7.5 cm PaK 41

Anti-tank guns with a conical bore were a masterpiece of engineering. Their trunks consisted of several alternating conical and cylindrical sections. The shells had a special design of the leading part, allowing the reduction of its diameter as the projectile moves along the channel. Thus, the most complete use of the pressure of powder gases to the bottom of the projectile was ensured by reducing the area of ​​its cross section. The most powerful serial anti-tank gun with a conical bore was 7.5 cm Pak 41 . Krupp's company started designing it back in 1939. In April-May 1942, she produced 150 products, on which production ceased. Manufacturing them cost 2.25 million RM. with 1 (Shirokorad Alexander Borisovich. God of war of the Third Reich. 2003. P.12)

The device device The barrel consisted of a pipe, nozzle, barrel bush, muzzle brake, coupling and breech. The breech is connected to the pipe coupling. In front of the pipe there was a thread through which the pipe was connected to the nozzle. The joint between the pipe and the nozzle was blocked by a sleeve, which was fastened with a screw. The length of the pipe is 2950 mm, the length of the nozzle is 1115 mm. The pipe channel consisted of a chamber and a threaded cylindrical part. The nozzle channel consisted of a smooth conical section with a length of 455 mm and a smooth cylindrical section with a length of 500 mm. The largest diameter of the cone is 75 mm, the smallest is 55 mm. The shutter is a vertical wedge semi-automatic. The recoil device consisted of a hydraulic brake recoil and spring-loaded knurled and placed in the cradle. A feature of the design of the gun was the absence of the upper and lower machines of conventional design. The lower machine gun is a shield consisting of two parallel armor plates, reinforced to increase the stiffness of intermediate bulkheads. A cradle with a spherical segment, a course with a suspension mechanism and guidance mechanisms were attached to the shield. The cradle consisted of a cylinder, a spherical segment and a trough attached to the cylinder on bolts. The barrel was placed in the cylinder of the cradle, in which he moved during the rollback and roll. In the lower trough-shaped part of the cradle placed recoil device. The cylindrical part of the cradle had horizontal trunnions, which were fixed in the spherical segment and around which the oscillating part of the gun rotated with a vertical tip. The ball segment had vertical trunnions, through which the cradle was connected to the shield. The lifting mechanism of sector type with external gearing was attached to the cradle cylinder on the right side. The screw-type rotary mechanism is located on the left side. There was no balancing mechanism. The system was transported by a mech. Suspension torsion, automatically turned off when expanding the bed. The course is equipped with a pneumatic brake controlled by the driver of the tractor. Metal wheels with solid rubber tires. Data 7.5 cm Pak. 41 Length of the smooth part of the chamber with a slope, mm 555 Length of the threaded cylindrical part, mm 2395 Length of the smooth conical section, mm 455 Length of the smooth cylindrical section, mm 500 Diameter of the chamber, mm 102 - 97 Diameter of the beginning of the conical section, mm 75 Diameter of the end of the conical section, mm 55 The slope of the rifling (constant), klb 25 The number of rifles 28 The depth of the rifling, mm 1.0 The width of the rifling, mm 5.2 Width of the field, mm 3.2 Lafet The length of the rollback, mm: normal 700 maximum 730 Length from the center of the combat axis to coulter supports, mm 3300 Width along the axis of travel, mm 1640 Clearance, mm approx. 320 System height, mm: at zero angle HH 1165 at maximum angle HH 1625 Wheel diameter, mm 880 Barrel weight with bolt, kg 526 Weight of retractable parts, kg 550 Weight of rotating part, kg 740 Stroke weight, kg 274 Weight of a pair of wheels, kg 134 System weight, kg: in a combat position 1340 in the stowed position 1880 Rate of fire, rds / min 12-14 Barrel vitality, rds. OK. 500 Maximum pressure in the channel, kg / cm 2650 Direct shot range: 2000 m (Alexander Borisovich Shirokorad. God of War of the Third Reich. 2003. P.112)

Table 10 Manufacture of ammunition for 7.5 cm Pak 41 (thousand pieces)

Shots

Steel sleeve 545 mm long. The charge for the fragmentation grenade is 1.63 kg of nitroglycerin lamellar powder, and for sub-caliber shells 2.46 kg of pyroxylin porous powder.

