8.8 cm KwK 36

8.8 cm KwK 36
Sd.Kfz. 181 with 8.8 cm KwK 36
General Information
Military designation:	8.8 cm chariot gun
Manufacturer country:	German Empire
Developer / Manufacturer:	Friedrich Krupp AG
Production time:	1942 to 1945
Weapon Category:	Chariot cannon
Technical specifications
Pipe length:	493 cm
Caliber :	88 mm
Caliber length :	L / 56

The 8.8 cm KwK 36 was a combat vehicle cannon with a caliber length of L / 56, which, as a modified version of an anti-aircraft cannon (8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37), represented the main armament of the VI Tiger armored vehicle .

construction

The Kampfwagenkanone 36 was developed from the well-known 8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun FlaK 36/37 and redesigned for use in the narrow turret of an armored vehicle.

Parts of the KwK 36 were similar in construction to the 5 cm KwK and 7.5 cm KwK , which were already used in some German armored vehicles. The locking wedge of the cannons consisted of two parts, each 320 mm. The vertically arranged breech of the cannon itself worked semi-automatically . After the projectile had been fired, the shell was automatically ejected, with the locking wedge and tensioner remaining open and thus prepared for the insertion of the next shell. The subsequent reloading process then had to be carried out manually.

The caliber length L / 56 means a length of the cannon barrel (88 mm × 56 caliber = 4928 mm) of about 493 cm when installed in the Tiger I armored car . Since the longer barrel effect of the gas pressure gives the projectile a higher muzzle velocity (v ₀ in m / s), which ultimately increases the penetration performance, greater caliber lengths were sought. This led to the development of the 8.8 cm KwK 43 with a caliber length of L / 71 (barrel length = 6248 mm), which, among other things, served as the main armament of the Tiger II . She achieved high accuracy and penetration.

Types of ammunition

Average penetration force against homogeneous, rolled armored steel plates at an angle of impact of 30 ° to the vertical of the armored vehicle.

Ammunition type and penetration

ammunition	Type	Mass projectile	Muzzle velocity ( ) ${\displaystyle v_{0}}$	Distance to target in meters (m)
				100	500	1000	1500	2000
PzGr. 39	Tank grenade 1939: Impact projectile, armor-piercing, with cap and ballistic hood - highly explosive - tracer (today APCBC-HE-T)	10.2 kg	773 m / s	120 mm 100% 1	110 mm 100% 1	100 mm 100% 1	91 mm 98% 1	84 mm 87% 1
				120 mm 100% 2	110 mm 100% 2	99 mm 93% 2	91 mm 74% 2	83 mm 50% 2
PzGr. 40	Tank shell 1940: hard core bullet with tungsten carbide hard core, armor piercing, with cap and ballistic hood (today APCBC)	7.3 kg	930 m / s	170 mm 100% 1	155 mm 100% 1	138 mm 100% 1	122 mm 97% 1	110 mm 89% 1
				120 mm 100% 2	110 mm 100% 2	99 mm 93% 2	91 mm 74% 2	89 mm 47% 2
Size 39HL	Grenade 1939 Hollow charge: armor-piercing with (highly explosive) hollow charge for anti-tank defense (high-explosive anti-tank warhead, HEAT)	7.56 kg	600 m / s	Penetration depth 90 mm
				100% 1	100% 1	94% 1	72% 1	52% 1
				100% 2	98% 2	94% 2	62% 2	34% 2

Explanations

• Probability value (1–100) % ¹ : penetration depth achieved experimentally, target area 2.5 m × 2.9 m
• Probability value (1–100) % ² : depth of penetration achieved in combat / tank combat
• PzGr: tank shell
• HL: shaped charge

Carrier platforms

• SdKfz 181 Panzerkampfwagen VI version H later E "Tiger" also "Tiger I"

Chariots equipped with 8.8 cm KwK 36

• 

  Panzer VI (Tiger I), during ammunition

literature

• Thomas L. Jentz : Germany's TIGER Tanks - Tiger I and II. Combat Tactics, ISBN 0-7643-0225-6 .

Web links

Commons : 8.8 cm KwK 36  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Armor Penetration Table. Retrieved February 14, 2020 .