What was the most powerful anti-tank gun of ww2?

What was the most powerful anti-tank gun of ww2?

The powerful PaK 40 was an effective weapon against most types of Allied tanks, including the Soviet T-34 and American Sherman. The weapon, along with the famous 88 mm, was considered one of the best anti-tank guns of the war.

Why did German tanks have short barrels?

In order to fit the bigger bore gun into the same turret as the standard tank it had to be a lower velocity weapon, so the recoil force was similar. It therefore only needed to have a short barrel.

How effective are anti-tank guns?

In the past, anti-tank guns were extremely effective. Being small, they were easy to hide, and could take on tanks very effectively. However, with the improvements of armor, the anti-tank guns had to become bigger and bigger. Look at the Britisch anti-tank guns in WWII: The early war 2 pdr gun was only 800 kg.

How strong is Pak 40?

The first documented firing by the US of a Pak 40 recorded an average muzzle velocity of 776 m/s for its nine most instrumented firings. Probably because of these results, period intelligence publications (“Handbook on German Military Forces”) gave about 770 m/s as the Pak 40 APCBC muzzle velocity.

Which tank has the biggest gun?

The largest gun on a tank excluding self propelled tanks has to be the russian ISU 152 tank destroyer, equiped with the BL10 152mm gun. This tank was so powerfull that it was in service for a short period of time due to soldiers complaining that the tank would roll over backwards and end up on its rooftop.

Why was the 88mm gun so good?

It soon became widely recognized as perhaps the best all around antitank gun of the war. It could easily provide firepower in a full 360degree traverse and it could penetrate the frontal armor of any Allied tank on the field. The gun’s distinctive, heavily sloping front armor could deflect most oncoming rounds.

What tank has the shortest barrel?

The Rheinmetall Rh-120 is a 120 mm smoothbore tank gun designed and produced by the West German Rheinmetall-DeTec AG company, developed in response to Soviet advances in armor technology and development of new armored threats.

What is the difference between the Panzer 3 and 4?

The Panzer III has 6 road wheels, while the Panzer IV has 8. Also, the Panzer III uses torsion bar suspension, while the Panzer IV uses leaf spring, if you look closely. The Germans produced the Panzer IV to be the support tank of the Panzer III while the Panzer III was the tank destroyer.

How are tanks destroyed?

The greatest of these capabilities are fire-and-forget, guided, top-attack missiles—the premier model being the American-made Javelin. This weapon allows a single soldier to target and destroy even the most heavily armored main battle tank with an almost guaranteed kill rate, at great range and with minimal risk.

What is a Pak gun?

Panzerabwehrkanone, usually referred to with the acronym Pak, is the German language term for anti-tank gun. Before and during World War II, the German Army produced a series of 13 anti-tank guns which they designated Panzerabwehrkanone, i.e. Pak.

Who invented the howitzer?

officer Henry Shrapnel
It was invented in the 1780s by Royal Artillery officer Henry Shrapnel, whose name became synonymous with fragmented shell shot. In the early 1860s U.S. Army Captain Thomas J. Rodman developed the gun that would become the high point of smoothbore, muzzle-loading artillery.

What kind of tanks did the German Army use in WW2?

The 10.5cm leFH 18/2 (Sf) auf Geschützwagen II ‘Wespe’ (Sd.Kfz.124) artillery SPG used a Panzer II tank chassis. Production began in February 1943 and ceased in June 1944, when the main factory in Warsaw, Poland was captured by the Red Army.

What materials were tank shells made of in WW2?

At the beginning of the war Hungary had enough materials to make shells from CrNi material, but from August 1941 the tank shells were made out of Manganese-Carbon Steel material. List of tank shells ARMOR-PIERCING HIGH-EXPLOSIVE SHELLS

Why didn’t Germany use high explosive shells in WW1?

In addition, while high-explosive shells did exist, the smaller end caliber meant that the explosive contents was similarly limited. Finally, the gun required large quantities of Tungsten, which for Germany was a scarce material.

What is the impact of ballistic caps on the shell?

Because the ballistic cap is thin, the negative impact from lack of mass is negligible, and more than offset by reduced decelleration due to the better aerodynamics. An important note on ballistic caps is that the presence of ballistic caps is far from always explicit in American shell names.