Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: German Weapons in WW2 Message-ID: <6999@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 31 May 89 03:42:53 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 84 Approved: military@att.att.com From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Adrian Hurt writes: >In article <6864@cbnews.ATT.COM> military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) writes: >>uunet.uu.net!bywater!archet!wlm (William L. Moran Jr.) writes: >>> >>>Why did earlier Pz Kw IVs have a short 75mm gun? They later switched >>>to the long version; was there a good reason? > >When was the long-barrel 75mm gun first available? (Maybe that should be >"medium-barrel" - an even longer version was fitted to the Panther, and >some tank destroyers.) The PzKw IV Ausf. F2 carried the first long-barrelled 75mm, an L/43 (compared to the earlier L/24). [note that L/43 means that the barrel length is 43 calibers, i.e., 43 x 75mm or 3.23 meters]. It entered service in spring, 1942, and saw service in Russia and North Africa, where the British dubbed it the Mark IV Special. Soon after, in the PzKw IV Ausf. G, an even longer L/48 gun was fitted. The Panther carried a 75mm L/70; it was issued to the troops in February, 1943 (but did not see combat until July of that year, at Kursk). The designations for these weapons were: 7.5cm KwK 37 L/24 ( 75mm tank cannon, model 1937, 24 caliber length) 7.5cm KwK 40 L/43 7.5cm KwK 40 L/48 7.5cm KwK 42 L/70 Armor penetration at 100m, 30 degree slope went from 41mm for the L/24 to 98mm, 106mm, and finally 138mm for the L/70 (note that the 75 L/70 actually penetrated better than the 88 L/56 of the Tiger I). >> The PzKw III was to be the "main battle" >>tank, for tank-to-tank combat; recall that in the mid-39's, most >>tanks were still lightly armored, and a 37mm was thought sufficient >>(though room was left to upgun to a 50mm). > >I thought the front of the turret got redesigned, with one of the two MG's >being deleted to make room for the 50mm gun. Later, a longer barrel version >of that came out too, and went into the PzKw III; it also went into the Puma >armoured car, as well as being used as an anti-tank gun. The PzIII also went through a multi-stage upgrade. All versions prior to Ausf. F carried a 37mm; the F went to a 50mm L/42 (Hitler had ordered upgunning to 50mm L/60, but a bureaucratic foulup resulted in the fitting of the L/42, instead.) Later models of the Ausf J series increased this to 50mm L/60, which was essentially identical to the 50mm PAK 38 antitank gun, which had already been in service for some time. This same gun was used in the Puma. The Ausf F's entered service in late 1940, and the J's came online in early '42. The PAK 38 had been in service since April, 1940. My point was that upgrading to a 50mm had been considered during the PzKw III's early design, so that a sufficiently large turret (and, moreover, wide enough turret ring) was provided to take the increased length of the 50mm gun. Contrast this to the British Matilda, which was unable to mount anything larger than a 2-pounder because of its small turret ring. >>In fact, this concept continued throughout the war. When the PzIV >>was upgunned to a long 75mm, the PzIII, now nearly useless, was upgunned to >>take the short 75... > >Is that the StuG series? No, I refer the the PzKw III Ausf N, mounting the 75mm L/24 in a rotating turret. They saw service from late 1942. References: Chamberlain and Doyle, _Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War II_ Gander and Chamberlain, _Weapons of the Third Reich_ but this same information is available from a myriad of sources. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bill Thacker moderator, sci.military military@att.att.com (614) 860-5294 "War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied." - Sun Tzu