88 mm gun

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Image:FLAK36-37L56.jpg The German eighty-eight is probably the best known artillery piece of World War II. It was not one gun, but a series of anti-aircraft guns officially called the 8.8 cm Flak 18, 36 or 37, and could also include newer and more powerful models, the FlaK 41 and 43, although these were different weapons. FlaK is a German short form of Flugabwehr-Kanone (hence the capital K, nowadays one word) meaning anti-aircraft gun, the original purpose of the eighty-eight.

Success as an improvised antitank gun led to a separate line of guns for anti-tank use, referred to as PaK 88 (Panzerabwehrkanone, anti-tank gun) and as the main armament for tanks such as the Tiger 1.

In informal German use, the guns were universally known as the Acht-acht, a contraction of Acht-komma-acht Zentimeter (8.8 cm = 88 mm). However, the term "ack ack" (used by English-speaking Allied forces to denote anti-aircraft fire) is not derived from "acht acht" although this had been suggested. "Ack ack" dates from the First World War, long before the 88 mm gun. For better comprehension over the telephone lines used for communications abbreviations such as "AA" for "anti-aircraft" were spelled out using the Signallers' Alphabet[1], (incorporated into the RAF phonetic alphabet, a precursor to the modern NATO phonetic alphabet) in which the letter "a" is "ack". By World War II the German word "FlaK" was the preferred term among Allied aircrew and air planners for German AA fire.

1 Background
2 FlaK 18, 36 and 37
3 FlaK 41
4 PaK 43
5 Models
6 Combat History
7 See also
8 External links and further reading

[edit] Background

The rapidly-improving performance of military aircraft, mainly their engines, meant that newer aircraft would fly at much higher altitudes and speeds than World War I aircraft. During World War I, various adaptations of existing artillery pieces offered reasonable performance, but were not able to reach the altitudes of the new aircraft, nor could they put up enough rounds to be effective against craft that moved past them much more quickly. For many military planners, this meant that anti-aircraft artillery would be basically useless, and only limited development was carried out by most countries.

German planners appear to have been less convinced of this "fact", and decided instead to develop far more powerful purpose-designed weapons, with high enough muzzle velocity to guarantee high altitude ranges, and improvements to allow much higher rates of fire. However, after World War I Germany was forbidden to produce new weapons of almost every sort. For their new designs, the Krupp company partnered with Bofors in Sweden to develop the guns.

The original design that would lead to the 88 was in fact a 75 mm model. During the prototype phase, the army asked for a gun with considerably greater capability, and the 75 would not be able to meet the new requirements.

[edit] FlaK 18, 36 and 37

The designers started over with another common German calibre, and the prototype 88s were first produced in 1928. These early models, the FlaK 18, used a single-piece barrel with a length of 56 calibres, leading to the commonly-seen designation 88/L56.

The FlaK 18 was mounted on a cruciform gun carriage that allowed fire in all directions, as opposed to split-trail designs, which allow fire to the front only. The two "side" members of the carriage could be quickly folded up, allowing the gun to be lifted onto two wheeled chassis for high-speed towing. The weight of the gun meant that only large vehicles could move it, and the SdKfz 7 half-track became a popular partner. A simple "semi-automatic" loading system ejected fired shells, allowing it to be reloaded by operating a single handle and inserting a new shell. This resulted in excellent firing rates of 15 to 20 rounds a minute, perhaps double that of most weapons of the era.

Widespread production started with the Nazi rise to power in 1933, and the FlaK 18 was available in small numbers when Germany joined the Spanish Civil War. It quickly proved to be the best anti-aircraft weapon then available. Further, the high muzzle velocity and large caliber made it an excellent long-range anti-vehicle weapon. However this experience also demonstrated a number of minor problems and potential improvements.

Many of these were rolled into the FlaK 36, which included a two-piece barrel for easier replacement of worn liners, and included a new (and heavier) trailer that allowed it to be set up much more quickly, simply dropping the base while still mounted on the wheels. This made it much more useful to the troops during fast moving operations, the basic concept of the blitzkrieg.

The eighty-eight was used in two roles, one as a mobile heavy anti-aircraft battery, and also in a more static role for the defense of Germany. In this latter role the guns were arranged into large batteries, directed by a single controller, and were moved only rarely. Changes for the FlaK 36 improved mobility at the price of weight, so another set of modifications was made for this role, the FlaK 37. The FlaK 37 used a simpler and lighter trailer design, as might be expected, but also included additional instrumentation to allow the gun layers to more easily follow directions from the single director.

During the initial phases of the Battle of France, the eighty-eight was continually pressed into service against heavily armored French and British tank designs such as the Char B1bis and Matilda II, whose heavy frontal armour was impenetrable for most weapons except at point-blank range.

Anti-tank usage became even more common during battles in North Africa and the Soviet Union.

