1.
Rocket artillery
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Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars. Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers, the use of rockets as some form of artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used. Fire arrows were used in multiple launch systems and transported via carts. Devices such as the Korean hwacha were able to fire hundreds of fire arrows simultaneously, the use of medieval rocket artillery was picked up by the invading Mongols and spread to the Ottoman Turks who in turn used them on the European battlefield. The use of war-rockets is well documented in Medieval Europe, in 1408 Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy used 300 incendiary rockets in the siege of Liège. The city dwellers coped with this tactic by covering their roofs with dirt, the earliest successful utilization of rocket artillery is associated with Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Tipu Sultans father Hyder Ali successfully established the powerful Sultanate of Mysore, Tipu Sultan used them against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars especially during the Battle of Pollilur. Although the rockets were quite primitive, they had an effect on the enemy due to the noise. Although the hammered soft iron he used was crude, the strength of the container of black powder was much higher than the earlier paper construction. Thus a greater pressure was possible, with a resultant greater thrust of the propulsive jet. The rocket body was lashed with leather thongs to a bamboo stick. Range was perhaps up to three-quarters of a mile, although individually these rockets were not accurate, dispersion error became less important when large numbers were fired rapidly in mass attacks. They were particularly effective against cavalry and were hurled into the air, after lighting, or skimmed along the hard dry ground. Hyder Alis son, Tipu Sultan, continued to develop and expand the use of rocket weapons, in battles at Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British. The Indian rocket experiences, including Munros book of 1789, eventually led to the Royal Arsenal beginning a military rocket R&D program in 1801, several rocket cases were collected from Mysore and sent to Britain for analysis. The development was chiefly the work of Col and he was told that the British at Seringapatam had suffered more from the rockets than from the shells or any other weapon used by the enemy. In at least one instance, an eye-witness told Congreve, a rocket had killed three men and badly wounded others. In the Battle of Pollilur and in the battles at Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with effect against the British
2.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
3.
Gun barrel
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A gun barrel is a part of firearms and artillery pieces. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, a gun barrel must be able to hold in the expanding gas produced by the propellants to ensure that optimum muzzle velocity is attained by the projectile as it is being pushed out by the expanding gas. Modern small arms barrels are made of known and tested to withstand the pressures involved. Artillery pieces are made by various techniques providing reliably sufficient strength, early firearms were muzzle-loading, with powder, and then shot loaded from the muzzle, capable of only a low rate of fire. During the 19th century effective mechanical locks were invented that sealed a breech-loading weapon against the escape of propellant gases, the early Chinese, the inventors of gunpowder, used bamboo, a naturally tubular stalk, as the first barrels in gunpowder projectile weapons. Early European guns were made of iron, usually with several strengthening bands of the metal wrapped around circular wrought iron rings. The Chinese were the first to master cast-iron cannon barrels, early cannon barrels were very thick for their caliber. Bore evacuator Bore snake Cannon Muzzle Polygonal rifling Rifling Slug barrel Smoothbore
4.
Shell (projectile)
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A shell is a payload-carrying projectile that, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used, originally, it was called a bombshell, but shell has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Words cognate with grenade are still used for an artillery or mortar projectile in some European languages, shells are usually large-calibre projectiles fired by artillery, combat vehicles, and warships. Shells usually have the shape of a cylinder topped by a nose for good aerodynamic performance, possibly with a tapering base. Solid cannonballs did not need a fuse, but hollow munitions filled with something such as gunpowder to fragment the ball, needed a fuse, percussion fuses with a spherical projectile presented a challenge because there was no way of ensuring that the impact mechanism hit the target. Therefore, shells needed a fuse that was ignited before or during firing. The earliest record of shells being used in combat was by the Republic of Venice at Jadra in 1376, shells with fuses were used at the 1421 siege of St Boniface in Corsica. These were two hollowed hemispheres of stone or bronze held together by an iron hoop, as described in their book, these hollow, gunpowder-packed shells were made of cast iron. At least since the 16th Century grenades made of ceramics or glass were in use in Central Europe, a hoard of several hundred ceramic greandes were discovered during building works in front of a bastion of the Bavarian City of Ingolstadt, Germany dated to the 17th Century. Lots of the grenades obtained their orignal blackpowder loads and igniters, most probably the grenades were intentionally dumped the moat of the bastion before the year 1723. Early powder burning fuses had to be loaded fuse down to be ignited by firing or a portfire put down the barrel to light the fuse, other shells were wrapped in bitumen cloth, which would ignite during the firing and in turn ignite a powder fuse. Nevertheless, shells came into use in the 16th Century. By the 18th Century, it was known that the fuse towards the muzzle could be lit by the flash through the windage between the shell and the barrel, the use of exploding shells from field artillery became relatively commonplace from early in the 19th century. Until the mid 19th century, shells remained as simple exploding spheres that used gunpowder and they were usually made of cast iron, but bronze, lead, brass and even glass shell casings were experimented with. The word bomb encompassed them at the time, as heard in the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner, typically, the thickness of the metal body was about a sixth of their diameter and they were about two thirds the weight of solid shot of the same calibre. To ensure that shells were loaded with their fuses towards the muzzle, in 1819, a committee of British artillery officers recognised that they were essential stores and in 1830 Britain standardised sabot thickness as a half inch. The sabot was also intended to reduce jamming during loading, despite the use of exploding shell, the use of smoothbore cannons, firing spherical projectiles of shot, remained the dominant artillery method until the 1850s. By the late 18th century, artillery could use canister shot to defend itself from infantry or cavalry attack and this involved loading a tin or canvas container filled with small iron or lead balls instead of the usual cannonball
5.
Caliber
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In guns, particularly firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel, or the diameter of the projectile it fires, in hundredths or sometimes thousandths of an inch. For example, a 45 caliber firearm has a diameter of.45 of an inch. Barrel diameters can also be expressed using metric dimensions, as in 9mm pistol, when the barrel diameter is given in inches, the abbreviation cal can be used. Good performance requires a bullet to closely match the diameter of a barrel to ensure a good seal. While modern cartridges and cartridge firearms are referred to by the cartridge name. Firearm calibers outside the range of 17 to 50 exist, but are rarely encountered. Larger calibers, such as.577.585.600.700, the.950 JDJ is the only known cartridge beyond 79 caliber used in a rifle. Referring to artillery, caliber is used to describe the length as multiples of the bore diameter. A 5-inch 50 calibre gun has a diameter of 5 in. The main guns of the USS Missouri are 1650 caliber, makers of early cartridge arms had to invent methods of naming the cartridges, since no established convention existed then. One of the early established cartridge arms was the Spencer repeating rifle, later various derivatives were created using the same basic cartridge, but with smaller-diameter bullets, these were named by the cartridge diameter at the base and mouth. The original No.56 became the. 56-56, and the smaller versions. 56-52. 56-50, the. 56-52, the most common of the new calibers, used a 50-cal bullet. Optionally, the weight in grains was designated, e. g. 45-70-405. Variations on these methods persist today, with new cartridges such as the.204 Ruger, metric diameters for small arms refer to cartridge dimensions and are expressed with an × between the bore diameter and the length of the cartridge case, for example,7. 62×51 NATO. This indicates that the diameter is 7. 62mm, loaded in a case 51mm long. Similarly, the 6. 5×55 Swedish cartridge has a diameter of 6.5 mm. An exception to rule is the proprietary cartridge used by U. S. maker Lazzeroni. The following table lists commonly used calibers where both metric and imperial are used as equivalents
6.
