Vollketten
Member
I am looking for information on the British 32 pounder antitank gun and I admit to being a little confused.
Jedsite (http://www.jedsite.info/artillery-0/0-pdr/32-pdr_series/32pdr-series.html) says:
"The gun was originally designed as a 37lb anti-tank gun (basically the 3.7in AA gun on an anti-tank mounting but tests proved it was a failure and that a 32lb version was more effective. Two carriages were built with different recoil systems but the war ended before production could begin. It was apparently an impractical ATG as it would have weighed 10 tons and manhandling it in and out of concealed positions was totally impracticable. Trials continued through 1946, including tests with infrared night sight. After the Army had finished with them one went to the Royal Artillery Museum and the other was scrapped."
It goes on to list variants as:
37 pounder (Prototype)
32 pounder (First Prototype)
32 Pounder (Second Prototype)
and mention of the Tortoise tank
I have been in touch with The Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich and after I'd sent an email there yesterday the librarian there confirms they have no data at all on the gun or examples of ammunition for it. Just the gun itself.
RAM Example
So the information I am after (pretty much anything at the moment) but specifically:
In January 1941 I have an original reference stating that a "preliminary outline drawing for OQF 3.7 Monobloc in 17 pounder breech end and carried in 17 pounder Tank Mountings, which carried balance springs but has S.A. gear removed was put forward for development and barrels were ordered and tested
----------So could someone explain how that would work for me please?
It does also say later on that the 17 pounder sights were being recalibrated for the 3.7" to allow it to accurately fire 3.7" AP and APHE shells
---------- Is there someone who has some of these rounds?
The document goes on to say that a "higher efficiency brake" was being developed [for this gun] if required and that although the "medium efficiency normal type of double baffle brake" should be adequate that this higher efficiency type would be manufactured and available if required.
---------- Yet I have only seen the muzzle brake on the Tortoise (32 pndr) and not one at all on a 3.7"
---------- Could someone help with what the muzzle brakes in question would actually be here?*
The final part of the document is a proposal of armour penetration performance comparing what it calls a "3.7" holding up to 28lb" at 2670fps compared to a 17pdnr at 3000fps and despite what it says on wiki the estimates are that the 3.7" is superior against armour at ranges over 1500 yards and in other ranges a better artillery weapon because of the HE round
If someone could help me to untangle and make a bit more sense of this I would really appreciate it. Especially if they happen to have a handbook or some other documentation.
*So on the issue of the muzzle brake:
Would it be a fair assumption that this double baffle 'standard type'?
and that this muzzle brake on the 32 pounder on the Tortoise is really as much of a counterweight than it is some high efficiency brake?
which leaves the question of what the 'higher efficiency type' brake for the gun could be in 1941.
Conveniently 1941 is also the year that the Galliot type brake was tested in the UK and The Defence Academy at Shrivenham still has the 32 pounder Galliot brake which apparently was tested on a Mosquito aircraft.
Any help, thoughts or ideas and especially any ammunition related data would be much appreciated. In the mean time I'll keep looking at Kew for more.
Jedsite (http://www.jedsite.info/artillery-0/0-pdr/32-pdr_series/32pdr-series.html) says:
"The gun was originally designed as a 37lb anti-tank gun (basically the 3.7in AA gun on an anti-tank mounting but tests proved it was a failure and that a 32lb version was more effective. Two carriages were built with different recoil systems but the war ended before production could begin. It was apparently an impractical ATG as it would have weighed 10 tons and manhandling it in and out of concealed positions was totally impracticable. Trials continued through 1946, including tests with infrared night sight. After the Army had finished with them one went to the Royal Artillery Museum and the other was scrapped."
It goes on to list variants as:
37 pounder (Prototype)
32 pounder (First Prototype)
32 Pounder (Second Prototype)
and mention of the Tortoise tank
I have been in touch with The Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich and after I'd sent an email there yesterday the librarian there confirms they have no data at all on the gun or examples of ammunition for it. Just the gun itself.
RAM Example
So the information I am after (pretty much anything at the moment) but specifically:
In January 1941 I have an original reference stating that a "preliminary outline drawing for OQF 3.7 Monobloc in 17 pounder breech end and carried in 17 pounder Tank Mountings, which carried balance springs but has S.A. gear removed was put forward for development and barrels were ordered and tested
----------So could someone explain how that would work for me please?
It does also say later on that the 17 pounder sights were being recalibrated for the 3.7" to allow it to accurately fire 3.7" AP and APHE shells
---------- Is there someone who has some of these rounds?
The document goes on to say that a "higher efficiency brake" was being developed [for this gun] if required and that although the "medium efficiency normal type of double baffle brake" should be adequate that this higher efficiency type would be manufactured and available if required.
---------- Yet I have only seen the muzzle brake on the Tortoise (32 pndr) and not one at all on a 3.7"
---------- Could someone help with what the muzzle brakes in question would actually be here?*
The final part of the document is a proposal of armour penetration performance comparing what it calls a "3.7" holding up to 28lb" at 2670fps compared to a 17pdnr at 3000fps and despite what it says on wiki the estimates are that the 3.7" is superior against armour at ranges over 1500 yards and in other ranges a better artillery weapon because of the HE round
If someone could help me to untangle and make a bit more sense of this I would really appreciate it. Especially if they happen to have a handbook or some other documentation.
*So on the issue of the muzzle brake:
Would it be a fair assumption that this double baffle 'standard type'?
and that this muzzle brake on the 32 pounder on the Tortoise is really as much of a counterweight than it is some high efficiency brake?
which leaves the question of what the 'higher efficiency type' brake for the gun could be in 1941.
Conveniently 1941 is also the year that the Galliot type brake was tested in the UK and The Defence Academy at Shrivenham still has the 32 pounder Galliot brake which apparently was tested on a Mosquito aircraft.
Any help, thoughts or ideas and especially any ammunition related data would be much appreciated. In the mean time I'll keep looking at Kew for more.