The 88 was powerful enough to be able to penetrate over 150 mm of armour even at long ranges of 2 km or more. This meant that it was an unparalleled anti-tank weapon during the early war and still formidable against all but the heaviest tanks right up until 1945.

It was arguably most effective in the North African and Russian campaigns where the terrain was often flat and open, allowing the long-range performance of the 88 to be decisive.

FlaK 36's were often modified with an armored shield for the gunners, although this provided only limited protection and the high profile of the gun made it easy to spot on the battlefield.

The success of the 88 mm as an anti-tank weapon led the Germans to develop tanks and tank destroyers mounting 88 mm guns on, for instance, the Tiger tank and the Nashorn tank destroyer. While the Nashorn used the new long 88/L71 gun of the FlaK 41, the Tiger I gun was based on the older, shorter 88/L56 FlaK 36 gun.

The parts of the various versions of the guns were interchangeable, and it was not uncommon for various parts to be "mixed and matched" on a particular example. In August of 1944, there were 10,704 FlaK 18, 36 and 37 guns in service. Due to the increase in US and British bombing raids during 1943 and 44, the majority of these guns were used for anti-aircraft roles, now complemented with the formidable 12.8 cm FlaK 40.

This led to complaints that, due to the apparent ineffectiveness of anti-aircraft defences as a whole, that the guns should be stripped from the air defense units and handed over to the army for anti-tank duties. However this politically unpopular move was never made.

[edit] FlaK 41

As early as 1939 the Luftwaffe, now in charge of anti-aircraft defenses instead of the army, asked for newer weapons with even better performance. Rheinmetall responded with a new 88 mm L/74 design with a taller cartridge case, whose improved muzzle velocity allowed it to reach altitudes of 15,000 m (48,000 ft), considerably greater than the older design's 10,600 m (32,000 ft). Improvements in reloading further raised the firing rate, with 20 to 25 rounds a minute being quoted. Two types of gun barrels were used, with three or four sections. Krupp's proposal was the 8.8 cm Gerät 42, but it was not accepted for production as an anti-aircraft gun. However, Krupp continued development, resulting in the dreaded Pak 43 anti-tank gun.

On the downside, the FlaK 41 was a complex weapon. It was prone to problems with ammunition, and cases often jammed on extraction after firing. The first examples were used in Tunisia, but due to problems in service they were then used exclusively in Germany, where they could be properly maintained and serviced. Only 157 FlaK 41 guns were in use as of August of 1944, and 318 in January of 1945.

A final adaptation let the FlaK 41 be mounted on the FlaK 37 carriage, known as the FlaK 37/41. Only 13 were produced.

[edit] PaK 43

Image:PaK43-41 base borden military museum 4.jpg A dedicated anti-tank gun, the PaK 43 was developed from Krupp's Gerät 42, mentioned above. This used a new cruciform mount with the gun much closer to the ground, making it far easier to hide and harder to hit. It also came standard with a much stronger and more angled armor shield to provide better protection. The standard armament of the Tiger II, the KwK 43 tank gun, was essentially the Pak 43 externally modified to fit into a turret. There were also self-propelled versions of the gun, including the Nashorn and Jagdpanther tank destroyers. All versions were able to penetrate about 200 mm of armor at 1000 m, letting it defeat any tank in the world.

[edit] Models

Geschütze 8.8 Kw FlaK Entered service in 1916. Produced by Krupp.
8.8 cm FlaK 18 New semi automatic breech, high velocity gun. Entered production in Germany in 1933. Produced by Krupp.
- Mod 1938 I - many upgraded to Sonderanhänger 201 trailer. Weight 7 tons. Rate of fire 15-20 rounds per minute.
  - Mod 1940 - Fitted with a gun shield to protect the crew when engaging ground targets. Produced by Krupp.
- Mod 1938 II - approx 50 guns modified so a single man can adjust elevation and traverse.
8.8 cm FlaK 36 Entered service 1936-37. Redesigned trailer Sonderanhänger 201 enabling faster time to action from the move. Could engage ground targets from its travelling position. Weight 7 tones. Rate of fire 15-20 rounds per minute. Produced by Krupp.
- Mod 1940 - Fitted with a shield to protect the crew when engaging ground targets.
- Late model Fitted with an improved trailer the Sonderanhänger 202 with twin wheels.
8.8 cm FlaK 37 An Anti-aircraft only gun, fitted with Übertragungser 37 (a data transmission system). Produced by Krupp. Last of the versions with the shorter 571 mm cartridge case.
8.8 cm FlaK 41 Entered service 1943. Improved development, longer barrel and cartridge case. Fitted to the Sonderanhänger 202 as standard. Produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig.
8.8 cm Gerät 42 Krupp design to fill the same role as the FlaK 41 did not enter service as anti-aircraft gun. Further development of the weapon led to the Pak 43 anti-tank gun.
8.8 cm PaK 43 Anti-Tank model developed from Krupp's 8.8 cm Gerät 42 . New gun carriage similar to the Sonderanhänger 201. Developed by Krupp and manufactured in its different versions, including KwK 43, by at least Dortmund Hoerder-Hüttenverein, Henschel, Weserhütte and Fr. Garny. A 71 caliber barrel and a 822 mm cartridge case.
- 8.8 cm PaK 43/41 Pak 43 mounted on single axle split-trail field gun carriage produced as a stop-gap measure due to scarcity of materials. Weight 4.9 tonnes.
- 8.8 cm PaK 43/1 Pak 43 as mounted in the 'Nashorn' tank destroyer.
- 8.8 cm PaK 43/2 Pak 43 as mounted in the 'Ferdinand'/'Elefant' tank destroyer. On occasion referred to as 'StuK 43/1'.
- 8.8 cm PaK 43/3 and 43/4 Pak 43 as mounted in the 'Jagdpanther' tank destroyer. Falling wedge breech block.
- 8.8 cm KwK 43 Pak 43 modified as a tank gun. Main gun of the Tiger II heavy tank. Falling wedge breech block.