Gun laying
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Gun laying is the process of aiming an artillery piece, such as a gun, howitzer or mortar on land, or at sea, against surface or air targets. It may be laying for direct fire, where the gun is aimed similarly to a rifle, or indirect fire, the term includes automated aiming using, for example, radar-derived target data and computer-controlled guns. Gun laying means moving the axis of the bore of the barrel in two planes, horizontal and vertical. A gun is traversed – rotated in a horizontal plane – to align it with the target, Gun laying is a set of actions to align the axis of a gun barrel so that it points in the required direction. This alignment is in the horizontal and vertical planes, Gun laying may be for direct fire, where the layer sees the target, or indirect fire, where the target may not be visible from the gun. Gun laying has sometimes called training the gun. Laying in the vertical plane uses data derived from trials or empirical experience, for any given gun and projectile types, it reflects the distance to the target and the size of the propellant charge. It also incorporates any differences in height between gun and target, with indirect fire, it may allow for other variables as well. With indirect fire the horizontal angle is relative to something, typically the guns aiming point, depending on the gun mount, there is usually a choice of two trajectories. The dividing angle between the trajectories is about 45 degrees, it varies due to gun dependent factors. Below 45 degrees the trajectory is called low angle, above is high angle, the differences are that low angle fire has a shorter time of flight, a lower vertex and flatter angle of descent. All guns have carriages or mountings that support the barrel assembly, early guns could only be traversed by moving their entire carriage or mounting, and this lasted with heavy artillery into World War II. Mountings could be fitted into traversing turrets on ships, coast defences or tanks, from circa 1900 field artillery carriages provided traverse without moving the wheels and trail. The carriage, or mounting, also enabled the barrel to be set at the elevation angle. With some gun mounts it is possible to depress the gun, some guns require a near-horizontal elevation for loading. An essential capability for any elevation mechanism is to prevent the weight of the barrel forcing its heavier end downward and this is greatly helped by having trunnions at the centre of gravity, although a counterbalance mechanism can be used. It also means the elevation gear has to be enough to resist considerable downward pressure. However, mortars, where the forces were transferred directly into the ground
7.
Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
8.
Multiple rocket launcher
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A multiple rocket launcher or multiple launch rocket system is a type of rocket artillery system. Rockets have different capabilities than artillery, like longer range, and different payloads, typically considerably larger warheads than a similarly sized artillery platform, unguided rocket artillery is notoriously inaccurate and slow to reload, compared to artillery. To overcome this, rockets are combined in systems that can launch multiple rockets simultaneously, modern rockets can use GPS or inertial guidance, to combine the advantages of rockets with high accuracy. The first multiple rocket launchers were made in Song dynasty China and it was designed to launch multiple rocket arrows from a gunpowder box. The first self-propelled multiple rocket launchers — and arguably the most famous — were the Soviet BM-13 Katyusha, first used during World War II and they were simple systems in which a rack of launch rails was mounted on the back of a truck. This set the template for modern multiple rocket launchers, the Americans mounted tubular launchers atop M4 Sherman tanks to create the T34 Calliope rocket launching tank, only used in small numbers, as their closest equivalent to the Katyusha. The Germans began using a towed six-tube multiple rocket launcher during World War II, simple MRL types still have a reputation of having a devastating morale effect on ill-disciplined or already shaken troops. The material effect depends on circumstances, as well-covered field fortification provide much protection, simple MRL rocket types have a rather long minimum firing range for the same reason. An approach to lessen this limit is the addition of drag rings to the rocket nose, the increased drag slows the rocket down relative to a clean configuration and creates a less flat trajectory. Pre-packaged MRL munitions such as with MLRS do not offer this option, the Convention on Cluster Munitions has led to the destruction and cessation of production of most cluster munitions for MRLs. Large submunitions, smoke agents and unitary high explosive warheads are permitted under the Convention. Some of the not banned submunitions are relatively large Explosively Formed Projectile warheads with sensors which search the ground for tanks to attack in a spiral pattern during their descent, western examples are SMArt 155,155 Bonus and SADARM. Modern MRL systems can use modern land navigation for quick and accurate positioning, the accurate determination of the battery position was previously enough effort to make a dispersed operation of the battery impractical. MRL systems with GPS can have their MRLs dispersed and shoot from dispersed positions at a single target, radars are in use to track weather balloons to determine winds or to track special rockets which self-destruct in the air. The tracking allows to determine the influence of winds and propellant temperatures on the flight path. These observations can then be factored into the solution for the rocket salvo for effect. Such tracking radars can also be used to predict the range error of individual rockets and this requires that the rockets were originally aimed too far, as the range can only be shortened by the air brakes, not extended. A more sophisticated system makes use of data and one-way radio datalink to initiate a two dimensional correction of the rockets flight path with steering by fins or nose thrusters
9.
Chemical Corps
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The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. The corps was founded as the U. S, Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. Its name was changed to the Chemical Corps in 1946, for most of its history, the Chemical Corps was tasked with delivering chemical weapons rather than defending against them. Discussion of the dates back to the American Civil War. A letter to the War Department dated 5 April 1862 from New York City resident John Doughty proposed the use of shells to drive the Confederate Army from its positions. Doughty included a drawing of the shell with his letter. It is unknown how the military reacted to Doughtys proposal but the letter was unnoticed in a pile of old official documents until modern times, another American, Forrest Shepherd, also proposed a chemical weapon attack against the Confederates. Shepherds proposal involved hydrogen chloride, an attack that would have likely been non-lethal, Shepherd was a well-known geologist at the time and his proposal was in the form of a letter directly to the White House. The earliest predecessors to the United States Army Chemical Corps owe their existence to changes of military technology early in World War I. Despite this early interest, troops were supplied with masks nor trained for offensive gas warfare until the U. S. became involved in World War I in 1917. By 1917, the use of weapons by both the Allied and Central Powers had become commonplace along the Western, Eastern and Italian Fronts. In 1917, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane, directed the Bureau of Mines to assist the Army and Navy in creating a gas war program. After the Director of the Bureau of Mines formally offered the service to the Military Committee of the National Research Council. On 5 July 1917 General John J. Pershing oversaw the creation of a Gas Service Section, the predecessor to the 1st Gas Regiment was the 30th Engineer Regiment. The 30th was activated on 15 August 1917 at Camp American University, Washington, additional War Department orders established a Chemical Service Section that included 47 commissioned officers and 95 enlisted personnel. Despite the conventional training, the public perceived the 30th as dealing mainly with poisonous gas, by the time those in the 30th Engineers arrived in France most of them knew nothing of chemical warfare and had no specialized equipment. The 30th Engineer Regiment was redesignated the First Gas Regiment in 1918 and deployed to assist and support Army gas operations, the Chemical Warfare Service, the predecessor to the Chemical Corps, was officially formed on 28 June 1918 and encompassed the Gas Service and Chemical Service Sections. By 1 November 1918 the CWS included 1,654 commissioned officers and 18,027 enlisted personnel, major General William L. Sibert was appointed as the first director of the CWS on the day it was created
10.
Explosive material
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An explosive charge is a measured quantity of explosive material, which may be composed of a single ingredient or a combination of two or more. Materials that detonate are said to be high explosives and materials that deflagrate are said to be low explosives, Explosives may also be categorized by their sensitivity. Sensitive materials that can be initiated by a small amount of heat or pressure are primary explosives. A wide variety of chemicals can explode, a number are manufactured specifically for the purpose of being used as explosives. The remainder are too dangerous, sensitive, toxic, expensive, unstable, in contrast, some materials are merely combustible or flammable if they burn without exploding. The distinction, however, is not razor-sharp, though early thermal weapons, such as Greek fire, have existed since ancient times, the first widely used explosive in warfare and mining was black powder, invented in 9th century China. This material was sensitive to water, and it produced copious amounts of dark smoke, the first useful explosive stronger than black powder was nitroglycerin, developed in 1847. Since nitroglycerin is a liquid and highly unstable, it was replaced by nitrocellulose, TNT in 1863, smokeless powder, dynamite in 1867, World War I saw the adoption of TNT trinitrotoluene in artillery shells. World War II saw a use of new explosives. In turn, these have largely replaced by more powerful explosives such as C-4. However, C-4 and PETN react with metal and catch fire easily, yet unlike TNT, C-4 and PETN are waterproof, the largest commercial application of explosives is mining. In Materials Science and Engineering, explosives are used in cladding, a thin plate of some material is placed atop a thick layer of a different material, both layers typically of metal. Atop the thin layer is placed an explosive, at one end of the layer of explosive, the explosion is initiated. The two metallic layers are forced together at high speed and with great force, the explosion spreads from the initiation site throughout the explosive. Ideally, this produces a metallurgical bond between the two layers and it is possible that some fraction of the surface material from either layer eventually gets ejected when the end of material is reached. Hence, the mass of the now welded bilayer, may be less than the sum of the masses of the two initial layers, there are applications where a shock wave, and electrostatics, can result in high velocity projectiles. Thus, explosives are substances that contain an amount of energy stored in chemical bonds. Consequently, most commercial explosives are compounds containing -NO2, -ONO2 and -NHNO2 groups that
11.
