3.7 cm SK C/30

Description

The C/30 was a semi-automatic anti-aircraft gun (ie; after firing each round, the breech opened and the spent cartridge casing was automatically expelled, ready for the next round to be loaded), and it was hand-loaded one round at a time. This mechanism gave the weapon an effective, sustained, firing rate of 30 rounds per minute. Whilst not uncompetitive with contemporary and earlier designs of semi-automatic light gun, it was far inferior to the 120 rpm cyclic firing rate of its (slightly later-designed) wartime contemporary, the fully automatic Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. The *C/30'''s muzzle velocity was, on the other hand, about 12-15% higher than the Bofors; this slightly eased the aiming. The *SK C/30U'' gun was modified for use by submarines. All mountings were suitable for use against both air and soft surface targets.

Ship classes that carried the 3.7 cm SK C/30 include:

• Admiral Hipper-class cruisers
• Bismarck-class battleships
• Chamois-class minesweeping sloops
• Deutschland-class battleships
• Deutschland-class cruisers
• Elbing-class torpedo boats
• F-class escort ships
• German Type IXA submarines
• German Type XIV submarines
• Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers
• Königsberg-class cruisers
• Leipzig-class cruisers
• M-class minesweepers
• PA-class patrol ships
• R boats
• Sperrbrecher
• Scharnhorst-class battleships
• Type 1934A-class destroyers
• Type 1936-class destroyers
• Type 1936A-class destroyers
• Type 1936B destroyers
• Type 35 torpedo boats
• Type 37 torpedo boats

Mountings

The Doppellafette C/30 (Dopp L C/30) was a twin mount with each gun in a separate cradle. It had a six-man crew on the mount itself plus additional ammunition handlers. The mounting was manually traversed and elevated and was gyro-stabilized up to a limit of 19.5° degrees to counteract the roll and pitch of the ship. Most German ships, fleet torpedo boat or larger, carried at least one Dopp L C/30 mounting. The Einheitslafette C/34 (Einh L C/34, universal mounting model 34) was a single gun mounted on a pedestal with a two-man crew. Some mounts were fitted with a 8 mm gun shield. It was used on the smaller Kriegsmarine ships like the Schnellboot. A number were used on land to supplement the anti-aircraft defenses of ports. The Ubts L C/39 submarine mount used the SK C/30U gun. It was a simple pedestal mount with a two-man crew, one of whom trained the gun with the shoulder stirrup; the other used gears to elevate the gun.

Ammunition

The SK C/30 used two types of tracer rounds. The 3.7 cm Br Sprgr Patr 40 L/4.1 Lh 37M was a high-explosive round with an incendiary filling while the 3.7 cm Sprgr Patr 40 L/4.1 Lh 37 lacked the incendiary fill, but was otherwise identical. Tracers were available in red, yellow or white and were marked on the shell by a painted band of the appropriate color. A complete round weighed 1.78 kg.

Comparison of anti-aircraft guns

Footnotes

Citations

References

References

1. Campbell, p. 256
2. (23 March 2009). "German 3.7 cm/L83 (1.5") SK C/30 3.7 cm/L83 (1.5") SK C/30U".
3. Hogg, p. 223
4. DiGiulian, Tony. "Germany 3.7 cm/83 SK C/30 - NavWeaps".
5. DiGiulian, Tony. "France 37 mm/50 (1.46") Model 1925 and CAIL Model 1933 - NavWeaps".
6. DiGiulian, Tony. "Italy 37 mm/54 (1.5") Models 1932, 1938 and 1939 - NavWeaps".
7. DiGiulian, Tony. "Germany 3.7 cm/57 (1.5") Flak M43 - NavWeaps".
8. Foss, Christopher. (1977). "Jane's pocket book of towed artillery". Collier.
9. DiGiulian, Tony. "Russia / USSR 37 mm/67 (1.5") 70-K - NavWeaps".
10. DiGiulian, Tony. "United Kingdom / Britain 2-pdr QF Mark VIII - NavWeaps".
11. DiGiulian, Tony. "USA Bofors 40 mm/60 Model 1936 - NavWeaps".