Anti-Tank Guns of World War Two Tanks
This chart corresponds exclusively to anti-tank projectiles and not to those others - such as the high explosive ones - which could be
fired by the same cannons when the tanks were used as field artillery pieces. The projectile which was mainly used in anti-tank role was
the piercing type made of steel, fitted with an explosive charge and a fuse, since solid piercing projectiles made solely of steel were
used only at the beginning of the war by the British, who soon abandoned their utilization. An improvement on piercing shells was the
piercing projectile of hard core, so called after the core of tungsten carbide that it had in its interior. These projectiles had - for an
equal caliber - a smaller weight than the conventional piercing projectile, which granted them a high muzzle speed which however lost much
faster than the heavier projectiles, whereby their efficacy was optimal at short distances (up to 1000 meters) but of inferior performance
at longer distances.
In the late 1943 the British achieved the most important innovation of the conflict regarding anti-tank ammunition, by introducing into
service the first subcalibrated piercing projectiles, whose operating principle is based in sliding the projectile inside a tube of larger
caliber, being directed by a sabot which falls apart when leaving the muzzle. This system gives to the projectile a muzzle velocity - and
hence a piercing power - which is higher than that of any other type of ammunition. By last, are worth of mention those projectiles that
use an explosive charge shaped by a copper cone, which concentrates in a small point the jet of gases created by the explosion and so it
achieves a formidable piercing power. Albeit this technique was known in 1939, it was discovered that the rotation of the projectile
- caused by the rifling of the bore with the purpose of stabilizing the projectile to improve its precision - dispersed the effect.
Besides, the muzzle speed had to be kept low (inferior to 500 meters per second) because otherwise the charge would be disorganized. The
lesser speed did not reduce the piercing power but limited the precision against moving targets.
The caliber of the cannons is expressed in millimeters and their length in calibers. The weight of projectiles is expressed in kilograms
and their muzzle velocity in meters per second. The largest part of projectiles are of conventional piercing type, whereas (ND) indicates
piercing projectiles of hard core, (SC) indicates subcalibrated piercing projectiles and (CH) indicates projectiles of shaped charge. The
English denominations of these types of projectiles, internationally used, are: AP (Armour Piercing), HVAP (High Velocity Armour Piercing),
APDS (Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot) and HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank). These acronyms remain in use nowadays, sometimes with variations.
For example, the denomination APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) corresponds to subcalibrated projectiles fired by
modern smoothbore cannons.
Germany
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KwK 30/38 | 20 | 55 | 0.148 | 780 | PzKpfw II, SdKfz 222/232 |
| KwK 35/36 | 37 | 46.5 | 0.368 (ND) | 1020 (ND) | PzKpfw III A-F |
| KwK 38 (t) (*) | 37.2 | 47.8 | 0.815, 0.368 (ND) | 750, 1040 (ND) | PzKpfw 38 (t) |
| KwK 38 | 50 | 42 | 2.06, 0.925 (ND) | 685, 1060 (ND) | PzKpfw III G/H/J |
| KwK 39 | 50 | 60 | 2.06, 0.925 (ND) | 835, 1180 (ND) | PzKpfw III L/M, SdKfz 234/2 |
| KwK 37 | 75 | 24 | 4.80 | 450 | PzKpfw III N, PzKpfw IV A-E, StuG A/E, SdKfz 234/3 |
| KwK 40, StuK 40 | 75 | 48 | 6.80, 4.10 (ND) | 790, 990 (ND) | PzKpfw IV F-J, JgdPz IV, Hetzer, StuG F/G |
| KwK 42 | 75 | 70 | 6.80, 4.75 (ND) | 925, 1120 (ND) | PzKpfw V Panther |
| KwK 36 | 88 | 56 | 10.20, 7.30 (ND) | 773, 930 (ND) | PzKpfw VI A Tiger I |
| KwK 43, PaK 43 | 88 | 71 | 10.20, 7.30 (ND) | 1000, 1130 (ND) | PzKpfw VI B Tiger II |
| StuH 42 | 105 | 28 | 14 | 470 | StuH 42 |
| PaK 44 | 128 | 55 | 28.3 | 845 | Jagdtiger, Maus |
(*) This German designation corresponds to the Skoda A-7 cannon, whose Czech military designation was Tk vz 37.
