47 mm APX anti-tank gun
canon de 47 mm SA mle 1937 | |
---|---|
47 SA 37 preserved at Base Borden Military Museum at CFB Borden Ontario, Canada | |
Type | Anti-tank gun |
Place of origin | France |
Service history | |
Used by | France Nazi Germany Kingdom of Italy |
Wars | World War II |
Production history | |
Designed | 1936 |
Manufacturer | Atelier de Puteaux |
Produced | 1939–1940 |
No. built | 1,268 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 1,070 kg (2,359 lbs) |
Length | 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in) |
Barrel length | 2.49 m (8 ft 2 in) L/53 |
Width | 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) |
Height | 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in)[1] |
Crew | 6[2] |
Shell | Fixed QF 47x380 mm. R APCBC |
Shell weight | 1.73 kg (3.74 lbs) |
Caliber | 47 millimetres (1.9 in) |
Carriage | Split-trail |
Elevation | -13° to +16.5° |
Traverse | 68°[2] |
Rate of fire | 15 to 20 rounds/min |
Muzzle velocity | 855 m/s (2,805 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 2,000 m (2,187 yds) |
The 47 mm APX anti-tank gun was a French anti-tank gun that saw service in the first years of the Second World War.
Development
In the 1930s the French Army sought a replacement for the derivatives of the 75 mm mle 1897 field gun it used as an anti-tank gun. The soixante-quinze was an effective anti-tank gun but was heavy and much harder to conceal than the newer, small, high-velocity, small calibre anti-tank weapons. The chosen weapon was a design of the state-owned arsenal Atelier de Construction de Puteaux workshop (abbreviated to APX) located in Puteaux, Paris, and was named the canon de 47 mm semi-automatique mle 1937. A similar model designated the canon de 47 mm semi-automatique mle 1939 was also produced. Both were efficient weapons, especially given the thin armour of contemporary German tanks. The gun could pierce 60 mm (2.4 in) at 550 meters (600 yd) or 80 mm (3.1 in) at 180 meters (200 yd).[1] Unfortunately for France, the 47mm SA mle 1937 and 47mm SA mle 1939 were still rare weapons at the time of the Battle of France.
Foreign use
Examples captured by the German forces were used under the name 4.7 cm Pak 181(f) for the mle 1937 and 4.7 cm Pak 183(f) for the mle 1939. The guns were used in Atlantic Wall fortifications and armed a number of their Panzerjäger self-propelled tank destroyers.
- 4.7 cm Pak 181(f) oder 183(f) auf PzJäg Lorraine Schlepper (f) - mounted on a French Lorraine 37L tracked artillery tractor chassis
- 4.7 cm Pak(f) auf Panzerspähwagen P204(f) - mounted on a French Panhard 178 armored car chassis
- 4.7 cm Pak(f) auf PzKpfW I - mounted on a Panzer I chassis
- 4.7 cm Pak(f) auf PzKpfW Mk.II 748(e) - mounted on a British Matilda II tank chassis
- 4.7 cm Pak 181(f) oder 183(f) auf PzKpfW 35R(f) - mounted on a captured French Renault R35 infantry tank chassis[2]
Variants
- 47mm SA mle 1939 TAZ - a variant on a tripod, capable of 360° traverse, which did not enter production.
- 47mm SA 35 mle 1935 - an earlier variant, mounted on tanks such as the Somua S35 and the Char B1, used shortened 47×193 mm R cartridge.
See also
- 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun
- 47 mm Model 1931 anti-tank gun - a comparable Belgian gun of the same period
- 4,7cm KPÚV vz. 38 - a comparable Czech gun
References
- ^ a b "47mm Mle1937 Anti Tank Gun". www.tbof.us. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
- ^ a b c Chamberlain, Peter (1974). Anti-tank weapons. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco Pub. Co. p. 9. ISBN 0668036079. OCLC 1299755.
- Ferrard, Stéphane. France 1940 l'armement terrestre, ETAI, 1998, ISBN 2-7268-8380-X
- v
- t
- e
- 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun
- 25 mm APX modèle 1937
- AC 37 anti-tank gun
- AC 47 anti-tank gun
- 47 mm APX anti-tank gun
artillery
- Canon de 105 court mle 1934 Schneider
- Canon de 105 court mle 1935 B
- Canon de 105 L mle 1936 Schneider
- Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider
- Canon de 145/155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond
- Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider
- Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider
- Canon de 155 L Modele 1917 Schneider
- Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider
- Canon de 155mm GPF
- Canon de 194 GPF
- Canon de 220 L mle 1917
- Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider
- Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider-St Chamond
- Canon de 65 M modele 1906
- Canon de 75 M modele 1919 Schneider
- Canon de 75 M modele 1928
- Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider
- Canon Court de 105 M modèle 1919 Schneider
- Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ
- Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ
- Canon de 240 modèle 93/96 TAZ
- Canon de 305 modèle 1906/10 à glissement
- Canon de 32 modèle 1870/84 à glissement
- Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 à glissement
- Canon de 320 modèle 1917 à glissement
- Canon de 340 modèle 1893 à glissement
- Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau
- Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement
- Obusier de 370 modèle 1915
- Canon de 370 modèle 75/79 Glissement
- Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916
- Obusier de 520 modèle 1916
- 37 mm SA 18
- 37 mm SA mle 1938
- 47mm SA mle 1935
- 75 mm ABS mle 1929