Nebelwerfer
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The Nebelwerfer was a World War II German series of weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the Wehrmachts so-called smoke troops and they were primarily intended to deliver poison gas and smoke shells, although a high-explosive shell was developed for the Nebelwerfer from the beginning. Initially, two different mortars were fielded before they were replaced by a variety of rocket launchers ranging in size from 15 to 32 centimetres. The thin walls of the rockets had the advantage of allowing much larger quantities of gases. With the exception of the Balkans Campaign, Nebelwerfer were used in campaign of the German Army during World War II. A version of the 21 cm calibre system was adapted for air-to-air use against Allied bombers. The lower muzzle velocity of a mortar meant that its shell walls could be thinner than those of artillery shells and this made it an attractive delivery system for poison gases. The U. S. Armys Chemical Warfare Service developed their 4.2 inch chemical mortar for precisely that reason and its first weapon was also a mortar, the 10 cm Nebelwerfer 35, which was designed in 1934. Almost from the beginning, the army wanted more range than the 10 cm NbW 35s 3,000 metres, neither was entirely satisfactory, but the best features of both were incorporated into the 10 cm Nebelwerfer 40. This was a very advanced breech-loading weapon with a recoil mechanism and it had twice the range of its predecessor, but was eight times the weight and cost nearly ten times as much,1,500 RM vs 14,000 RM. Rocket development had begun during the 1920s and reached fruition in the late thirties and this offered the opportunity for the Nebeltruppen to deliver large quantities of poison gas or smoke simultaneously. The first weapon to be delivered to the troops was the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 in 1940, after the Battle of France and it, like virtually all German rocket designs, was spin-stabilized to increase accuracy. This proved to greatly complicate manufacture for not much extra effect and it was fired from a six-tube launcher mounted on a towed carriage adapted from that used by the 3.7 cm PaK36 and had a range of 6,900 metres. Almost five and a half million 15 cm rockets and 6,000 launchers were manufactured over the course of the war, the 28/32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 rockets were introduced in 1941, before Operation Barbarossa. They used the motor, but carried different warheads. The 28 centimetres rocket had a HE warhead, while the 32 centimetres rockets were incendiary, the maximum range for either rocket was only 2,200 metres, a severe tactical drawback. Both could be fired from their packing cases or a special wooden or tubular metal frame. Later, a launcher was developed that could take six rockets
12.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
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It holds numerous exhibits, including the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Enola Gay. A substantial addition to the center encompassing restoration, conservation and collection-storage facilities was completed in 2010, restoration facilities and museum archives were moved from the museums Garber facility to the new sections of the Udvar-Hazy Center. Designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, who designed the National Air and Space Museum building. The exhibition areas comprise two large hangars, the 293, 707-square-foot Boeing Aviation Hangar and the 53, 067-square-foot James S, the Donald D. Engen Observation Tower provides a view of landing operations at adjacent Washington Dulles International Airport. The museum also contains an IMAX theater, a taxiway connects the museum to the airport. Phase Two of the Udvar-Hazy Center will be dedicated to the care of the Smithsonians collection of aircraft, spacecraft, related artifacts. On December 2,2008, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center received a gift of $6 million for two from Airbus Americas Inc. — the largest corporate gift to the Smithsonian Institution in 2008. The Emil Buehler Conservation Laboratory — will provide conservators much-needed space to develop, Collections processing unit — a dedicated loading dock and specially designed secure area for initial inspection and analysis of artifacts. The center finished construction and opened on December 15,2003, the current list is maintained at the Objects On Display page of the Smithsonian Institution NASM Collections site. A number of events are held at the museum throughout the year and these include lectures, book signings, sleepovers, and events for children. Some of the larger events include Air & Scare for Halloween, an open house. The center made its first media appearance in the 2009 film Transformers, the center remained open while filming took place, although certain areas were closed. The SR-71 that is on display in the museum was used as Jetfire, in the film, it is referred to simply as the National Air and Space Museum. List of aerospace museums Official website
13.
Rock Island Arsenal
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The Rock Island Arsenal comprises 946 acres, located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois and it is home of First Army headquarters. The island was established as a government site in 1816. It is now the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States and it has manufactured military equipment and ordnance since the 1880s. In 1919–1920 one hundred of the Anglo-American or Liberty Mark VIII tanks were manufactured and it is designated as a National Historic Landmark. Established as both an arsenal and a center for the manufacture of leather accoutrements and field gear, today it provides manufacturing, logistics, the Arsenal is the only active U. S. Some of the Arsenals most successful products include the M198 and M119 towed howitzers, about 250 military personnel and 6,000 civilians work there. The 2000 census population was 145, from the autobiography of Black Hawk, When we arrived we found that the troops had come to build a fort on Rock Island. It was our garden, like the people have near their big villages. The island facilities were converted and built in 1863, they were not yet completed in December of that year, the first prisoners were 468 Confederates captured in battles at Chattanooga, Tennessee. That month more than 5,000 Confederates would swell the population of Rock Island military prison and they were kept in 84 barracks, each holding around 100 prisoners. A total of 41 Confederate prisoners successfully escaped during the prison’s operation, most died from disease, since sanitation was primitive as in all army encampments, and exposure to heat and humidity during the summers and freezing temperatures during winters. In 1864, deadly smallpox epidemics raged through the prison, the prison camp operated from December 1863 until July 1865, when the last prisoners were freed. After the war, the facility was completely destroyed. During its two years in operation, the camp housed a total of more than 12,400 Confederates. Following the war, the government retained ownership of Arsenal Island and developed it for use as an arsenal and ordnance manufacturing center. The Rock Island Arsenal Museum was established on July 4,1905 and it is the second-oldest US Army Museum in the US after the West Point Museum. The museum has been closed twice, during World War I and World War II, exhibits interpret the history of Rock Island Arsenal and the Union prison camp during the American Civil War, and the sites role as a military industrial facility
14.
Breech-loading weapon
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A breech-loading gun is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel. Modern mass production firearms are breech-loading, early firearms, on the other hand, were almost entirely muzzle-loading. In field artillery, breech loading allows the crew to reload the gun without exposing themselves to fire or repositioning the piece. The main challenge for developers of breech-loading firearms was sealing the breech and this was eventually solved for smaller firearms by the development of the self-contained metallic cartridge. For firearms too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw, breech-loading swivel guns were invented in the 14th century. The breech-loading swivel gun had a rate of fire, and was especially effective in anti-personnel roles. Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century, Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. More breech-loading firearms were made in the early 18th century, one such gun known to have belonged to Philip V of Spain, and was manufactured circa 1715, probably in Madrid. It came with a ready-to load reusable cartridge, patrick Ferguson, a British Army officer, developed in 1772 the Ferguson rifle, a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Later on into the century there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech-loader. There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition, the cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated central-fire breech-loading gun would become a feature of firearms thereafter. The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly, Pauly made an improved version, which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812. In 1846 another Paris Frenchman, Benjamin Houllier, patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell, Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert. In English-speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the.22 BB, the first centrefire cartridge was introduced in 1855 by Pottet, with both Berdan and Boxer priming. The Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr or Dreyse needle gun, was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech and it was so called because of its. 5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base. It began development in the 1830s under von Dreyse and eventually a version of it was adopted by Prussia in the late 1840s. The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies, specifically, however, the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866
15.
