7.5_cm_KwK_37

7.5 cm KwK 37

7.5 cm KwK 37

German tank gun


The 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 (7.5 cm Kampfwagenkanone 37 L/24) was a short-barreled, howitzer-like German 75 mm tank gun used during World War II, primarily as the main armament of the early Panzer IV tank. Slightly modified as StuK 37, it was also mounted in early StuG III assault guns.

Quick Facts Type, Place of origin ...

It was designed as a close-support infantry gun firing a high-explosive shell (hence the relatively short barrel) but was also effective against the tanks it faced early in the war. From March 1942, new variants of the Panzer IV and StuG III had a derivative of the 7.5 cm PaK 40 anti-tank gun, the longer-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 40.[1] When older Panzer IVs were up-gunned, their former KwK 37 guns were reused to arm later Panzer III tanks and other infantry support vehicles. In 1943, depleted stocks and demand for the Panzer III Ausf. N required restarting production of a slightly revised 7.5 cm K 51 L/24 (7.5 cm Kanone 51 L/24).

Ammunition

KwK 37 used shell 75×243 mm. R [2][3]

  • K.Gr.rot.Pz. - Armour Piercing Capped
  • Kt. Kw. K. - Canister
  • Nbgr. Kw. K. - Smoke
  • Gr.38 Hl - High Explosive Anti-Tank
  • Gr.38 Hl/A - High Explosive Anti-Tank
  • Gr.38 Hl/B - High Explosive Anti-Tank
  • Gr.38 Hl/C - High Explosive Anti-Tank

7.5 cm Sprgr.34 - High Explosive

  • Projectile weight: 4.422 kg (9.75 lb)
  • Explosive weight: 0.454 kg (1.00 lb) (1900 Kilojoules) [4]

PzGr. 39/43 Armour-piercing

  • Projectile weight: 6.80 kg (15.0 lb)
  • Muzzle velocity: 385 m/s (1,260 ft/s)
More information Range, Penetration ...

Penetration comparison

More information Ammunition type, Muzzle velocity ...

Applications

See also


Notes

  1. Finkel "On Flexibility", p. 143.
  2. "75-77 Mm Calibre Cartridges". Archived from the original on 2015-01-17. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  3. "7,5 cm Kw K (L/24)". Panzer World. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  4. German Explosive Ordnance (Projectiles and Projectile Fuzes) - Department of the Army Technical Manual TM-9-1985-3. 1953. p. 417.
  5. uses American and British 50% success criteria
  6. Bird, Lorrin Rexford; Livingston, Robert D. (2001). WWII Ballistics: Armor and Gunnery. Overmatch Press. p. 61.

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