37 mm anti-tank gun M1930 (1-K)
37 mm anti-tank gun model 1930 (1-K) | ||
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Breech Horizontal-block | | |
Recoil | Hydro-spring | |
Carriage | Split trail | |
Elevation | −8° to 25° | |
Traverse | 60° | |
Rate of fire | 10-15 rpm | |
Muzzle velocity | 800–850 m/s (2,600–2,800 ft/s) |
37 mm anti-tank gun model 1930 (1-K) was a Soviet light anti-tank gun used in the first stage of the German-Soviet War.
Description
The 1-K was a Soviet anti-tank gun initially developed by the German company
Development and production
The Soviet Union started to develop anti-tank guns in the late 1920s. These attempts failed to advance beyond early stages as Soviet engineers lacked experience with this type of weapon. To solve this problem the USSR received assistance from Germany. The Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to have anti-tank artillery, but Rheinmetall secretly continued to work on anti-tank guns and in 1926 built a pre-production sample of a new 3.7 cm gun model 26. For their part the Germans were interested in any opportunity to proceed with development of this and other types of weapons.
In 1929, Rheinmetall created a dummy company Butast for contacts with the USSR. In accordance with the
- 37 mm anti-tank gun
- 76 mm anti-aircraft gun
- 152 mm mortar
- 152 mm howitzer
- 20 mm anti-aircraft autocannon
- 37 mm anti-aircraft autocannon
For $1,125 mil. Rheinmetall supplied pre-production samples, documentation and parts from which in the USSR a few pieces of each type could be assembled. All involved weapons were modern, and many of the same designs were eventually used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. In the USSR these weapons were adopted; however even with German help Soviet industry still was not ready for mass production of some types, such as anti-aircraft autocannons.
Among other pieces, Rheinmetall brought to the USSR 12 37 mm anti-tank guns, which can be seen as an early variant of the
Production
The gun was produced at the Plant no. 8 (named after Kalinin), where it received index 1-K. The production rate was slow as manufacturing process included handicraft operations. In 1931 the plant built 255 pieces, but none passed quality control. In 1932 404 pieces were accepted (and in 1933 105 more followed, still from the 1932 batch), but then the production was stopped due to adoption of more powerful 45 mm anti-tank gun M1932 (19-K).
1-K was also a base for the 37 mm tank gun B-3 (5-K), the main armament of the BT-2 light tank.
Service
1-K was the first dedicated anti-tank gun of the Red Army (RKKA) and as such was actively used for training of anti-tank units. On 1 January 1936 RKKA possessed 506 guns of the type, of them 422 operational, 53 waiting for repair, 28 used for training, 3 unfit. When RKKA received large numbers of more powerful 45 mm guns, many 1-Ks were apparently relegated to training facilities and depots. The exact number of 1-Ks in service in June 1941 has not been determined. It is known that the gun was present in some units, e.g. 8th Mechanized Corps and it is likely that pieces stored in army depots were also rushed into active service. However, there are no certain reports of their combat use. Apparently most of the guns were lost in combat at the early stage of the German-Soviet War. The German designation for captured guns was 3.7 cm Pak 158(r).[1]
Summary
The significance of the 1-K lies in the fact that it was the first Soviet anti-tank gun. As such, it gave some valuable experience. It also became the base for a series of Soviet 45 mm anti-tank guns.
It was a light and compact gun which could be easily moved by its crew. The drawbacks were a lack of suspension, weak fragmentation shell (because of small caliber) and poor manufacturing quality. RKKA wanted a larger-caliber gun that could be used as a
By 1941 the gun was adequate only against lightly armoured vehicles. Modern tanks could only be penetrated from their side and only at short (less than 300 metres) range. The situation was aggravated by low ammunition quality, which explains smaller penetration figures compared to the PaK 35/36. As noted above, the 1-K could fire German shells, improving its anti-armor performance roughly to the level of early Soviet 45 mm guns, as those also suffered from problems with ammunition quality.
This was due primarily to the use of gunpowder with a nitrocellulose primer as propellant in all Soviet small arms, artillery and anti-tank artillery up until well into 1942, when British convoy shipments of Cordite and more advanced propellant technology became available. Also the continued use of obsolete APHE technology ammunition, which most nations had long abandoned for considerably improved penetration performance of solid shot AP, APC and APCBC ammunition technology.
The
German Rheinmetall-Borsig evaluation tests on a captured 1-K, during 1941, gave a maximum penetration of up to 42 mm of perpendicular rolled homogenous armour plate at 100 metres with APHE and up to 61 mm of perpendicular hardened carbon steel armour plate at 100 metres with APHE. (Note that all tank-building nations had abandoned the use of carburized hardened carbon steel in favour of the increased protection offered by rolled nickel-chromium homogeneous steel armour plate, cast nickel-chromium steel and cast ferro-nickel based armoured alloys by the mid-1920s onwards).
By comparison the German 37 mm PaK 35/36 could penetrate up to 44 mm of perpendicular rolled homogenous armour plate at 100 metres with PzGr.18. APHE, up to 64 mm of perpendicular hardened carbon steel at 100 metres with PzGr.18. APHE, up to 65 mm of perpendicular rolled homogenous armour plate at 100 metres with PzGr.39. APCBC and up to 79 mm of perpendicular rolled homogenous armour plate at 100 metres with PzGr.40. APCR.
The PaK 35/36 used Binatol as a propellant.
Ammunition
Available ammunition | |||||
Type | Model | Weight, kg | HE weight, g | Muzzle velocity, m/s | Range, m |
Armour-piercing shells | |||||
APHE | M-160 | 0,66 | 9 | 820 | 5,600 |
High explosive and fragmentation shells | |||||
Fragmentation | O-160 | 0,645 | 22 | 825 | 5,750 |
Canister shots | |||||
Canister shot | Sch-160 | 0,928 | 30 bullets | ||
Canister shot | Sch-160 | 0,950 | 50 bullets |
Armour penetration table | ||
AP projectile B-160 | ||
Distance, m | Meet angle 60°, mm | Meet angle 90°, mm |
300 | ? | 30 |
500 | 20 ? | 25 ? |
800 | ? | 20 ? |
This data was obtained by Soviet methodics of armour penetration measurement (penetration probability equals 80%). It is not directly comparable with western data of similar type. |
References
- OCLC 1299755.
- Shirokorad A. B. - Encyclopedia of the Soviet Artillery - Mn. Harvest, 2000 (Широкорад А. Б. - Энциклопедия отечественной артиллерии. — Мн.: Харвест, 2000., ISBN 985-433-703-0)
- Shirokorad A. B. - Teutonic Sword and Russian Armor. Military Collaboration Between Russia and Germany. - M. Veche, 2003 (Широкорад А. Б. - Тевтонский меч и русская броня. Русско-германское военное сотрудничество. - М.: Вече, 2003., ISBN 5-9533-0025-5)
- Ivanov A. - Artillery of the USSR in Second World War - SPb Neva, 2003 (Иванов А. Артиллерия СССР во Второй Мировой войне. — СПб., Издательский дом Нева, 2003., ISBN 5-7654-2731-6)
- Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 369. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9.