3.7 cm Pak 36
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The Pak 36 was a 3.7 cm calibre German anti-tank gun used during the Second World War. It was the main weapon of Wehrmacht infantry units until mid-1941. It was followed in this role by the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun, design of a horse-drawn,3.7 cm anti-tank gun by Rheinmetall commenced in 1924 and the first guns were issued in 1928. Re-designated the 3.7 cm Pak 35/36, it began to replace the 3.7 cm Pak L/45 in 1934 and it formed the basis for many other nations anti-tank guns during the first years of World War II. The KwK36 L/45 was the gun, but used as the main armament on several tanks. The Soviets used the Pak 36 carriage design for their 45 mm M1937 AT gun. In June 1941, Soviet tank forces consisted of 10,661 T-26,2,987 T-37/T-38/T-40/T-50s,59 T-35,442 T-28,7,659 BT,957 T-34, and 530 KVs for a combined total of approximately 23,295 tanks. By late 1941, the introduction of the T-34 on the Eastern Front made the Pak 36 obsolete. However, despite its continued impotence against the T-34, it remained the standard weapon for many units until 1942. The advantages of the Pak 36 were its, relative ease of handling and mobility, good quality optics/aiming devices, ease of concealment due to its small size, the Pak 36 began to be replaced by the new 5 cm Pak 38 in mid-1941. As it was replaced, many were removed from their carriages. The guns were passed off to the forces of Germanys allies fighting on the Eastern Front, such as the 3rd. The Pak 36 also served with the armies of Italy, Finland, Hungary, although the Pak 36 quickly became ineffectual in the European and Russian theatres, in China the gun was still viable as an effective anti-tank gun. It could destroy the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go and Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, for example, during the Battle of Taierzhuang, Chinese Pak 36s destroyed a good number of Japanese tanks. Pzgr Projectile weight,0.685 kg Muzzle velocity,745 m/s Pzgr 40 This was a type of ammunition, being lighter and with a higher muzzle velocity. Projectile weight,0.368 kg Muzzle velocity,1,020 m/s Penetration figures given for Pzgr 40 and an armoured plate 30 degrees from the horizontal. In 1943, the introduction of the Stielgranate 41 shaped charge meant that the Pak 36 could now penetrate most armour, the Pak 36s, together with the new shaped charges, were issued to Fallschirmjäger units and other lightly equipped troops. The guns low weight meant that it could be moved by hand
16.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
17.
OCLC
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The Online Computer Library Center is a US-based nonprofit cooperative organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the worlds information and reducing information costs. It was founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the largest online public access catalog in the world. OCLC is funded mainly by the fees that libraries have to pay for its services, the group first met on July 5,1967 on the campus of the Ohio State University to sign the articles of incorporation for the nonprofit organization. The group hired Frederick G. Kilgour, a former Yale University medical school librarian, Kilgour wished to merge the latest information storage and retrieval system of the time, the computer, with the oldest, the library. The goal of network and database was to bring libraries together to cooperatively keep track of the worlds information in order to best serve researchers and scholars. The first library to do online cataloging through OCLC was the Alden Library at Ohio University on August 26,1971 and this was the first occurrence of online cataloging by any library worldwide. Membership in OCLC is based on use of services and contribution of data, between 1967 and 1977, OCLC membership was limited to institutions in Ohio, but in 1978, a new governance structure was established that allowed institutions from other states to join. In 2002, the structure was again modified to accommodate participation from outside the United States. As OCLC expanded services in the United States outside of Ohio, it relied on establishing strategic partnerships with networks, organizations that provided training, support, by 2008, there were 15 independent United States regional service providers. OCLC networks played a key role in OCLC governance, with networks electing delegates to serve on OCLC Members Council, in early 2009, OCLC negotiated new contracts with the former networks and opened a centralized support center. OCLC provides bibliographic, abstract and full-text information to anyone, OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat—the OCLC Online Union Catalog, the largest online public access catalog in the world. WorldCat has holding records from public and private libraries worldwide. org, in October 2005, the OCLC technical staff began a wiki project, WikiD, allowing readers to add commentary and structured-field information associated with any WorldCat record. The Online Computer Library Center acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification System when it bought Forest Press in 1988, a browser for books with their Dewey Decimal Classifications was available until July 2013, it was replaced by the Classify Service. S. The reference management service QuestionPoint provides libraries with tools to communicate with users and this around-the-clock reference service is provided by a cooperative of participating global libraries. OCLC has produced cards for members since 1971 with its shared online catalog. OCLC commercially sells software, e. g. CONTENTdm for managing digital collections, OCLC has been conducting research for the library community for more than 30 years. In accordance with its mission, OCLC makes its research outcomes known through various publications and these publications, including journal articles, reports, newsletters, and presentations, are available through the organizations website. The most recent publications are displayed first, and all archived resources, membership Reports – A number of significant reports on topics ranging from virtual reference in libraries to perceptions about library funding
18.
2 cm KwK 30
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The 2 cm KwK30 L/55 was a German 2 cm cannon used primarily as the main armament of the German SdKfz.121 Panzerkampfwagen II light tank. It was used during the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War and it was produced by Mauser and Rheinmetall-Borsig from 1935. Direct ground-attack was not considered a priority for the Luftwaffe, however, an improved version, the 2 cm KwK38 L/55, was used on the SdKfz.121 Panzerkampfwagen II. It was also used on the Sd. Kfz. 251/17 Schützenpanzerwagen anti-aircraft vehicle, late war, it was issued as a platoon commanders vehicle to replace the Sd. Kfz. 251/10 Schützenpanzerwagen. The 2 cm KwK30 used the 20 x 138B cartridge, average penetration performance established against rolled homogenous steel armor plate laid back at 30° from the vertical
19.
5 cm KwK 39
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The 5 cm KwK39 L/60 was a German 5 cm calibre gun used during the Second World War, primarily as the main armament of later models of the German Panzerkampfwagen III tank from 1941 onwards. It was produced when the well-armoured T-34 and KV-1 tanks were encountered in ever increasing numbers on the Eastern Front and it was later superseded by the 7.5 cm KwK40 L/43. It was also mounted on the SdKfz 234/2 Puma armoured car and it was developed as a variant of the 5 cm Pak 38 towed anti-tank gun. On the Panzer III, it replaced the 5 cm KwK38, which had an L/42 calibre length, however, even the 5 cm KwK39 gun with a longer barrel, higher muzzle velocity and more penetration was not sufficient against newer Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. Therefore, as went on, the Panzer III was no longer effective as a medium tank that could engage in fights with enemy tanks. So, a new role for the Panzer III tank was found. On the Panzer III, the 5 cm KwK39 was phased out in favor of the shorter but larger calibre 7.5 cm KwK37 L/24 low velocity guns that could fire more effective HE and HEAT rounds. HE howitzer type rounds with explosive forces and shrapnel were very effective against infantry, machine gun nests, however, early HEAT rounds were somewhat unreliable. They were useful against hardened fortifications and had a good, though limited, thus, they were used against enemy tanks mostly in an emergency. With these changes, the Panzer III with the 7.5 cm KwK became a support tank late in its career, while the new. F2 to fight the KV and T-34 tanks, average penetration performance established against rolled homogenous steel armour plate laid back at 30° from the vertical. PzGr Weight of projectile,2.06 kg Muzzle velocity,835 m/s PzGr,39 Weight of projectile,2.06 kg Muzzle velocity,835 m/s PzGr. 40 Weight of projectile,0.9 kg Muzzle velocity,1,180 m/s PzGr. 40/1 Weight of projectile,1.06 kg Muzzle velocity,1,130 m/s 5 cm Sprgr. Patr.38 Weight of projectile,1.82 kg Muzzle velocity,550 m/s Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf, several earlier models were re-equipped with this gun. 234/2 Schwerer Panzerspähwagen Puma Bordkanone-series BK5 heavy-caliber autocannon 5 cm KwK38 British Ordnance QF 2-pounder Soviet 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 United States 37 mm Gun M3
20.
7.5 cm KwK 37
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It was designed as a close-infantry support artillery gun firing a high-explosive shell, but was also effective against the early war tanks it faced during the period. Starting from March 1942, new variants of the Panzer IV, when older Panzer IVs were upgunned, their former KwK37 guns were reused to arm later Panzer III tanks and other infantry support vehicles. In 1943 depleted stocks and continued demand from producing Panzer III Ausf, N required restarting production of a slightly revised version under the designation 7.5 cm K51 L/24. KwK37 used shell 75×243 mm. R K. Gr. rot. Pz, a, C, D, E, and F1 StuG III Ausf
21.
