.gif)
7.62 cm PaK 36(r)
Encyclopedia
The 7.62 cm FK 36 and Pak 36(r) (7.62 cm Feldkanone (Field gun
)/36 (russisch) and Panzerabwehrkanone (Anti-tank gun) 36(russisch)) were German
anti-tank guns used by the Wehrmacht
in World War II
. The gun was a conversion of the Soviet
76-mm divisional gun M1936 (F-22).
recoil buffer and hydropneumatic recuperator. There was no limber
; the gun therefore could not be towed by a horse team.
and the heavy KV
. Thick sloped armor of these vehicles gave them good degree of protection against German anti-tank weapons. The situation eventually led to requests for more powerful guns that would be able to destroy the aforementioned tanks from long range. Germany already had a suitable design, the 7.5 cm Pak 40
, entering production in late 1941, but the first pieces were not delivered until 1942. Until enough of those would be manufactured, expedient solutions were required.
In the early stage of the war, Germans captured a large number (up to 1,300) of Soviet 76-mm divisional guns model 1936 (F-22). Developed with anti-aircraft abilities in mind, the Soviet gun had powerful ballistics; it was also originally intended to use more powerful cartridge
than the one eventually adopted. However the design had some shortcomings in the anti-tank role. The shield was too high, the two man laying was inconvenient and the sighting system was more suitable for the F-22 original divisional field gun role. Using considerable thrift, the German engineers were able to quickly modify the F-22, which by that time had been adopted in original form as the FK296(r) by the Wehrmacht. In late 1941 German engineers developed a modernization program. The initial modifications that brought the guns to FK36(r) standard included:
The first of these converted F-22s retained the original Russian ammunition (confirmed by measuring the chamber length of 15.2 inches or 385 mm, and were still designated FK296(r) on the sight's range drum. These early anti-tank conversions are discernable as they have not been fitted with a muzzle brake. These intermediate guns had various designations, but appear to have been referred to mainly as "FK36(r)", despite their dedicated anti-tank role seeming to warrant the designation "Pak" rather than "FK". The conversion work was performed by HANOMAG with sight blocks made by Kerner & Co in 1942 (ggn42).
Later up-grades were designated as the Pak36(r), and had:
First guns were delivered in February 1942, and by the end of the year Germans converted 358 pieces, 169 in 1943 and 33 in 1944. Additionally, 894 barrels were prepared for use in self-propelled guns. It is likely that these numbers include Pak 39(r), a similarly upgraded 76-mm M1939
(up to 300 pieces).
and in North Africa
. The first employment of the FK36(r) was noted as early as March 1942 at Bir Hacheim in Libya, and by May 1942, 117 are recorded as being in use by the Afrika Korps. The gun was well proven in combat, as demonstrated by Gunner Günter Halm
(Knights Cross), who destroyed 9 Valentine Tanks in a single action. The Pak 36(r) was used in North Africa later in the campaign. The gun was actively used in both anti-tank and field artillery roles until the end of the war. As late as March 1945 Wehrmacht still possessed 165 Pak 36(r) and Pak 39(r). The scale of use can be illustrated by the amount of ammunition consumed: 49,000 AP and 8,170 subcaliber AP shells in 1942, and 151,390 in 1943. For the sake of comparison, in 1942 the aforementioned Pak 40 fired 42,430 AP and 13,380 HEAT shells; in 1943 the numbers grew significantly to 401,100 AP and 374,000 HEAT.
The modernized barrels were also mounted in the below types of self-propelled guns:
A number of Pak 36(r) guns were captured by the Red Army
(e.g. in the Battle of Stalingrad
) and were adopted by anti-tank battalion
s.
The HEAT projectiles penetrated about 100-115 mm at meet angle 90°.
Field gun
A field gun is an artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march and when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances, as to opposed guns installed in a fort, or to siege cannon or mortars which...
)/36 (russisch) and Panzerabwehrkanone (Anti-tank gun) 36(russisch)) were German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
anti-tank guns used by the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The gun was a conversion of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
76-mm divisional gun M1936 (F-22).
Description
The FK36(r) and Pak 36(r) had split-trail carriage with suspension and steel wheels with solid rubber tires. The gun was equipped with semi-automatic vertical breech block; recoil mechanism consisted of hydraulicHydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
recoil buffer and hydropneumatic recuperator. There was no limber
Caisson (military)
A limber is a two-wheeled cart designed to support the trail of an artillery piece, or the stock of a field carriage such as a caisson or traveling forge, allowing it to be towed. A caisson is a two-wheeled cart designed to carry artillery ammunition...
