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Bore diameter |
1.457" 37mm |
Ammunition
type |
Fixed HE tracer |
Weight of round |
1.649 lbs 0.784 kg |
Velocity |
3281 feet per second 1000 meters per second |
Maximum
elevation |
90 degrees |
Range |
9300 yards 8500 meters |
Altitude |
22,300 feet 6800 meters |
Rate of fire |
30 rounds per minute |
This weapon was used on U-boats
and other smaller German warships. Though having a good muzzle
velocity, the weapon was only semiautomatic, yielding a rate of fire
that was rather low for an antiaircraft
weapon. As a result, it began to be replaced with the fully automatic
Flak M42 from 1944 on, but it is questionable whether the U-boats
deployed to the Far East from 1943 on ever received the upgrade. Single
and dual
mounts existed, but the usual U-boat outfit was a single gun with
unlimited elevation and triaxial motion meant to compensate for ship
roll. This proved problematic and was included in the Flak M42.
References
NavWeaps.org (accessed 2010-1-18)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2010 by Kent G. Budge. Index