88mm gun question

[Wolfala]

Gents,

My dad and I had an argument about the german 88 and how it was born. Was it born as a flak and then an AT gun or was it the otherway around? Short of buying a book, is there a history of it available?

Wolf

[pugg666]

It was originaly an anti aircraft gun (FlAK, Flieger abwere kanone, or anti aircraft canon).

[MiloMorai]

Originally started out as a 75mm as a joint venture between Bofors and Krupp in Sweden due to the restrictions of the Versaille Treaty. The Army was not exactly happy with the 75mm and the 88mm resulted, being in production in 1933 as the Flak 18 at Essen (the NSDAP had come to power).

The Flak 18 had a one piece barrel but the Flak 36 had a multi piece barrel of which the piece closet to the breach was usually change after prolonged firing.

There was another 88mm designed by Rheinmetall which had an effective ceiling of 14,700m compared to 8000m for the other 88. It had 'a few' problems and was never manufactured in any quantity. It fired a different round than the other 88.

[VO101_Isegrim]

Well, it depends on, which 88 are you talking about. The 'classic' 88 was indeed developed as an AA gun, and then it was made capable to engage ground targets after the lessons learned in Spain. Ie, this is the FlaK 18, 36, and 37 designs I am speaking of, which found their way into the Tiger I as well in a modified form of KwK 36. It was manufactured in vast quantities.

However, there was also another 88 gun, developed from start as an AT gun : the PaK 43. It had a LOT longer barrel than the formet AA gun (L/71 vs. L/56, i.e 6m+ barrel!) and was mounted in the Ferdinand and Nashorn tank destroyers, and also as a oridnary AT gun on carriage. This was never used as an AA gun, altough again there was similiar, but different design, the FlaK 41, which had slightly longer barrel (L/74 IIRC) and perfromance, employed as AA gun, but could be also used as a AT gun like the FlaK 18/36/37. AND there was a 3rd different long 88 gun, the KwK 43 for tanks, being different from the PaK 43, altough it used the same ammunititon, barrel lenght and performance was identical; this is what the JagdPanther and Konigstiger mounted.

[Broes]

Before the 2nd WW the German army was not allowed to design, produce or own i.e. bombers or anti tank cannons.

However the Flak 88, which was according to it's manual just an AA cannon, was easily transformed into a devastating anti tank cannon.

This was probably as much coincidence as that alot of the early german design reconnaiance planes doubled nicely as bombers

Grtz,

Broes

[Wolfala]

So the main theme was a lot of interchangability between systems.