Anti aircraft, anti tank and anti social!

[Lucky13]

Flak, pak and not nice' is how the British Army described the 88mm Flak. Or simply, 'the eighty-eight (88.)' when they weren't swearing! 'Don't worry; if I find the one wot invented the 88, I'll let you know'....

Either way, how does the '88' compare to other anti aircraft guns of WWII?

 

[davebender]

Hopefully this discussion will be restricted to AA guns 85mm to 95mm in size. Things could get ridiculous if people attempt to compare .50cal AA guns to an 88mm weapon.

 

[GrauGeist]

Limiting it to 95mm takes the Flak 40 (12.8cm) out of the discussion, then...

 

[Juha]

What 88mm, L/56 Flak 18, 36 and 37 or L/71 Flak 41? Look data of those and GB 3.7", us 90mm and Soviet 85mm AA guns.

Juha

PS and why not specs of Vickers, Bofors and Skoda 75/76.2mm,

PPS one good page to begin is http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/AA_GUNS3.htm
something of most but the Western Allied main heavy AA guns.

 

[Lucky13]

Maybe to those that we're specifically designed as anti aircraft guns......

 

[Shortround6]

as somebody once said "the shell is the weapon, the gun is deliver system". Which is a bit simplistic, especially in regards to AA guns which need good predictors, fuse setters and remote aiming systems.

As far as shells go.

The Early 88s fired a 20.7lb shell at 2690fps.
The Late 88s fired a a very similar shell at 3280fps
The American 90mm fired a 23.4lbshell at 2700fps.
The British MK 1-3 3.7in fired a 28lb shell at 2600fps.

75-76mm shells were anywhere from just under 13lbs to 17lbs depending on gun and country. Some of the heavier shells had rather low velocity, British 3in 20cwt gun could fire a 12.5lb shell at 2500fps or a 16.5lb shell at 2000fps.

Rates of fire varied and weights varied quite a bit. the British 3.7in weighing almost double what the early German 88 did making it harder to move around as a weapon for defending the front lines.

It kind of depends on what the priorities were at to which was better, and when. Effectiveness of allied guns with proximity fuses later in the war went way up, and allowed the rate of fire in increase substantially (no mechanical fuse setting)

 

[bbear]

I found this a good newbie starter for multiple comparisons - there'e AA and anti tank sections and subsectoins and sortable lists. But is only wiki knowledge so caution.
List of artillery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[davebender]

As it should be as there is a such a large difference in weapon size.

 

[davebender]

Ammunition quality matters a great deal for heavy AA weapons as you are shooting at targets more then 5km away. Streamlined shells which retain velocity to shorten flight time are highly desirable. Shells must be perfectly balanced so they don't wobble in flight.