45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K)

45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K)
General Information
Military designation:	45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K)
Manufacturer country:	Soviet Union
Developer / Manufacturer:	Kalinin Plant No. 8
Production time:	1937 to 1943
Number of pieces:	37,354
Team:	4 soldiers
Technical specifications
Pipe length:	2.07 m
Caliber :	4.5 cm
Caliber length :	L / 46
Cadence :	20 rounds / min
Elevation range:	−8 ° to +25 degrees
Side straightening area:	60

The 45-mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K) ( Russian 45-мм противотанковая пушка обр. 1937 г. [53-К] ) was a Soviet light battalion and anti-tank gun with a caliber of 45 mm that was used during World War II has been used.

history

The cannon was designed in 1937 and was a further development of the first Soviet model of anti-tank artillery, the 37mm M1930 (1-K) anti-tank gun . The latter was built according to the documents and with the help of the German company Rheinmetall , but according to the point of view of the leadership of the Red Army , the 37 mm cannon as a battalion gun had only a weak effect against unarmored targets. The caliber was increased from 37 to 45 mm and in the years 1932–1937 Kalinin Plant No. 8, the developer and manufacturer of anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery for the Red Army, produced relatively small series of transition models (M1932 and M1934) of 45 mm guns. In 1937, the design bureau of Plant No. 8, headed by MN Loginov, presented the 45 mm tube on the mount of the 1-K gun ; this variant had the manufacturer designation 53-K and was adopted by the Red Army as the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 in the same year . The carriage was also modernized, in particular the new full-suspension wheel frame was introduced in the construction for fast vehicle towing. In the next year, the developers built a 45-mm chariot gun based on the 53-K gun. Enlisted in the arsenal of the Soviet armed forces as the 45 mm M1938 (20-K) combat vehicle cannon , this variant became the main armament of numerous Soviet armored vehicles. The light tanks T-26 , BT-7 , later T-70 and T-80 , as well as the armored vehicles BA-10 and BA-11 were armed with these artillery systems.

Manufactured in large numbers, the M1937 45mm anti-tank gun quickly became a foundation of the Red Army's anti-tank artillery. The old variants of the 37 mm and 45 mm guns in service were almost completely replaced by such. The first combat use of these cannons took place in the battle of Chalchin-Gol , where they proved to be very effective against Japanese armored vehicles from the first day of the conflict. In September 1939, during the attack on Poland , the gun was tested against a damaged German Panzer III left behind by the Wehrmacht near Brest . The result was shocking for the Soviet military: the 32 mm thick side armor of the PzKpfW III was not penetrated by a 45 mm BR-240 tank shell at a right angle from 500 meters away . Repeated tests in 1940 produced a hardly better result: the armor was penetrated only with two out of five hits. In the Winter War, however, these 45mm guns were again effective against both Finnish and Soviet armored vehicles. The Finnish Army captured a significant number of the 45 mm anti-tank guns and put them into service under the designation 45 PstK / 37 . Possibly as a result of these circumstances and the fulfillment of the mobilization plan, series production of the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 and all 76 mm division guns was stopped in 1940. The armaments factories were converted to the production of the new, more powerful, but very complicated to manufacture, 57-mm anti-tank guns M1941 (SiS-2) and 107-mm division gun M1940 (M-60) .

Captured 45mm anti-tank guns M1937 (53-K)

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War showed the inadequate performance of the 45 mm cannons against the German modernized Panzer 38 (t) , Panzer III and Panzer IV (their later versions had 50 to 60 mm frontal armor, invulnerable to the 45 -mm tank shells of the type BR-240 ). Even the 30mm side armor of Panzer III or IV remained a problem due to the poor quality of the tank shells. The great losses of artillery material led to the solution in December 1941, to stop the series production of the expensive and difficult to manufacture SiS cannons, the penetration capacity of which was also overdimensioned. In their place, the 45-mm anti-tank guns M1937 (53-K) were produced again, despite all the shortcomings of the 45-mm armor-piercing ammunition. During December 1941, the design office under the direction of AA Gartze developed the new 45 mm BR-240SP steel armored shell , which could penetrate an armor plate 50 mm thick from 500 meters at a right angle. This projectile made it possible to fight medium German tanks. In the second half of 1942, the sub-caliber BR-240P tungsten core armored shell was also developed and adopted. Their higher penetration capacity (up to 80 mm from 200 meters) enabled the 45 mm cannons to penetrate the side armor of the Tiger or the front armor of the Panzer IV Ausf. H. However, all this did not fully solve the problem of the insufficient performance of the 53-K gun, so in 1943 it was replaced in series production by the 45-mm anti-tank gun M1942 (M-42) . Production of the 57 mm anti-tank gun SiS-2 was also resumed in 1943. The 53-K cannons remaining in service were used until the end of World War II.