[edit] Combat History

The forces of the Third Reich employed 88 extensively in World War II not only as an anti-aircraft gun, where it performed well, but also as an anti-tank gun. The gun had few rivals until the end of the war.

Erwin Rommel helped develop the 88 as an anti-tank weapon, first in France and later in North Africa. His timely use of the gun to blunt the British advance at Arras ended any hope of a break out from the blitzkrieg encirclement of May 1940. In Libya and Egypt, he lured British tankers into traps by baiting them with his panzers. When the British charged after the retreating Germans, concealed 88s picked them off at ranges far beyond those of the two and six-pound turret guns of the British marks. The unparalleled penetration of the 88's shells destroyed many Allied tanks and other armored vehicles. The British 8th Army eventually learned to coordinate their heavy artillery with their ground advances, destroying the relatively immobile 88s in their emplacements once they revealed their positions.

The weapon saw continuous use on the Russian Front. It played a crucial role in the early months of Operation Barbarossa. The appearance of the outstanding T-34 shocked the Wehrmacht Panzer Truppen, whose 37mm and 50mm tank guns failed to penetrate the Russian Tank's steel armour except at extremely close range. Until the Panzer IVF2 and the Tiger reached the front, the 88 was the only weapon that possessed the punch to stop the T-34 or its sister, the KV tank.

Italy and Northern France offered less suitable terrain for the effective employement of the 88. It soldiered on these fronts as well, but with less spectacular results. During the Overlord and Cobra Operations, Allied artillery and airpower often neutralized the 88's impact on the tide of battle, although a few well-positioned German guns often slowed up the pace of the breakout from Normandy.

The success of the 88 in battle resulted in two things. First, the Allied reconsidered their tanks' designs to take into account the abilities of the 88. Stopgap measures included adding more armor or even using sandbags to defeat the 88's projectiles. Second, the Germans kept the capabilities of the 88s in mind when they designed tanks like the Tiger Tank and the Elefant tank destroyer (even though the Elefant's 88 mm Pak 43/2 anti-tank gun was not exactly the same gun as the 88 described in this article, it was similar in many respects).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links and further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

88 mm gun

History of the 88mm series of guns
US Military Intelligence document on the 88 mm gun
The New 88 and Its Carriages
Detailed examination of the effect of 88 mm FlaK on B-17 and B-24 bombers
Armor penetration table
Tiger I Information Center Detailed information about Germany's famed Tiger tank and it's 88mm gun.

German artillery of World War II
Tank guns
2 cm KwK 30 \| 3.7 cm KwK 36 \| 3.7 cm KwK 38(t) \| 5 cm KwK 38 \| 5 cm KwK 39 7.5 cm KwK 37 \| 7.5 cm KwK 40 \| 7.5 cm KwK 42 \| 8.8 cm KwK 36 \| 8.8 cm KwK 43
Anti-tank guns
2.8 cm sPzB 41 \| 3.7 cm PaK 36 \| 4.2 cm PaK 41 \| 5 cm PaK 38 \| 7.5 cm PaK 97/38 7.5 cm PaK 40 \| 7.5 cm PaK 41 \| 7.62 cm PaK 36(r) \| 8.8 cm PaK 43 \| 12.8 cm PaK 44
Field, Medium and Heavy guns
7.5 cm Le.IG 18/Le.GebIG 18/IG L/13 \| 7.5 cm IG 37 \| 10.5 cm leFH 18 \| 15 cm sIG 33 \| 15 cm sFH 18
Other vehicle mounted
7.5 cm PaK 39 \| 7.5 cm PaK 40 \| 7.5 cm PaK 42 \| 8.8 cm PaK 43/KwK 43 \| 12.8 cm PaK 44
Anti-aircraft guns
2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling \| 3.7 cm FlaK 36/37/43 \| 8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37/41 \| 10.5 cm FlaK 38 12.8 cm FlaK 40