; the gun therefore could not be towed by a horse team.
Development history
Soon after the German invasion of the USSR in 1941, Wehrmacht units encountered new Soviet tanks, the medium T-34T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
and the heavy KV
Kliment Voroshilov tank
The Kliment Voroshilov tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks, named after the Soviet defense commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov. The KV series were known for their extremely heavy armour protection during the early war, especially during the first year of the invasion of the Soviet...
. Thick sloped armor of these vehicles gave them good degree of protection against German anti-tank weapons. The situation eventually led to requests for more powerful guns that would be able to destroy the aforementioned tanks from long range. Germany already had a suitable design, the 7.5 cm Pak 40
PaK 40
The 7.5 cm PaK 40 was a German 7.5 centimetre anti-tank gun developed in 1939-1941 by Rheinmetall and used during the Second World War...
, entering production in late 1941, but the first pieces were not delivered until 1942. Until enough of those would be manufactured, expedient solutions were required.
In the early stage of the war, Germans captured a large number (up to 1,300) of Soviet 76-mm divisional guns model 1936 (F-22). Developed with anti-aircraft abilities in mind, the Soviet gun had powerful ballistics; it was also originally intended to use more powerful cartridge
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
than the one eventually adopted. However the design had some shortcomings in the anti-tank role. The shield was too high, the two man laying was inconvenient and the sighting system was more suitable for the F-22 original divisional field gun role. Using considerable thrift, the German engineers were able to quickly modify the F-22, which by that time had been adopted in original form as the FK296(r) by the Wehrmacht. In late 1941 German engineers developed a modernization program. The initial modifications that brought the guns to FK36(r) standard included:
- removing the top section of the shield and and using the armour off-cuts to superimpose over the lower section of the shield. These were held in place using the standard Pak38 shield pintles.
- re-orienting the traverse gear box and handwheel shaft linkages so as to mount the traverse handwheel on the left side of the gun next to the sight.. As the new rod linkage went through a gap in the recoil cradle's elevation arc, the maximum elevation angle was limited to 18 degrees.
- replacement of the Russian sight with a Pak 38 style anti-tank sighting block that could mount the standard ZF3x8 sighting telescope or an emergency fold out iron sight. Apart from having a clinometer plane on the sight mount, there was no provision for indirect sighting.
The first of these converted F-22s retained the original Russian ammunition (confirmed by measuring the chamber length of 15.2 inches or 385 mm, and were still designated FK296(r) on the sight's range drum. These early anti-tank conversions are discernable as they have not been fitted with a muzzle brake. These intermediate guns had various designations, but appear to have been referred to mainly as "FK36(r)", despite their dedicated anti-tank role seeming to warrant the designation "Pak" rather than "FK". The conversion work was performed by HANOMAG with sight blocks made by Kerner & Co in 1942 (ggn42).
Later up-grades were designated as the Pak36(r), and had:
- RechamberingChamber (weaponry)In firearms, the chamber is that portion of the barrel or firing cylinder in which the cartridge is inserted prior to being fired. Rifles and pistols generally have a single chamber in their barrels, while revolvers have multiple chambers in their cylinders and no chamber in their barrel...
for the more powerful Pak40 cartridge. The German cartridge was nearly twice as long as the Soviet one (715 mm vs 385.3 mm) and wider (100 mm vs 90 mm), resulting in 2.4 times larger propellantPropellantA propellant is a material that produces pressurized gas that:* can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust ;...
load. - Recoil mechanism adjustments to accommodate the new recoil characteristics.
Production
F-22USV
76-mm divisional gun M1939 was Soviet 76.2-mm divisional gun, adopted for the Red Army service in 1939 and utilized in the German-Soviet War...
(up to 300 pieces).
| Production of the ammunition for PaK 36(r) and PaK 39(r) | |||||
| Shell type | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | Total | |
| HE-Frag | 769,400 | 1,071,300 | 857,700 | 2,698,400 | |
| AP, all types | 359,400 | 597,300 | 437,300 | 1,394,000 | |
Employment
The FK36(r) and PaK 36(r) saw combat on the Eastern FrontEastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
and in North Africa
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
. The first employment of the FK36(r) was noted as early as March 1942 at Bir Hacheim in Libya, and by May 1942, 117 are recorded as being in use by the Afrika Korps. The gun was well proven in combat, as demonstrated by Gunner Günter Halm
Günter Halm
Günter Halm was a Grenadier in the Richtschütze Pakzug Stabskompanie Panzergrenadier-Regiment 104 / Deutsches Afrika-Korps attached to the 21st Panzer Division during World War II, and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or...