Like many others, the M1937 (53-K) and the associated ammunition were captured by the Wehrmacht during the German attack on the Soviet Union . On the German side it was put into service under the designation 4.5 cm anti-tank gun 184 (r) (r for Russian).

Technical specifications

45 mm anti-tank gun M1937
General properties
classification	Battalion and anti-tank gun
Chief designer	Mikhail Nikolayevich Loginov
Name of the manufacturer	53-K or 53K
Manufacturer	Sawod imeni Kalinina No. 8 (Kalinin work No. 8, Russian Завод им. Калинина №8)
Weight in firing position	560 kg
Weight in driving position	1,200 kg
team	4 men (gun leader, gunner, loader and ammunition shooter)
Years of construction	1937-1943
number of pieces	37,354
pipe
caliber	45 mm
Pipe length	2,070 mm (L / 46)
Fire dates
Elevation range	−8 ° to + 25 °
Side straightening area	60 °
Maximum muzzle velocity	760 m / s
Maximum range	4,400 m
fire rate	15-20 rounds / min
agility
Top speed in vehicle tow	50 km / h

Ammunition characteristics

Cartridges for use with the 20 K combat vehicle cannon, from left to right:

1.  UBR-243P  with BR-240P tungsten  -core armored shell
2. UBR-243SP with BR-240SP armored shell
3. UBSR-243 with BSR-240 anti- tank grenade
4. UO -243 with fragmentation grenade O-240
5. Ushch-243 with grapple Shch -240

Ammunition nomenclature
Type	Name ( Transl.  / Russian)	Weight of the grenade in kg	Weight of the explosive charge in g	Muzzle velocity in m / s
Calibrated tank shells
Tank grenade with tracer and bullet hood (English APCBC-T)	BR-240 / БР-240	1.43	18.5 (A-IX-2)	760
Tank incendiary grenade with tracer and bullet hood	BSR-240 / БЗР-240	1.44	12.5 + 13 (fuel)	760
Tank shell with projectile hood (APCBC)	B-240 / Б-240	1.43	19.5 (A-IX-2)	760
Tank shell with tracer (solid AP-T)	BR-240SP / БР-240СП	1.43	no	757
Sub-caliber tank shells
Tungsten core tank shell with tracer (APCR-T)	BR-240P / БР-240П	0.85	no	985
Fragmentation grenades
Frag grenade	O-240	1.98-2.15	78	343
cast iron fragmentation grenade	O-240А	1.98-2.15	78	343
Grapeshot
Grapeshot	Shch-240 / Щ-240	1.62	137 balls, 100 g powder	?

Break-through board for 45 mm PaK 53-K
Tank shells B-240, BR-240, BSR-240
Firing range in m	Angle of incidence 30 °, mm	Impact angle 0 °, mm
100	43	52
250	39	48
500	35	43
1000	28	35
1500	23	28
2000	19th	23
BR-240SP tank shell
Firing range in m	Angle of incidence 30 °, mm	Impact angle 0 °, mm
100	49	59
250	45	55
500	40	51
1000	32	40
1500	26th	33
2000	22nd	26th
BR-240P tank shell
Firing range in m	Angle of incidence 30 °, mm	Impact angle 0 °, mm
100	70	96
200	65	84
300	59	72
400	53	61
500	47	51
These data were determined according to the Soviet method (Jakob de Marres formula, case-hardened armor of great hardness (1.1 to 1.3 times the strength of the RHA ) as a target). It should be noted that the penetration ability significantly depended on the production batch of grenades and the technology of manufacture. Direct comparison with similar data from other guns is not possible.

literature

• А. Б. Широкорад (AB Shirokorad): Энциклопедия отечественной артиллерии. ( Encyclopedia of Russian Artillery. ) Harvest, Minsk 2000, ISBN 985-433-703-0 .
• Terry Gander, Peter Chamberlain: Encyclopedia of German Weapons 1939-1945. 2nd edition, special edition, Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02481-0 .

Web links

Commons : 45mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual references / comments

1. ↑ AB Shirokorad : Encyclopedia of the Russian Artillery
2. ↑ ^{a b} Fire panel of the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1932 (M1937). Hauptartillerieamt, Moscow, 1943 (Russian Таблицы стрельбы 45-мм противотанковой пушки обр. 1932 и обр. 1937. Главное артилелерийсрое Му.