7.5 cm KwK 40
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The design of the KwK40 was adapted from the similar towed anti-tank gun, the 7.5 cm Pak 40. It replaced the short-barrel 7.5 cm KwK37 L/24 close-support gun and it came in two versions, with L/43 and L/48 barrel lengths, the former used during 1942 and early 1943, and the latter after that point. Along with the Pak 40, the KwK 40/StuK40 was the most numerous anti-tank gun of the German army, when mounted on a casemate-armored assault gun-designated vehicle instead of a turreted tank, the weapon was called Sturmkanone 40. Both the KwK40 and StuK40 were developed from the towed 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun, the length of the ammunition used was shortened to allow for easier storage of said ammunition in velicles the KwK40 and StuK40 would be mounted on. The KwK40 L/43 was mounted on the Panzer IV from April 1942 until June 1943, All 225 vehicles of the Panzer IV F2 mounted the L/43 with a ball shaped muzzle brake. About a 1,000 out of the 1,687 vehicles of the Panzer IV Ausf, G mounted the L/43 with a double baffle muzzle brake. The StuG III with the L/43 gun was designated as Ausf, F. of which only 120 were equipped with the L/43. All StuG III production runs through Ausf, f/8 to G mounted the longer L/48. The 780 original Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyers mounted the Pak 39 variant of the L/48 gun, the L/48 was 334 mm longer and slightly more powerful than the L/43. L/48 became the gun from June 1942 until the end of World War II. The gun was fitted with a firing mechanism and the breech operated semi-automatically. Following number of vehicles mounted L/48 version from June 1942-April 1945 Approximately 6,000 vehicles of Ausf, G, H, J out of 8,800 Panzer IV7,720 vehicles of StuG III Ausf. G +246 of Ausf. F +250 vehicles of StuG III Ausf. F/8 All 1,139 vehicles of StuG IV780 Jagdpanzer IV As with the 7.5 cm Pak 40, five types of muzzle brakes were used, gradually increasing the area of exposure to the blast. The front flange and rear disk type was used from March 1944, KwK40 used shell 75×495 mm. R Pzgr. R. P. G1 Primer, electric, model C/22 or C/22 St. Pzgr, R. P.7,7 Primer, electric, model C/22 or C/22 St. Gr. P. -AO Primer, electric, model C/22 or C/22 St. Gr,38 HL/C KwK407.5 cm Sprgr. Patr.34 KwK40 L/48 Muzzle velocity,550 m/s Projectile, Sprgr. 34 Projectile weight,5.75 kg Explosive filler,0.66 kg of amatol Fuze, a. Z.23 umg. nose fuze Round weight,8.71 kg Cartridge case height,495 mm Propelling charge,0.755 kg of Gu
22.
7.5 cm KwK 42
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The 7.5 cm KwK42 L/70 was a 7.5 cm calibre German tank gun developed and built by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG in Unterlüß during the Second World War. The gun was used to equip the SdKfz.171 Panzerkampfwagen V Panther medium tank, when mounted on a tank destroyer it was designated as the 7.5 cm Pak 42 anti-tank gun. The increased muzzle velocity and operating pressure of the new gun required a new armour piercing projectile to be designed, 39/42 was the result, and apart from the addition of wider driving bands it was otherwise identical to the older 7.5 cm PzGr. The wider driving bands added an extra weight, from 6.8 kg for the old PzGr.39. The gun was fired electrically, the primer was initiated using an electric current rather than a firing pin, once the round was loaded the breech closed automatically and the weapon was ready to be fired again. Three different types of ammunition were used, APCBC-HE, APCR, Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two
23.
8.8 cm KwK 36
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The 8.8 cm KwK36 L/56 was an 88 mm electrically fired tank gun used by the German Heer during World War II. This was the armament of the PzKpfw VI Tiger I tank. It was developed and built by Krupp and it shared the same caliber as the 8.8 cm FlaK36 anti-aircraft and anti-tank gun, but the KwK36 was not derived from it. There are multiple similarities between the pair, but the two must be considered merely parallel designs, the KwK36 could fire the same ammunition as the FlaK18 or 36, differing only in primer, percussion for the FlaK, electric for the KwK36. Also the ballistics were identical and both guns had a 56 caliber barrel, the KwK36 was built to practically the same design as the 7.5 cm and 5.0 cm guns already used in German tanks, but with the structure scaled up considerably. The breech ring was square in section and 320 millimetres on a side, the L56 in the designation is a traditional measurement for artillery pieces. L refers to the length of the interior of a gun tube in proportion to the size of its bore, the inside diameter of a gun tube is considered one caliber. The designation L56 means the barrel is 56 calibers long, or 56 times 88 mm =4,928 mm, thus, it is not an absolute unit of measurement, it is a proportionate one, and thus is rarely used while considering overall dimensions. Rather, it is used to denote how much velocity a gun will generate for its bore size, the longer the tube is in relation to its bore, the higher the muzzle velocity it can generate. A longer gun barrel allows the gas from the shells charge to act on the projectile longer than a short barrel, imparting it more velocity. For the Tiger IIs 8.8 cm KwK43 L/71,71 times 88 mm is 6248 mm, shorter tubes are most useful for indirect fire, such as howitzers or infantry support. For anti-armour purposes using traditional solid shot, a long to very-long tube is needed, the KwK36 was very accurate, high-powered and its high muzzle velocity produced a very flat trajectory. This allowed its gunners a higher margin of error in estimating range, in British firing trials during the war, a British gunner scored five successive hits from 1,200 yards at a 16 by 18 inches target. Another five rounds were fired at targets moving at 15 miles per hour, although smoke obscured the gunners observation, the sighting system resulted in excellent firing accuracy for the 8.8 cm KwK36 gun on the Tiger I. The guns performance was dependent on distance to target and type of ammunition loaded. For kinetic penetration, the speed of the projectile upon impact is crucial, due to errors in estimating the range and many other factors, the probability of a first shot hit under battlefield conditions was much lower than at the firing range. Observing the tracer from the first round in battle, the average, Type, Armour-piercing, capped, ballistic cap projectile with explosive filler and tracer. Projectile weight,10.20 kg Muzzle velocity,773 m/s Explosive filler,0.059 kg Type, Armour-piercing, projectile weight,7.30 kg Muzzle velocity,930 m/s Type, high explosive anti-tank round with a shaped charge
24.
8.8 cm KwK 43
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The 8.8 cm KwK43 L/71 was an 88 mm 71 calibre tank gun designed by Krupp and used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. It was mounted as the armament on the Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B Tiger II and the 8.8 cm PaK43, at 6.24 m, the length of the KwK 43s barrel was over 1.3 metres longer than of that of the 8.8 cm KwK36 L/56 used for the Tiger I. All guns of the PaK/KwK43 series could use the same ammunition interchangeably, the KwK43 and PaK43 were initially manufactured with monobloc barrels meaning the barrel was made from one piece. However, due to the extremely high muzzle velocity and operating pressures when fired. As a result, the change was made to manufacture the PaK/KwK43 with a two-piece barrel instead of a monobloc barrel and this had minimal to no effect on the performance of the gun, but made replacing a worn-out barrel much faster and easier than before. In addition, the increased operating pressures of the new gun in turn required a new armour-piercing shell to be designed. The wider driving bands of the PzGr. 39/43 increased the weight of the shell to 10.4 kilograms as a result. Over that set amount, it was feared that the expected barrel wear combined with the driving bands of the PzGr. 39-1 could lead to a loss of pressure in the gun. The new PzGr. 39/43 could be fired without loss of pressure until the barrel was worn out, PzGr. 39-1 FES & Al all up weight,10.2 kg PzGr. 39/43 FES & Al all up weight,10. The first column shows the accuracy obtained during controlled test firing to determine the pattern of dispersion, the figures in the second column include the variation expected during practice firing due to differences between guns, ammunition and gunners. These accuracy tables do not reflect the probability of hitting a target under battlefield conditions. Due to errors in estimating the range and many other factors, however, the average, calm gunner, after sensing the tracer from the first round, could achieve the accuracy shown in the second column. The Nashorn was the first vehicle to carry the KwK/PaK43 series of guns. The series included, PaK43, PaK 43/41, PaK 43/1, and PaK 43/2, all with monobloc barrels, PaK 43/3 and 43/4 with two-piece barrels, british Ordnance QF17 pounder Soviet 100 mm D-10T United States 90 mm T15E1/T15E2 Bibliography
25.
