3.7" aa

[sapper740]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

A few questions.

Does anyone know if any of these guns are still alive and well in Canada in museums or private collections?

Were any ever manufactured in Canada during the war?

At least one 3.7" SP on a Ram chassis was built in Canada during the war and tested in England. Would anyone know where in England this testing would have taken place and the possible fate of that particular vehicle?

There's one in Canadian Forces Base Borden, right before the McDonalds. My humble apologies if this has been previously mentioned, I didn't have time to read all the archived posts.

[rnixartillery]

Hi Guys,

Just took delivery of my latest addition to the collection,A Genelco Canada made 3.7.
Requires a complete restoration but have no time at the moment so it will take its turn,This is one of the ex-portugees guns that came back to the UK in the late 1980's.
Pics attached.


Rob.......................rnixartillery.

[John McGillivray]

With respect to performance, the British 3.7in gun appears to be closer to the German 105mm Flak 38 gun than the 88mm Flak 36

3.7in Mk.II L / 50
Weight – travel- 9401kg (20725lbs)
Weight – firing- 9326kg (20541lbs)
Weight of HE shell – 12.96kg (28.56 lbs)
Muzzle Velocity- 793m/s (2600ft/s)
Maximum range (horizontal) - 18800m (20660yards)
Maximum range (vertical) - 12000m (39370ft)
Effective ceiling – 9760m (32000ft)
Penetration Data: AP Mk II
Weight 12.6 kg – MV 793m/s (range – penetration RHA/FHA @30deg)
100m – 131/116mm, 500m – 124/110mm, 1000m – 116/103mm, 1500m – 108/96mm, 2000m – 100/89mm.


105mm Flak 38
Weight – travel- 12700kg (28000lbs)
Weight – firing- 10224kg (22533lbs)
Weight of HE shell – 14.8kg (32.6lbs)
Muzzle Velocity- 881m/s (2890ft/s)
Maximum range (horizontal) -17380m (191000yards)
Maximum range (vertical) - 11400m (37401ft)
Effective ceiling – 9450m (31000ft)
No penetration data

88mm Flak 36
Weight – travel- ?kg (?lbs)
Weight – firing- 4983kg (10983lbs)
Weight of HE shell – 9.4kg ( 20.7lbs)
Muzzle Velocity- 820m/s (2690ft/s)
Maximum range (horizontal) - 14815m (16270yards)
Maximum range (vertical) - 9900m (32480ft)
Effective ceiling – 8000m (26246ft)
Penetration Data: PzGr. ( Armour Piercing Capped Ballistic Cap)
Weight 9.65kg – MV 810m/s (range – penetration RHA @30deg)
100m – 97mm, 500m – 93mm, 1000m – 87mm, 1500m – 80mm, 2000m – 72mm.

[chrisgrove]

Post war in UK, the 3.7 inch ordnance was used for the 32 pounder towed AT gun (and for the Tortoise). AT defence was by then an infantry task and any infantryman seeing the 32 pounder would immediately recognise that the thing was just too big to be concealed in an infantry position. Thus the successor to the 17 pounder was the recoilless 120mm BAT (and its descendents MOBAT, CONBAT and WOMBAT).

The Firepower museum in Woolwich UK has a 32 pounder, though I cannot recollect seeing it since they moved from the Rotunda.

Chris

[rnixartillery]

The 32 pdr gun was on the disposal list when Rotunda closed so 'who knows' were it has ended up !

Rob.....................rnixartillery.

[Clive Prothero-Brooks]

this is an old thread but jut to let you know at the RCA museum we have 2 3.7in one outside the museum without axiles and the other inside or mait shop complete with axiles,predicator and rangefinder

Clive.............the other one

[John McGillivray]

There is a good view of 3.7in AA guns in action in this video starting at the 2:13 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5L5Hn3Gff0

[Tony Williams]

Originally Posted by chrisgrove

Post war in UK, the 3.7 inch ordnance was used for the 32 pounder towed AT gun (and for the Tortoise).

Not quite. The ammo for the 3.7" AA and 32 pdr was different, so needed a different barrel to fit.

And of course there were two very different types of 3.7" AA - the Mk 6 was much bigger than the Mks 1-3 guns and used larger cartridge cases for a much higher velocity.

So there were three cartridges used in the same calibre, none of them interchangeable:

3.7" AA Mks 1-3: 94 x 675R with 135mm rim diameter (12.7 kg shell fired at 790 m/s)

3.7" AA Mk 6: 94 x 857R, rim 150mm (12.7 kg shell fired at 1,040 m/s)

32 pdr AT: 94 x 909R, rim 141mm (14.5 kg shot fired at 878 m/s).

See: http://quarryhs.co.uk/ammotable10.html

[John McGillivray]

3.7 inch AP shot.

[John McGillivray]

Diagram of 3.7 inch HE and shrapnel shells.