Great Britain
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-pounder | 40 | 50 | 0.963 | 853 | A9, A10, A13, Covenanter, Crusader I/II, Matilda II, Valentine I-VII, Churchill I/II, Ram I, Tetrarch, Harry Hopkins |
| 6-pounder Mk3 | 57 | 43 | 2.835 | 853 | Crusader III, Churchill III/IV, Cavalier, Centaur I, Valentine VII, Cromwell I/II, Ram II |
| 6-pounder Mk 5 | 57 | 50 | 2.835 | 904 | Crusader III, Churchill III/IV, Cavalier, Centaur I, Valentine VII, Cromwell I/II, Ram II |
| 75 mm | 75 | 36.5 | 6.237 | 619 | Centaur III, Cromwell IV-VII, Churchill VI/VII, Valentine X/XI, A33 |
| 17-pounder | 76.2 | 55.1 | 7.71, 3.69 (SC) | 884, 1204 (SC) | Sherman Firefly, Challenger, Achilles, Archer, Centurion I, Black Prince, Sentinel |
| 77 mm | 76.2 | 49.2 | 7.71 | 792 | Comet |
United States
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M3 | 37 | 50 | 0.725 | 776 | M2A4, M3 Stuart, M5, M22, M2, M2A1, M3 |
| M2 | 75 | 28.4 | 6.237 | 567 | M3 Lee/Grant |
| M3 | 75 | 37.5 | 6.237 | 701 | M4 Sherman |
| M6 | 75 | 40 | 6.758 | ? | M24 Chaffee |
| M1 | 76 | 52.1 | 7.71, ? (ND) | 792, 1036 (ND) | Late M4 Sherman |
| M3 | 90 | 50 | 10.945, ? (ND) | 853, 1021 (ND) | M26 Pershing, M36 |
Soviet Union
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNSh | 20 | 107 | 0.96 | 815 | T-60 |
| Model 1937 | 45 | 46 | 1.4, 0.85 (ND) | 760, 1070 (ND) | T-26, T-50, BT-5, BT-7, BT-8, T-70, T-80, BA-3, BA-6, BA-6M, BA-10, BA-11 |
| KT-26, KT-28 | 76.2 | 16.5 | 6.3 | 387 | T-28, T-35, BT-7A |
| L-11 | 76.2 | 30.5 | 6.3 | 612 | T-34 |
| F-34 | 76.2 | 42.5 | 6.3, 3 (ND), 3.94 (CH) | 655, 965 (ND), 325 (CH) | KV-1 M 1941, T-34 M 1941/1942/1943 |
| ZiS-S-53, D-5 | 85 | 54.6 | 9.02, 4.9 (ND) | 792, 1200 (ND) | KV-1 M 1942, KV-85, T-34/85, T-44, SU-85 |
| D-10 | 100 | 56 | 15.6 | 1000 | T-44, SU-100 |
| M-30 | 122 | 22.7 | 13.2 (CH) | 335 (CH) | SU-122 |
| A-19, D-25 | 122 | 46.3 | 24.9, 13.2 (CH) | 800, 550 (CH) | IS-2/3, T-44, ISU-122 |
| ML-20 | 152 | 28.8 | 48.7 | 600 | SU-152, ISU-152 |
France
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA 18 | 37 | 21 | 0.5 | 388 | FT-17, H-35, R-35 |
| SA 38 | 37 | 33 | ? | 701 | H-39, Late S-35 |
| SA 35 | 47 | 34 | ? | 671 | S-35, Char B1 bis |
| ABS 1929 | 75 | 17.1 | 6.4 | 475 | Char B1 |
Italy
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breda 35 | 20 | 65 | 1.25 | 830 | L6/40 |
| Cannone 47/32 | 47 | 32 | 1.5 | 630 | M13/40, L40 |
| Cannone 47/40 | 47 | 40 | 1.5 | 820 | M15/42 |
| Cannone 75/34 | 75 | 34 | 6.3 | 610 | M42M |
Japan
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type 1 | 47 | 53.7 | 1.54 | 834 | Chi-Ha, Chi-He, Ka-Chi |
| Type 97 | 57 | 18.5 | 1.80 | 355 | Chi-Ha |
| Type 3 | 75 | 38 | 6.60 | 680 | Chi-Nu |
Sweden
| Model | Caliber | Length | Shell Weight | Muzzle Velocity | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bofors 37 mm | 37 | 45 | 0.685 | 745 | 7TP (Poland) |
:: Anti-Tank Guns of World War Two Tanks (2017) by Sakhalia Net Project ::