 40 | 7.5 cm PaK 41 | 7.62 cm PaK 36(r) | 8.8 cm PaK 43 | 12.8 cm PaK 44 |
| Field, Medium and Heavy guns |
| 7.5 cm Le.IG 18/Le.GebIG 18/IG L/13 | 7.5 cm IG 37 | 10.5 cm leFH 18 | 15 cm sIG 33 | 15 cm sFH 18 |
| Other vehicle mounted |
| 7.5 cm PaK 39 | 7.5 cm PaK 40 | 7.5 cm PaK 42 | 8.8 cm PaK 43/KwK 43 | 12.8 cm PaK 44 |
| Anti-aircraft guns |
| 2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling | 3.7 cm FlaK 36/37/43 | 8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37/41 | 10.5 cm FlaK 38 12.8 cm FlaK 40 |