(Knights Cross), who destroyed 9 Valentine Tanks in a single action. The Pak 36(r) was used in North Africa later in the campaign. The gun was actively used in both anti-tank and field artillery roles until the end of the war. As late as March 1945 Wehrmacht still possessed 165 Pak 36(r) and Pak 39(r). The scale of use can be illustrated by the amount of ammunition consumed: 49,000 AP and 8,170 subcaliber AP shells in 1942, and 151,390 in 1943. For the sake of comparison, in 1942 the aforementioned Pak 40 fired 42,430 AP and 13,380 HEAT shells; in 1943 the numbers grew significantly to 401,100 AP and 374,000 HEAT.
The modernized barrels were also mounted in the below types of self-propelled guns:
- 7.62 cm Pak 36(r) auf Pz.IID Marder II (Sd.Kfz.132)Marder IIThe Marder II was a German tank destroyer of World War II based on the Panzer II chassis.-History:During the very first days of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Germans were shocked to encounter Soviet T-34 medium tanks and KV heavy tanks...
- lightly armoured tank destroyer on Panzer IIPanzer IIThe Panzer II was the common name for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen II...
light tank chassis. - 7.62 cm Pak 36(r) auf Pz.38(t) Marder III (Sd.Kfz.139)Marder IIIThe Marder III is the name for a series of World War II German tank destroyers built on the chassis of the Panzer 38. The German word Marder means "marten" in English...
- lightly armoured tank destroyer on Panzer 38(t)Panzer 38(t)The Panzerkampfwagen 38 was originally a Czech tank of pre-World War II design. After Czechoslovakia was taken over by Germany, it was adopted by the German Army, seeing service in the invasions of Poland and Russia. Production ended in 1942, when its armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over...
light tank chassis.
A number of Pak 36(r) guns were captured by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
(e.g. in the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
) and were adopted by anti-tank battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s.
Summary
When the FK36(r) and Pak 36(r) reached the battlefield, it was able to destroy any contemporary tank at normal combat ranges. Although the gun was heavier and had somewhat smaller penetration figures than the purpose-built Pak 40, there is no doubt that the modernization of F-22 provided Wehrmacht with very effective anti-tank gun at only fraction of the cost of producing one from scratch.Ammunition
| Available ammunition | |||||
| Type | Model | Weight, kg | HE weight, g | Muzzle velocity, m/s | Range, m |
| Armor-piercing shells | |||||
| APCBC/HE | 7.62 cm Pzgr.39 | 7.6 | 24, phlegmatized Phlegmatized Phlegmatized is a term applied to an explosive that has had an agent added to stabilize or desensitize it. Sometimes this is desirable, to enable handling or to reduce the rate of combustion. Typical phlegmatizing agents include wax, paper, water, and paraffin. These agents are nearly always... RDX RDX RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4... |
740 | 4,000 |
| APCR | 7.62 cm Pzgr.40 | 4.065 | - | 990 | 700 |
| HEAT shells | |||||
| HEAT | 7.62 cm Gr.38 Hl/B | 4.62 | 510 | 450 | 1,000 |
| HEAT | 7.62 cm Gr.38 Hl/С | 5.05 | 510 | 450 | 1,000 |
| High explosive and fragmentation shells | |||||
| HE-Frag | 7.62 cm Gr.34 | 6.25 | 550, amatol 40/60 Amatol Amatol is a highly explosive material made from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate. Its name originates from the words ammonium and toluene... |
550 | 10,000 |
| Armor penetration table | ||
| 7.62 cm Pzgr.39 | ||
| Range, m | Meet angle 60°, mm | Meet angle 90°, mm |
| 0 | 108 | 133 |
| 457 | 98 | 120 |
| 915 | 88 | 108 |
| 1,372 | 79 | 97 |
| 1,829 | 71 | 87 |
| 7.62 cm Pzgr.40 | ||
| Range, m | Meet angle 60°, mm | Meet angle 90°, mm |
| 0 | 152 | 190 |
| 457 | 118 | 158 |
| 915 | 92 | 130 |
| 1,372 | 71 | 106 |
| 1,829 | 55 | 84 |
| This data was obtained by German methodics of armor penetration measurement. Exact figures depend on production batch of projectiles and technology of armour manufacturing. |
||
The HEAT projectiles penetrated about 100-115 mm at meet angle 90°.