76mm anti-aircraft gun M1938

76 mm anti-aircraft gun M1938

The 76-mm anti-aircraft guns M1938 is a Soviet anti-aircraft gun of caliber mm 76th The Soviet name is 76-мм зенитная пушка обр. 1938 г. and means 76mm anti-aircraft gun M1938 . The GAU index is 52-P-362 (52-П-362). The weapon is an evolution of the original of Rheinmetall developed 76-mm anti-aircraft guns M1931 .

development

The 76 mm Flak M1931, built from 1934 onwards, had proven itself in the Red Army . The ballistic performance was particularly positive, and was significantly higher than that of the anti-aircraft guns used up until then. However, the time required for the transition from marching to combat position, which was 3 to 5 minutes, and the slow marching speed were unsatisfactory. The revision of the weapon was therefore essentially limited to a revision of the mount. The development was transferred to Plant No. 8 in Kaliningrad near Moscow (today Koroljow).

Serial production

Series production also took place in Plant No. 8. In 1939 a total of 960 guns were produced there. However, production was discontinued this year in favor of the more powerful 85 mm anti-aircraft gun M1939 .

The cannon was adopted into the armament of the Red Army on October 2, 1939.

construction

gun

The gun was largely conventional. The barrel with a length of 55 calibers had no muzzle brake . Only a one-piece tube was used for the weapon, as in the last lots of the 1931 model. The hydraulic pipe brake and the pneumatic-hydraulic pipe retractor were arranged below and above the pipe. The pipe return was normally 1150 mm, but was limited with increasing pipe elevation and was only 600 mm at an angle of 82 °. A vertically running semi-automatic drop block lock was used as the lock , in which a spring supports the opening of the lock. The shutter had to be closed manually. Manual opening was only required before the first shot was fired, then the semi-automatic lock opened after the shot was fired, ejected the cartridge case, inserted the grenade cartridge from the loading cradle into the chamber and locked again. Behind the breech is the short charging cradle in which the grenade cartridges to be fired are inserted. Cartridged ammunition was fired. The design allowed a practical rate of fire of up to 20 rounds per minute. The weapon was aimed purely mechanically in terms of height and side, electrical directional drives were not available.

The cannon's ballistic lines did not change compared to the previous model.

Mount

The mount with the designation ZU-8 (ЗУ-8) was redesigned. The gun was placed on a four-wheeled, cross-shaped mount , but the lower mount was now biaxial. In the event of a battle, the side bars were swiveled out, the support plates under the bars manually extended and the wheels lifted from the ground until the carriage was horizontal. In exceptional cases it was also possible to fire directly from the marching position, i.e. without folding down the spars and extending the support plates, but the probability of hits was lower. The construction of the base has also been simplified. A time of 1 minute and 20 seconds was required for the transition from march to combat situation, the marching speed increased to 50 km / h.

The carriage construction was also used for the various 85 mm anti-aircraft guns.

ammunition

The 1938 model used the same types of ammunition as the 1931 model. Various types of the UO-361 (УО-361) fragmentation grenade were used to combat air targets. Various time fuses were available for this projectile (T-5 (Т-5), KTM-1 (КТМ-1). Shrapnel with the designation USchtsch-361 (УШ-361) were also used. The shells had a projectile weight of 6, 6 kg and a total weight of about 11.5 kg. With the shrapnel USchtsch-361B (УШ-361Б) the maximum range was 8200 m with a tube elevation of 30 °. The projectile reached a muzzle velocity of 813 m / s.

In the fight against tanks, the UBR-361 (УБР-361) and the 53-BR-361SP (53-БР-361 СП) sub-caliber grenade were used.

Types of ammunition
Type	designation	Bullet weight, kg	Explosive weight, kg	Total weight, kg	Detonator
Grenades with time fuses
Grenade with time fuse	UO-361 ( Russian УО-361 )	6.61	0.682	11.5	T-5 (Т-5)
	UO-361D ( Russian УО-361Д )		0.458	11.57
	UO-361K ( Russian УО-361К )			11.75	TKTM-1 (КТМ-1)
Shrapnel
shrapnel	Ushch-361 ( Russian УШ-361 )	6.61	0.084	11.3	T-ZUG (Т-ЗУГ)
	Ushch-361B ( Russian УШ-361Б )			11.75	TZ (Т-З)
armor-piercing shells
armor piercing grenade	UBR-361 ( Russian УБР-361 )	6.6	0.119	11.3	MD-5 (МД-5)
Bullet	UBR-361SP ( Russian УБР-361СП )		-		-

commitment

76 mm anti-aircraft gun M1938 in use in the air defense of Leningrad during the Second World War

The weapon was used by the Red Army in the Winter War and World War II .

See also

• List of Russian and Soviet anti-aircraft guns

literature

• Александр Широкорад : Отечественные полуавтоматические зенитные пушки. In: Техника и вооружение. Edition 07/1998 (Russian).
• П. Б. Траубе: Справочник офицера-зенитчика. Книга 3. Материальная часть зенитной артиллерии. Воениздат МВС СССР, 1946 (Russian).

Web links

Commons : 76mm Flak M1938  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Russian Arms forum ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.