Canon de 47 mm AC modèle 1934
| Canon de 47 mm AC modèle 1934 | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Military designation: | Canon de 47 mm AC modèle 1934 |
| Manufacturer country: |
 France
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| Number of pieces: | 336 |
| Weapon Category: | Anti-tank |
| Technical specifications | |
| Pipe length: | 2.52 m |
| Caliber : |
47 mm |
| Number of trains : | 16 |
| Twist : | right |
| Cadence : | 20 rounds / min |
| Furnishing | |
| Ammunition supply: | Manually |
The Canon de 47 mm AC modèle 1934 was a fortress anti-tank gun installed in the forts of the Maginot Line . A further development was the anti-tank gun Canon antichar de 47 mm modèle 1937 (47 APX), which was constructed by the "Atelier de construction de Puteaux".
The bunkers of the Maginot Line received standardized casemates that had a size of 3 × 3 meters and which, in addition to this gun, were also equipped with a twin machine gun. The cannon was hung on rollers that ran on two T-beams and were anchored in the front and rear walls of the casemate. If necessary, it could be withdrawn from the opening in the bunker wall and exchanged for the twin machine gun.
The AC 47 was certainly one of the best anti-tank guns of 1940. It was indeed a very effective weapon that could penetrate 80mm of steel at a distance of 800 meters, but in 1940 there were only tank shells, there were no HE shells to combat infantry. The guns could not be removed and installed in rotating turrets, so their use was limited to a limited field of fire.
A total of 336 of these anti-tank guns were made, which were in service with the French army until 1940. Although the Wehrmacht used almost all of the captured equipment and weapons for their own purposes (including extensive modifications), nothing is known about the use of this cannon by the German troops. It is also not mentioned in the relevant specialist literature. The reasons for this are speculative, but could be related to the fact that a completely new mount should have been constructed.
The cannons still present in the following fortifications of the Maginot Line, which can still be visited there, speak in favor of non-use by the Wehrmacht:
- Ouvrage de La Ferté ( Ardennes )
- Casemate du Grand-Lot ( Moselle department )
- Ouvrage du Simserhof
- Ouvrage de Schœnenbourg
- Casemate de Marckolsheim Sud ( Bas-Rhin department )
literature
- Philippe Truttmann, Frédéric Lisch: La Muraille de France ou la ligne Maginot. La fortification française de 1940, sa place dans l'évolution des systèmes fortifiés d'Europe occidentale de 1880 à 1945. Editions G. Klopp, Thionville 1988 (new edition 2009), ISBN 2-911992-61-X .
- Stéphane Ferrard: France 1940. L'armement terrestre. ETAI, Boulogne 1998, ISBN 2-7268-8380-X .
