41 and PaK 43 1936–45

~~

FlaK 18/36/37/41 & PaK 43 1936-45 ill

New Vanguard • 46

88 mm FlaK 18/36/37/41 & PaK 43 1936-45

John Norris· Illustrated by Mike Fuller

OSPREY PUBLISHING

Fm ~ .. G--. Brttao1"' 2002 bji o..prey PiJblisl"ng, Elms Court, ChapoI w.,. BoIlty, Old. Aparl Ifom any fai, dealing jo.- tr>e pUfPOstl 01 p'ivate stlld>',

researd1, critICism

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Palents Act. 1981l, no part of this publication may tie reproduced. stOfOO". retr....al system,

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any meaos, eIo continued to serve in me ami-aircmrl role. The 'Eighly-eight" (or JUS! '88' :ll> the Allies refcl1wl (0 it) cllu.'rl-'1I service in 1933. It had been de.-...·c1opcd in great se SWf..--dish annamc::nlS linn. bet....·('('11 1920 and 1930. In the earl\' i11lel"-\'~lf \'(';11.... ,,'hcll Gcnn;,\m lurcll(.'C1 frolll one political crisis lO lhe nex!. Il()-()nc could ha\'e foreseen ,,'hal a ,'t"I"SaI,ile weapon lhe Wehnuaclu had al its di~I)(I',aJ. Oillcrelll \'t"rsions \,'ere used al '",lIions times by all lhree br.mche~ of lhl' Gcrman anned forces. and altholl~h lhe Allies had comparable "'capons of Iheir 0'\11 (lile British 3.7 ill. anli-aircraft gUll. the French 90 111111 h'llll ami thc Americlll 90 mill allli-aircI'as more thall adequate 10 engage lhe slow-mo\'ing aircran of Ihe d:l\', ~Iollllled on a pt"e1eslal. Ihe gun could be tr,nersed through ~6() degrt"es 10 follow a largel: in the ground role, the 88 mm gun ....'as capable of filing a ~hell oul 10 a horizont,,1 range of nearl) 10.800 metres, The 88 rulll gun ......~ u; willi fOl'cig-lI companies and at the same time gaining "aluable

4

It AflK 181i1un In tl'lt\leUlng

modosition along \\'ith the speed and COllrsc of the aircraft. The PrlllJmu"ssj,,'l'J"(111' also cOlllained information about the site of the gUll and ballistic data on the l}pe of shell and fuse, Once the position of the aircmft had been Gilculaled, 111(' Fllllkllless~'t'mle would compare weapon data roleel one regiment of 52 tanks; the output of tanks ...."Quld barely have been affected by ..uch limitc..-d pnxluclion. -nle prototypes unden\'cnt field trials al the FlaK testing 'dng(.'S at Ostseebad-Kuhlingsbom in October 1943, \\'hieh showed the wcapon to have great promise. The project was hampered by the size and .....eight or the completed vehide, the 1',.5r. which had a combat weight of26 tons. and ....' aS heavier than a slandard self-propelled artillery piece. such as the Hummel which carried a 150 mm calibre weapon. The dimensions were also on the large ~ide; at 7 m in length it ....' as longer than many tanks and self-pl"Opclled gUlls in service and the width of3 m would have caused pl"Oblems whcn moving the vchicle by rail. Amazingly. howc\'cr, its overall height \'>':IS 2.8 III which came in under the 3 m regulation height restriction placed 011 armoured vehicles by the German ;:mny. The 88 mm gun was mount,ed in a turret fined with collapsible side panels which. when lowercd, allowed the gun to traverse through 360 degrtes. and the barrel t.o depress to -3 degrees to engage ground targets. The barrel could elevate to +8.~ degrees, but lhe drawback was all operations concerning lracking and engaging a target had to be

A self-propelled antl-aln:nlft Auf. SfllVc (VFW I) fitted with the barrel of • FI.K 37 gun. It is shown here undergoing troop trl.ls. it was not ••uccess, but the development proglllmme continu&cl until JanullrY 11145.