2.8 cm sPzB 41
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2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 or Panzerbüchse 41 was a German anti-tank weapon working on the squeeze bore principle. Officially classified as a heavy rifle, it would be better described. Although the sPzB41 was classified as a heavy anti-tank rifle, like the latter, it had a recoil mechanism, carriage and shield. The only significant feature the weapon had in common with anti-tank rifles was a lack of elevation, the design was based on a tapering barrel, with the caliber reducing from 28 mm at the chamber end to only 20 mm at the muzzle. The barrel construction resulted in a high muzzle velocity - up to 1,400 m/s. The bore was fitted with a muzzle brake, the horizontal sliding breech block was quarter-automatic, it closed automatically once a shell was loaded. The gun was equipped with a sight for distances up to 500m. The recoil system consisted of a recoil buffer and spring-driven recuperator. The carriage was of the split type, with suspension. Wheels with rubber tires could be removed, making the gun significantly lower and therefore easier to conceal, the guns construction allowed toolless dismantling to five pieces, the heaviest of which weighed 62 kg. The cone-bore principle was first patented in 1903 by a German designer, in the 1920s and 1930s, another German engineer, Gerlich, conducted experiments with coned-bore barrels that resulted in an experimental 7 mm anti-tank rifle with a muzzle velocity of 1,800 m/s. Based on these works, Mauser-Werke AG developed a 28/20 mm anti-tank weapon initially designated Gerät 231 or MK.8202 in 1939–1940, in June–July 1940, an experimental batch of 94 pieces was given to the army for trials. They resulted in modifications and in 1941 mass production of what became 2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 started. The last gun was built in 1943, the reason for the discontinuance was the lack of tungsten for projectiles. The sPzB41 was used by some motorized divisions and by some Jäger, Gebirgsjäger and Fallschirmjäger units, some guns were supplied to anti-tank and sapper units. The weapon was employed on the Eastern Front from the beginning of hostilities, until the end of the war and also saw combat in the North African Campaign,2.8 cm sPzB41 leFl 41, a variant developed for paratrooper units. It used a carriage without suspension, the wheels were replaced by small rollers. The resulting weapon weighed only 139 kg, the carriage supported a 360° field of fire, elevation ranged from -15° to 25°
26.
4.2 cm Pak 41
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The 4.2 cm Pak 41 was a light anti-tank gun issued to German airborne units in World War II. This gun was similar to the 3.7 cm Pak 36, using a modified version of the latters carriage, but used the squeeze bore principle to boost its velocity. The bore had a diameter of 42 mm at the chamber, production was terminated in May 1942 after the delivery of 136 guns. By November 1944,41 remained in service, projectile weight, AP0.336 kg 2.8 cm sPzB417.5 cm Pak 41 Littlejohn adaptor Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X
27.
47 mm APX anti-tank gun
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The 47 mm APX anti-tank gun was a French anti-tank gun that saw service in the first years of the Second World War. In the 1930s the French artillery sought a replacement for the derivatives of the 75 mm mle 1897 field gun it used in the anti-tank role. The chosen weapon was a design of the state-owned arsenal Atelier de Puteaux and it was a very efficient weapon, especially given the thin armour of the German tanks of the time. Unfortunately for France, the 47mm SA37 was still a weapon at the time of the Battle of France. Examples captured by the German forces were used under the designation 4.7 cm Pak 181. 47mm SA39 TAZ - a variant on a tripod, capable of 360° traverse, France 1940 larmement terrestre, ETAI,1998, ISBN 2-7268-8380-X
28.
5 cm Pak 38
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The 5 cm Pak 38 was a German anti-tank gun of 50 mm calibre. It was developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG as a successor to the 37 mm Pak 36, and was in turn followed by the 75 mm Pak 40. After the Spanish Civil War, the German authorities started to think that a new gun would be needed. They asked Rheinmetall-Borsig to produce a new and more capable AT-gun and they first designed the Pak 37 in 1935, but the German authorities didnt approve it because of its low capabilities. Rheinmetall-Borsig were forced to create a new gun under the designation Pak 38, the Pak 38 was first used by the German forces during the Second World War in April 1941. When the Germans faced Soviet tanks in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, the gun was also equipped with Panzergranate 40 APCR shots with a hard tungsten core, in an attempt to penetrate the armor of the heavier KV-1 tank. Although it was replaced by powerful weapons, it remained a potent and useful weapon. The Pak 38 carriage was used for the 7.5 cm Pak 97/38. Romania imported 110 Pak 38s in March 1943, the guns remained in service with the Romanian Armed Forces until 1954, when the 57 mm anti-tank gun M1943 replaced them. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Intelligence report on Pak 38 at Lonesentry. com Armor penetration table at Panzerworld
29.
7.5 cm Pak 97/38
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The Pak 97/38 was a German anti-tank gun used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. The gun was a combination of the barrel from the French Canon de 75 modèle 1897 fitted with a Swiss Solothurn muzzle brake, during the invasion of Poland and invasion of France the Wehrmacht captured thousands of 75 mm Model 1897 guns, built by the French arms manufacturer Schneider. These guns were adopted by the Germans as the FK97, soon after the German invasion of the USSR in 1941, Wehrmacht units encountered new Soviet tanks, the medium T-34 and the heavy KV. The thick sloped armor of these gave them invulnerability against German towed 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank guns. The situation led to requests for more powerful weapons that would be able to destroy them at normal combat ranges, since Germany already had a suitable design, the 7.5 cm Pak 40, this weapon entered production and the first pieces were delivered in November 1941. However, until enough of these were manufactured, some expedient solution was required and it was tempting to adopt the readily available French gun to the anti-tank role. In the original configuration, those guns were ill-suited for fighting tanks because of their low muzzle velocity, limited traverse. It was decided to solve the traverse and mobility problems by mounting the 75 mm barrel on the split trail carriage of the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun. To soften the recoil, the barrel was fitted with a muzzle brake. The gun was intended to use HEAT shells as the armor penetration of this type of ammunition does not depend on velocity. Interestingly, another user of the French gun, the US Army, created and briefly adopted a similar suitable design. 2,854 pieces were delivered in 1942,858 more followed in 1943, in addition,160 guns mounted on the 7.5 cm Pak 40 carriage were built in 1943. The manufacturing cost of one piece was 9,000 reichsmarks, production was stopped because more powerful anti-tank guns were in service in adequate numbers. The Pak 97/38 reached the battlefield in the summer of 1942, despite moderate effectiveness and a violent recoil, it remained in service until the end of the war. The scale of use can be illustrated by the used,37,800 HEAT shells in 1942 and 371,600 in 1943. On 1 March 1945 the Wehrmacht possessed 145 Pak 97/38 and FK231 guns, ten barrels with shields were experimentally mounted on the Soviet T-26 light tank chassis, resulting in vehicles designated the 7.5 сm Pak 97/38 auf Pz.740. These self-propelled guns served with the 3rd Company of the 563rd Anti-Tank Battalion before being replaced by the Marder III on 1 March 1944, the gun was also employed by the Finnish Army during the Continuation War. The Finns purchased 75 mm field guns from France in 1940,46 pieces were converted in March–June 1943
30.
7.5 cm Pak 40
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The 7.5 cm Pak 40 was a German 75 millimetre anti-tank gun developed in 1939-1941 by Rheinmetall and used during the Second World War. The Pak 40 formed the backbone of German anti-tank guns for the part of World War II, mostly in towed form. Approximately 20,000 Pak 40s were produced, the KwK40 armed many of the German mid-war tank and destroyer designs, replacing the Pak 40 in the later role. Depending on the source, the Pak 40 may be referred to as the 7. 5/L46, there were two versions of the KwK40, which would be referred to as the 7. 5/L43 or 7. 5/L48. Development of the Pak 40 began after reports of new Soviet tank designs began to reach Berlin in 1939, the 5 cm Pak 38 was still in testing at this point, but it appeared it would not be powerful enough to deal with these newer designs. Contracts were placed with Krupp and Rheinmetall to develop what was essentially a 7.5 cm version of the Pak 38, however, while the Pak 38 made extensive use of light alloys to reduce overall gun weight, these were now earmarked for Luftwaffe. As a result, the Pak 40 used steel throughout its construction and was heavier than the 5 cm model. To simplify production, the Pak 38s curved gun shield was replaced by one using three flat plates, the first pre-production guns were delivered in November 1941. In April 1942, the Wehrmacht had 44 guns in service, by 1943, the Pak 40 was the standard German anti-tank gun until the end of the war, and was supplied by Germany to its allies. Some captured guns were used by the Red Army, after the war, the Pak 40 remained in service in several European armies, including Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Norway, Hungary and Romania. About 20,000 Pak 40s were produced, and about 3,500 more were used to arm tank destroyers, the unit manufacturing cost amounted to 2,200 man-hours at 12,000 RM. The weapon was effective against almost every Allied tank until the end of the war, the Pak 40 was much heavier than the Pak 38, its decreased mobility meant that it was difficult or even impossible to move without an artillery tractor on boggy ground. The Pak 40 was first used in the USSR where it was needed to combat the newest Soviet tanks, in addition, there was an APCR shot for the Pak 40, a munition which - reliant on supplies of tungsten - eventually became very scarce. According to the German Panzertruppen News Journal,5,000 APCR rounds were expected in Dec.1942 as replenishment for the Winter offensive. The main differences amongst the rounds fired by 75 mm German guns were in the length, the Pak 40 used a percussion primer, while the vehicle mounted 75 mm guns used electrical primers. Other than minor differences with the driving bands, all German 75 mm guns used the same 75mm projectiles. The longer cartridge case of the Pak 40 allowed a larger charge to be used, the muzzle velocity was about 790 m/s as opposed to 740 m/s for the KwK40 L/43 and 750 m/s for the L/48. For unknown reasons, some 75 mm APCBC cartridges appear to have produced with a charge that gave a muzzle velocity of about 770 m/s
31.