Shells

An armor-piercing tracer, subscale projectile from a pallet, core, screw head, ballistic tip and tracer. The pallet had two annular protrusions - lower and upper (the latter with holes) for centering and guiding the projectile in the bore. Tungsten carbide core. Core weight 0.91 kg, diameter - 29.5 mm. Mild steel screw head.

Fragment tracer arr. 41 had a screw head with annular projections. Ring lug and pallet of mild steel, after a shot, they crumpled. The projectile contained 80 g of RDX and 113 g of TNT. Fuse head instant action Az 5072.

Subcaliber projectile with a tungsten carbide core arr. 41 Pzgr 41 (HK) had an initial speed of 1260 m / s and a tabular range of 2400 m. A sabot with a core of Wotan steel arr. 41 Pzgr 41 (W) had an initial speed of 1170 m / s and a tabular range of 1500 m. The effective firing range of all sub-caliber projectiles was 700–1000 m.

(Shirokorad Alexander Borisovich. God of War of the Third Reich. 2003. P.113)

The 7.5 cm Pak 41 cannon performed well in combat using various types of projectiles (Table 10). At a distance of 500 m, she successfully hit all types of heavy tanks. However, due to technological difficulties associated with the production of guns and shells, mass production of guns was not established. By March 1945, out of 150 cannons only 11 survived, of which 3 were at the front. (Shirokorad Alexander Borisovich. God of War of the Third Reich. 2003. P.12)

Of the 150 cannons launched, 141 were immediately sent to the troops on the Soviet-German front and distributed among the anti-tank divisions of the infantry and motorized divisions. Soon, rave reviews began to come in from the front about the use of weapons from the front. In August 1942, the Wehrmacht lost the first three guns, while one of them was captured by Red Army soldiers in good order, along with a small number of armor-piercing shells. Altogether, until the end of 1942, 17 Pak 41 cannons were lost. The “shell hunger” soon forced the Germans to look for a replacement for tungsten, but a new type of projectile for the Pak 41 with a steel core turned out to be much worse in armor penetration. At the same time, another, more traditional in the barrel and shells, anti-tank gun 7.5 cm Pak 40 perfectly proved itself and subsequently began to en masse to the troops. By April 1943, in the Wehrmacht 78 Pak 41 guns, part of the losses belonged to non-combat: some guns were dismantled for parts. On July 25, 1943 in the OKW combat log (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht - Wehrmacht High Command), a note: “Due to the lack of spare parts and difficulties with ammunition, Army Group Center gave 65 guns of 7.5 cm Pak 41 to the High Command in the West ( Oberkommando West - approx. Avt.), Where they are repaired, put in order and later used in the troops stationed on the coast for coastal defense ". But even on the Atlantic Wall, these guns soon ceased to be needed due to the lack of armor-piercing shells, but they were not written off and were not sent to be melted down. Conical guns continued to remain in the army and in 44 year took part in battles against the allies. The number of Pak 41 in the troops was steadily declining: on February 1, 44, they were 56, on April 1 - 44, on September 1 - 35, and by March 1, 45 only 11 guns survived, of which 3 were at the front. (Waffen Revue No. 33, 1979. German Artillery Handbook - M .: Military Publishing House of NKO, 1945. Documentation W 127: Datenblätter für Heeres Waffen Fahrzeuge Gerat. Karl. R. Pawlas, publizistisches Archiv für Militär-und Waffenwesen)

(Shirokorad Alexander Borisovich. God of War of the Third Reich. 2003. Pages 12 and 112–113)