17

",. YFW 1 fitted wfth the bamtl of a FlaK 41, Hen !tent et the Knipp WOftIa In Essen. Note the alcM ~I. whidl .nt lowered to pennlt all·round ~ of the gun. It never entered IJervi....

performed by hand. Despite this, the ,'chicle could have provided an armoured column with comprehensi"e defcnce against air and ground auad:. A crew of eight served the weapon and wilh the Marb.l.ch HL90 enginc, the '"chicle could manage 35 km on roads with a combat range of 250 km on roads. The project lingered on until 13 January 1945, when Albert Specr, lhc Armaments MiniSlcr. finally cancelled it. Lighter calibre sclf-propellcd anli-aircraft gUlls wcre developed and this project was perhaps the only time whcn the 88 nun gun was llot sllcccssfully incorporated into a dt..'Sign during the war rears. PERFORMANCE OF FLAK AMMUNITION USED AGAINST ARMOUR

Pelletration of homogenous armour plate at 30 degAlltS from verticallmm} Weapon

FlaK 18 & 371L56

18

Ammunition Weight (kg)

pzgr

FlaK 18 Pzgr 39 & 371l.56

Mo_ 100 m

SOOm 1,ooom 1,500 m 2,000 m

velocity (m/sec)

9.5

810

97

93

87

80

12

10.2

800

127

117

106

97

88

THE PAK GUNS On 10 May 1940, following sc\'cral months of 'Phon)' \\'ar', the Gcnllans launched the much-\'hom wa.s dcveloped in response to the problems cxperienced by troops lryin,l!; 10 rnm'e the towed \'ersion or lhe PaK 4~\ lhrulIg'h lhe (!l.·ep llllld Oil the: Eastern Front. The chassis came rrom a 1',Kpfw IV hllil and suspensioll. II was fined with a Marh;.tch Ill. 120 TRM V·l~ waler-cooled illlilic petrol e:1I!4ille: which developed 300 hp al 3.00U rpm 10 /{ive specds of 40 klll/h on roads and 24 krn/h CroSS-cOllllll"}. wi1h a combat l'ang:e of llP to 200 km. The carrier chassis had Iu be l110diticet to provide a large fighting (orllpartmem which \\",\S laid uut behind the centrdine of the hull, and Illcaflt lowering the deck of tiwi cotnpartmelil. with the RR mm b'lln InOUIII fixed to Ihe Hoor. \\'Ilell fflullflted, tile 111111.1.11' of llw harrel carne to a height of 2.24 m. sOllie 600 111111 higher lhan when the gun wa.. 011 ib towed cnlcifonn ground moun!. It ('Huld he elevated between -5 degrees and +20 degrcc~, with tra\'erse heing restricled 10 30 degrees. Tilt: "ehide had a crew of four mm gllllS had provided lhe concept. ~ on the Panzer III/IV ch~l'i.'iis, as early as 19-13. but the Ordnancr Prm-ing Branch 4 had considen'd the programme lOU costl\'. Production was to have commenced in the spring of 1945. with a production rale 0£350 units per lIIomh b\' September 194.=.. TIle weapon had a full 360 degree If'a\'crse "..tlh the &I.:lllllll \'cr~ioll being filled \\;l1l the

An 88 mm FlaK de9loyed In _ _

near ElaraoY in Russl.II. Capable of destroying Russian tanks at long range, the 88 p " . the Genmln anny an edge over

maned lanl< attacks.

Rblf36 sight uniL It was caparkgale Ikloks Lid.. 1998 Fulter. M"ti0r-GeneralJ.F.C, cl al., muja" "IiJt/(I)'. Odhams Press LIC\. (Publica lion datc unknown, prior 10 diUillg:) Hogg, Ian. nU' 1~l1ryr!()/H'dia ofll'mpon/). Greenwich Editions. 1998 Hom;. Ian. nl' !III/stralm f:1I0'r!o/Jnlia oj IIrtlll")', Quarto Publi~hillg 1~1c, 1987 Hogg. lal1, 'f1w bll)'do/N'{/ill oj II/Jimtr), \1',>II/)OIIS vf l1'vrld Wiu II, Anm & Armour Press Ltd" 1t) "

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COMPANION SERIES FROM OSPREY ESSENTIAL HISTORIES

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The design. development. operation and history of the machinery of warfare through the ages.

88 mm FlaK 18/36/37/41 & PaK 43 1936-45 The German 88 mm was by far the most famous and versatile artillery weapon of World War II. It was first used

as an anti-aircraft

weapon by the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and saw further service in the German invasions of Poland and France, where it was first used in its anti-tank role. This role was

Full cololH- artwork

particularly successful and the

88 became fea.red by tank crews from North Africa to Russia. Apart from these two main roles

the 88 mill also served as Ihe main weapon on late·war German tanks, as a self-propelled gun, and even as an aerial weapon. This book covers all these variants, explaining their design, development and Photographs

Unrivalled detail

operational use.

ISBN 1-84176-341-1

OSPREY PUBLISHING www.osprCYI)ubJishing.com

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