7.5 cm Pak 41
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It is similar to, but distinct from, the Waffe 0725, which, while also based on the Gerlich principle, had a different barrel calibre. Designed and built by Krupp AG to compete with the Rheinmetall 7.5 cm Pak 40, in addition to its squeeze bore design and the use of a tungsten core flanged shell, the Pak 41 incorporated several novel features.6 inches was parallel-sided again but remained unrifled. Another novel feature was the attachment of the trail legs. The gun cradle was set inside a ball mount attached to the gun shield. The cradle itself was cylindrical, covering the whole of the half of the barrel. The reinforced breech is of the vertical type, with a semi-automatic action. Compared to the PaK38 and the PaK40, the appearance was long, low, the gun is sighted up to 1,500 meters, the sight has four scales for use according to the actual muzzle velocity of the gun. The barrel life is estimated as 500 to 600 rounds. When first introduced, the 7.5 cm Pak 41s performance would seem to indicate that it might supplant the Pak 40 as the standard issue anti-tank gun for the Wehrmacht. However, the emergent shells velocity tended to drop dramatically over long range and accuracy and this factor, along with a growing shortage of tungsten, which was needed for the guns special ammunition, would ensure that only 150 Pak 41s would ever be produced. A small number were known to have mounted on halftracks. An armour-piercing, composite, non-rigid projectile with a tungsten core. Weight of projectile,2.6 kg Muzzle velocity,1230 m/s An armour-piercing, weight of projectile,2.5 kg Muzzle velocity,1230 m/s Littlejohn adaptor 4.2 cm Pak 41 Notes Sources Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X http, //www. lonesentry. com/articles/ttt/75mm-tapered-bore-antitank-pak-41. html
32.
7.62 cm Pak 36(r)
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The 7.62 cm FK36 and Pak 36 were German anti-tank guns used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. The first guns were conversions of the Soviet 76-mm divisional gun M1936, later in the war, the Soviet USV and ZiS-376 mm divisional guns were also converted. The FK36 and Pak 36 both had a carriage, with a transverse leaf spring axle suspension, and steel wheels. The guns were equipped with a vertical breech block, the recoil mechanism consisted of a hydraulic recoil buffer. There was no limber, therefore the gun could not be towed by a horse team, soon after the German invasion of the USSR in 1941, Wehrmacht units encountered new Soviet tanks, the medium T-34 and the heavy KV. The thick sloped armor of these gave them a good degree of protection against German anti-tank weapons. The situation eventually led to requests for more guns that would be able to destroy the aforementioned tanks from long range. Germany already had a design, the 7.5 cm Pak 40, entering production in late 1941. Until enough of these could be manufactured, expedient solutions were required, in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the Germans captured a large number of Soviet 76-mm divisional guns model 1936. Developed with anti-tank abilities in mind, this Soviet gun had powerful ballistics, using considerable thrift, German engineers were able to quickly modify the F-22, which by that time had been adopted in original form as the FK296 by the Wehrmacht. In late 1941, German engineers developed a modernization program, the initial modifications that brought the guns to FK36 standard included, removing the top section of the shield and using the armour off-cuts to superimpose over the lower section of the shield. These were held in place using the standard Pak38 shield pintles, re-orienting the traverse gear box and handwheel shaft linkages so as to mount the traverse handwheel on the left side of the gun next to the sight. As the new transverse rod linkage went through a gap in the recoil cradles elevation arc, replacing the Russian sight with a Pak 38 style anti-tank sighting block that could mount the standard ZF3x8 sighting telescope or an emergency fold out iron sight. Like the Pak 40 and Pak 97/38, the mount had provision for attaching an indirect sighting device - the Aushilfsrichtmittel 38. The first of these converted F-22s retained the original Russian ammunition and were still designated FK296 on the range drum. These early anti-tank conversions are discernible as they have not been fitted with a muzzle brake and these intermediate guns had various designations, but appear mainly to have been referred to as FK36, despite their dedicated anti-tank role seeming to warrant the designation Pak rather than FK. The conversion work was performed by HANOMAG, with sight blocks made by Kerner & Co in 1942, the first guns were delivered in February 1942. By the end of 1942, the Germans had converted 358 pieces, additionally,894 barrels were prepared for use in self-propelled guns
33.
8 cm PAW 600
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The PAW600 was a lightweight anti-tank gun that used the high-low pressure system to fire hollow charge warheads. In 1945, it was used operationally by the Wehrmacht in small numbers, only about 250 were produced before the wars end. None were reported to have seen combat, by 1943, the German army was faced with various problems concerning their existing anti-tank gun designs. They had started the war with the 3.7 cm PaK36, by 1941, this gun was inadequate, it could not deal with the heaviest armoured Soviet and British tanks. Its replacement, the 5 cm PaK38, offered better performance but, at 1,000 kg, was at the limit of what the guns own crew could effectively move into. The next gun, the 7.5 cm PaK40, was a very effective tank-killer, a much larger crew and a vehicle was required to move this gun any distance at all and often just to displace it out of its firing position. Many were lost intact simply because they were overrun before their crews could move them, as the guns got bigger to deal with the latest tank technology, they became too heavy for tactical employment and more expensive. The PAK36 cost RM5,730 and took 900 work-hours to build, while a PAK40 cost RM12,000 and took 2,000 work-hours to build. The situation was so bad that, by May 1944, the 14th Kompanie of infantry regiments were having their heavy anti-tank guns removed and replaced by the Panzerschreck rocket launcher. But with a range of only 150 meters, this weapon did not provide the depth of fire required for the regiments anti-tank defense. Rheinmetall-Borsig proposed a design to meet this requirement using the new high-low pressure ballistic principle, in this system, high pressure caused by the combustion of the propellant was confined to the breech section, which was relatively heavy, and did not act directly on the projectile. The pressure was allowed to bleed gradually into the barrel at a controlled rate, thus the barrel could be exceptionally light for a weapon that still had the advantages that accrue from a high pressure gun. The carriage too could be light, although the initial prototype carriages proved to be too light and had to be redesigned. The resulting PAW600 gun weighed about 600 kg, less than half that of the 7,5 cm PaK40, unlike previous anti-tank guns, which relied on firing steel projectiles at high velocities to penetrate heavy armor, the 8H63 was designed to fire shaped charge ammunition. Because shaped charge warheads perform best when no spin is imparted on the projectile, to simplify development and manufacture, the projectiles used were based on the widely used 8 cm Granatwerfer 34 mortar. This allowed the use of existing tooling in the manufacture of the ammunition, the cartridge case was developed from the 10.5 cm leFH18 howitzer. The standard shaped charge projectile, which was designated 8 cm W Gr Patr H14462, the propelling charge was 360 gm of Digl B1 P, which produced a muzzle velocity of 520 mps and provided an effective range of 750 meters against a 1m² target. Armor penetration was 140mm of vertical armor, which was comparable to the 7.5 cm PAK40 firing the rare and expensive tungsten-cored PzGr40 shot
34.
