2 cm Flak 38
| 2 cm Flak 38 | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Military designation: | 2 cm Flak 38 |
| Manufacturer country: | German Empire |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Rheinmetall-Borsig |
| Development year: | 1935 |
| Production time: | 1938 to 1945 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Pipe length: | 130 cm |
| Caliber : |
20 mm |
| Caliber length : | L / 65 |
| Cadence : | 450 rounds / min |
| Elevation range: | −20 ° to +90 degrees |
| Side straightening area: | 360 |
The 2 cm Flak 38 was an anti -aircraft gun used by the Wehrmacht during World War II .
history
The 2 cm Flak 38 was an improved version of the 2 cm Flak 30 and was introduced by the Air Force and the Army from 1939 . The rarer version of the Kriegsmarine had the designation 2-cm-Flak C / 38 . It was a development of the Mauser works in Oberndorf , which prevailed over the rival 2 cm Flak 35 from Rheinmetall . The 20 × 138 mm B grenade cartridge was used as the standard ammunition .
The weapon was manufactured under license from the following companies:
- Havelwerk in Brandenburg / Havel
- Brennabor works in Brandenburg / Havel
- Gustloff works in Meiningen
- Röchling-Buderus in Wetzlar
- Ostmark-Werke in Vienna-Landstrasse
- Stübgen in Erfurt (only mounts)
- Benteler works in Bielefeld
- Gustloff-Werke - Waffenwerk Suhl in Suhl
- Henschel & Sohn in Kassel
From 1941, Mauser produced an even lighter version, the 2 cm Gebirgs-Flak 38 , whose weight was reduced to 315 kilograms.
Differences to Flak 30
The biggest difference to the 2 cm Flak 30 was the higher rate of fire , and the cause of the jamming of the previous model was eliminated and the recoil was better deflected. Later the cannon got a protective shield. A safety net could also be added to catch the empty pods.
mobilization
In the course of the war there were attempts to make the gun mobile. One example was the Flakpanzer 38 (t) , another the use of the cannon on the Sd.Kfz. 7 or 10 . The effect turned out to be insufficient to justify the effort, which led to the development of the 2 cm Flak Quad 38 . From 1944 the flak was provided with a double LM-44 mount and a protective shield.
Other uses
Modified versions of the weapon (FlaK 30 and FlaK 38) came under the designations 2-cm-KwK 30 L / 55 and 2-cm-KwK 38 L / 55 as a light combat vehicle gun for ground targeting on some light German tanks ( Panzer II G / J / L) and armored personnel carrier (both in the KwK 30 version and in the KwK 38 version in the Sd.Kfz. 222 ). The ammunition supply was also ensured by flat magazines, but here only with a capacity of 10 grenade cartridges. Carriages were later installed, which also enabled a certain air defense function through a larger straightening area ( depression & elevation). (Suspension bracket 38: - 10 ° / + 60 °; suspension bracket 38: - 4 ° / + 70 °). The L / 55 long tubes of the KwKs could be exchanged with the L / 65 long tubes of the FlaKs.
From 1940 the gun was used by the Navy as a light anti-aircraft gun on their destroyers and other light units. It was initially used individually, later also as a twin or quadruplet flak .
The 2 cm FlaK 38 was also mounted on flat cars to defend trains against attacks by low-level aircraft. Usually two guns were mounted on a flat car.
The Kommandogerät-38 belonging to this flak was copied by the Soviet Union as the Kommandogerät PUAZO-3 .
Technical specifications
| Parameters | Data |
|---|---|
| caliber | 20 mm |
| Pipe length | 1300 mm |
| Length drawn part | 1158 mm |
| Trains | 8th |
| Rewind | 53 mm |
| Weapon length | 2252.5 mm |
| width | 1810 mm |
| height | 1700 mm |
| Fire height | 1120 mm |
| Dropped fire height | 760 mm |
| Weight driving position | 860 kg |
| Weight firing position | 404 kg |
| Weight protective shield | 120 kg |
| Firing range | 4800 m |
| Shot height | 3700 m |
| Decomposer limit | 2200 m |
| Side straightening area | 360 ° |
| Elevation range | −20 ° to + 90 ° |
| Rate of fire | theoretically 450 rounds / min |
| practically 220 rounds / min | |
| Vo HE shell | 900 m / s |
| Vo tank shell | 833 m / s |
| Weight of HE shells | 130 g |
| Weight of tank shells | 133 g |
literature
- Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Weapons of the Third Reich. An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. Doubleday, New York 1979, ISBN 0-385-15090-3 .
- Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Encyclopedia of German Weapons 1939-1945. 2nd edition, special edition, Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02481-0 .
- Ian V. Hogg : German Artillery of World War Two. 2nd corrected edition. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsville PA 1997, ISBN 1-85367-480-X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Caliber length 55 means: the tube is 55 times as long as its diameter. A longer barrel implies ceteris paribus a higher muzzle velocity and thus a higher firing range and penetration power .
- ↑ Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain, p. 132