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3.7 cm Ger. 341 and Fledermaus

Tony Williams

Well-Known Member
I have a couple of British documents giving a few details of the experimental "3.7 cm Ger. 341 and Fledermaus".

These include the following: the 3,7 cm Flak 341 was a Navy AA gun by Rheinmetall-Borsig; the gun weighed 450 kg and fired at 240 rpm. The 3,7 cm Flak Fledermaus was by "Gustl./Stübg" (Gustloff/Stübgen?) also for the Navy, also weighed 450 kg and fired at 270 rpm. I presume that the Flak 341 and Fledermaus were rivals for the same contract, and fired the same ammo.

A separate document states that the cartridge case length was 290 mm, overall length 425 mm, case weight (steel) 975 g, C/32 mech. primer, "M.Gr." projectile weighing 725-740 g containing 125-138 g HTA explosive, fitted with Lh 12 tracer. Muzzle velocity was 1,000 m/s. The cartridge was therefore longer and more powerful than the usual 37 x 263B Flak round.

Does anyone know anything more about these guns and their ammunition - especially dimensions and illustrations. I presume that the case was belted?

 
At http://www.airwar.ru/weapon/guns/bk37.html (an article on BK 3.7 Bordkanone) you may find a photo with a caption that reads: Twin guns designated Gerät 3,7 cm M 341 "Fledermaus" (Flying Mouse) to be mounted in Junkers Ju-88P-2.

Apparently they mixed up two designs, as far as I understand there were quite separate Gerät 341 (or M 341 or Gerät 341M) and Fledermaus. And probably it is a mistake that the guns were to be installed on an aircraft. However the picture looks interesting, perhaps it actually shows one of the two designs (?).
(By the way in the whole article on the Bordkanone 3,7-cm there is no remark on what is shown in the picture or what is said in its caption.)


bk37-11.jpg


Piotr
 
Thanks, that's very interesting - especially the photo.

I modified my conclusions above for inclusion in my book Autocannon:

Can somebody please tell me how to copy text without ending up with black letters against a black background?

[FONT=&amp]3,7 cmGerät 341 / Fledermaus: 37 x 280B. [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]
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[FONT=&amp]The 3,7 cm Gerät 341 was a gas-operated, strip-fed naval Flak gun by Rheinmetall-Borsig; the gun weighed 450 kg and fired at 240 rpm. The rival 3,7 cm Flak Fledermaus was by "Gustl./Stübg" (presumably Gustloff and Stübgen) also for the Kriegsmarine, weighed 450 kg and fired at 270 rpm. It appears that that the Gerät 341 and Fledermaus were rivals for the same contract. One source (HEC) states that they fired the same high-velocity (1,000+ m/s) ammunition, another (Unterlüss) says that only the Rheinmetall gun used the HV round, the other retaining the 37 x 264B.


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