8.8 cm Pak 43
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The Pak 43 was a German 88 mm anti-tank gun developed by Krupp in competition with the Rheinmetall 8.8 cm Flak 41 anti-aircraft gun and used during World War II. The improved 8.8 cm gun was fitted with a vertical breech mechanism that greatly reduced recoil. It could also be fired electrically while on its wheels and it had a very flat trajectory out to 914 m, making it easier for the gunner to hit targets at longer ranges as fewer corrections in elevation were needed. The guns maximum firing range exceeded 15 kilometers, KwK43 and Pak 43s were initially manufactured with monobloc barrels. However, the extremely high muzzle velocity and operating pressures caused accelerated barrel wear. This did not affect performance but made replacing a worn out barrel much faster and easier than before, the higher operating pressures of the new gun in turn required a new armour-piercing shell to be designed. The wider driving bands resulted in a weight to 10.4 kilograms for the PzGr. 39/43. However, up until the transition to the new PzGr. 39/43 round was complete, the older PzGr. 39-1 was used for the KwK & Pak 43. Over this, the expected barrel wear combined with the driving bands could lead to a loss of pressure. The new PzGr. 39/43 could be fired without loss of pressure until the barrel was worn out, PzGr. 39-1 FES & Al all up weight,10.2 kg PzGr. 39/43 FES & Al all up weight,10. The main version of the Pak 43 was based on a highly effective cruciform mount, which offered a full 360 degree traverse, however the manufacture of this version was initially slow and costly. To simplify production some were mounted on the two-wheel split-trail carriage from the 10 cm le K41 field gun, resulting in a version known as Pak 43/41. The 43/41 proved heavy and awkward to handle in the mud and snow of the Eastern Front and gunners referred to 43/41 as the barn door, a reference to the size and weight of the gun. Nevertheless, the improvised Pak 43/41 proved an effective substitute for the Pak 43 until sufficient of the more complex cruciform mounts could be manufactured to replace it in service. The Pak 43 was also mounted in German armored vehicles, there were 578 88mm Pak in German army service on 1 October 1944 and 829 on 1 January 1945. 39/43 and HE shells were generally available, 40/43 were in severely short supply. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Haupt, W. Panzerabwehrgeschütze 1935–1945. Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two, mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X Wolfgang Fleischer
35.
12.8 cm Pak 44
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The 12.8 cm Pak 44 L/55 was a German heavy anti-tank gun used during World War II. It was designed as a result of experiences on the Eastern front in 1943, the German army had encountered the Russian 122 mm guns and had issued a requirement for a similar weapon. Development initially concentrated on a gun known as the Kanone K44. However, once heavier Russian armour, such as the IS-2, the choice for 128 mm calibre anti-tank gun was made because of the availability of tooling due to the use of this calibre for naval weapons. The design contracts were awarded to Rheinmetall Borsig and Krupp, the first prototype guns were delivered for testing in late 1944. Rheinmetall began development of a variant of the 128 mm FlaK gun, after initial tests, the Rheinmetall design was dropped and development continued with the Krupp design. However, the tests showed that a towed anti-tank gun weighing nearly 11 tonnes was impractical. Approximately 50 barrels and breeches were used on existing carriages, the weapon that used the ex-French GPF-T carriage was known as the K 81/1, while the K 81/2 used the ex-Russian carriage. Both of these designs were rushed, and were too heavy, in 1943, a design programme using the Pak 44 as its starting point was started for a gun to mount on the Jagdtiger and the Maus super-heavy tank. This weapon, of which approximately 100 were made, was known both as the Pak 44 and Pak 80 / Panzerjägerkanone Pjk 80. Performance was identical to the initial design, the gun was fed with two-piece ammunition, the projectile and cartridge making up separate pieces. Because of this, the gun could be fired using three different sized propellant charges, a light, medium and heavy charge. Finally the heavy charge was used when the gun was fulfilling its role as an anti-tank gun. 12.8 cm Kanone 44, Pak 4412.8 cm Kanone 81/1,12.8 cm Kanone 81/2, K44 mounted on the ex-Russian 152mm howitzer model 1937 carriage. 12.8 cm Kanone 81/3, K44 mounted on a Gerät 579 Medium Weapons Carriage, 4-wheeled version where two wheels at one end and two at the other. 12.8 cm Pak 80, Pak 44 mounted on Jagdtiger tank destroyers, as is common at this time, this weapon underwent several name changes. At various times it was known as K44, Pak 44, Kanone 81, Pak 80, equipment numbered in the 8x range were temporary irems usually issued in small numbers and not regarded as standard issue service weapons. Hence Pak 80 and Pjk 80 were temporary names, as were K81/x, had this equipment been accepted into full service, it would have had a Pak 4x designation attached
36.
Bofors 75 mm Model 1934
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The Bofors 75 mm Model 1934 was a mountain gun produced in Sweden by Bofors and sold abroad widely. The Model 1934 was used by Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany bought a small number of guns for evaluation and training before the war and designated them as the 7.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 34. Belgian guns, known by them as the Canon de 75 mle 1934, the later model 1936 was purchased by Bulgaria. The Netherlands purchased a pack loadable version for their colonial-army in the Dutch East Indies, the pack loadable version could be broken down into eight mule loads or towed by a four horse team, with a further six mules to carry ammunition and other supplies. The Dutch guns were used briefly during the Dutch East Indies campaign in 1941-42, the model purchase by Belgium was not a pack gun and was equipped for towing by motor transport. The Belgian model had a one-piece box-trail that was hinged to fold upwards to reduce towing length and was equipped with disc wheels with rubber tires. Sources differ on specifications, but data from Gander & Chamberlain is presumed to be accurate and is presented above. New York, Arco Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter, Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Bishop, Chris, new York, Barnes and Noble,1998 ISBN 0-7607-1022-8
37.
10.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 40
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The 10.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 40 was a 10.5 cm German mountain howitzer used during World War II. A total of 420 were built during World War II and it saw action with German mountain divisions in Finland, Italy, France, on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans from 1942. It has the distinction of being the heaviest mountain howitzer ever built and it served with a number of European countries into the 1960s. The 10.5 cm GebH40 was designed to meet an Army requirement for a 10.5 cm howitzer to serve in the mountain divisions. Both Rheinmetall and Böhler submitted designs for troop trials in 1940 and Böhler was selected for production, some 420 were built between 1942–45. It could be either towed fully assembled, broken down into four loads on single-axle trailers towed by Sd. Kfz,2 Kettenkrad half-track motorcycles or broken down into five pack-loads to be carried by mules. Two different range figures have been quoted for the 10.5 cm GebH40,12,625 metres and 16,740 metres. The former figure seems more plausible when compared to 10.5 cm howitzers with roughly similar barrel lengths and muzzle velocities like the 10.5 cm leFH18 and the American M-2. The 10.5 cm GebH40 fired a variety of ammunition. It used instead the three types of 10.5 cm hollow-charge armor-piercing shells developed over the course of the war. However it used unique high-explosive and smoke shells and it used six increments of propellant which were added together to reach the desired range. A seventh charge could be used which replaced all the charges for targets at the limit of the howitzers range. Deutsche Artillerie 1934–1945, Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern, Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, limburg/Lahn, Germany, C. A. Starke,1974 Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X Pictures of the gun 10.5 cm GebH40 in U. S
38.
15 cm sIG 33
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The 15 cm sIG33 was the standard German heavy infantry gun used in the Second World War. It was the largest weapon ever classified as a gun by any nation. Sources differ on the development history, but the gun itself was of conventional design, early production models were horse-drawn, with wooden wheels. Later production models had pressed steel wheels, with rubber tires. The sIG33 was rather heavy for its mission and it was redesigned in the late 1930s to incorporate light alloys in an effort to save weight. This saved about 150 kilograms, but the outbreak of war forced the return to the design before more than a few hundred were made. A new carriage, made entirely of light alloys, was tested around 1939, most of the shells used by the sIG33 were unexceptional in design, but the Stielgranate 42 was different in fundamental ways from ordinary shells. The driving rod was loaded into the muzzle so that the finned projectile remained in front of, and outside, a special charge was loaded and would propel the projectile about 1,000 metres downrange. At about 150 metres distance, the rod would separate from the projectile. Unlike other Stielgranaten, this version was not intended for anti-tank use, SIG33 Self-Propelled Artillery Chamberlain, Peter, and Hilary L. Doyle. Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two, A Complete Illustrated Directory of German Battle Tanks, Armoured Cars, Self-propelled Guns, london, Arms and Armour Press,1978. ISBN 1-85409-214-6 Engelmann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst, deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945, Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern, Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz. Limburg/Lahn, Germany, C. A. Starke,1974 Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two, mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X Trojca, Waldemar and Jaugitz, Markus
