Maryellen Reilly
Pharmacist1y
What was the best anti-aircraft gun during WW2?
Originally Answered: What was the best Anti-Aircraft gun defense in
World War 2?
The allies spent 2 billion dollars on the Manhattan project to develop
the atomic bomb. This was a huge amount of money for the time.
The allies spent over 1 billion dollars to develop the proximity fuze to
enable shells launched from a naval/artillery tube to explode within the
proximity of the intended target.
This target could be an airplane or be a ground target. Imagine shooting
a shotgun into the air and when it gets close to an airplane it fires
multiple projectiles in all directions.
The physics of this theory is unimaginable especially in 1943.
You must combine Radar ,a fire control computer and a VT fuze.
All of this before transistors or solid state electronics. The
collaboration of the top scientists from the British Telecommunication
Research Establishment and multiple US scientific research groups
including John's Hopkins University applied physics lab and Western
electric.
The unbelievable process of developing all of the components of this
proximity fuze was completed. The remaining hurdle was allowing this
fragile fuze and bomb to be launched from a artillery/naval gun and be
able to survive 20,000 Gs and 30,000 rpm.
Eventually they developed a wax and oil suspender which allowed this
delicate mechanism to survive the explosive expulsion from a gun.
This one improvement created a 50 fold increase in success in
destruction of attacking aircraft for the allied navy's.
The VT fused shells in 5″ Naval anti-aircraft shells were initially sent
to the US Navy in the Pacific.
Airburst VT shells were introduced in Europe first against the V1
rockets attacking England , then during the battle of the bulge as
airburst antipersonnel artillery.
The USN tested the new AA shells against drones over the chesapeake bay
and the were able to destroy 1 in 4 shots. They shut down testing and
went immediately to production.
The Germans were only successful in 1 in 2500 antiarcraft shots.
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8 comments from
Steve Coleman
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Steve Coleman
· December 25
John's Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory developed the VT Fuse.
I spent 20 years walking past a display case every day holding one of
the early prototypes. It never failed to amaze me that they could fit
all that in that small fuse and have it survive the massive G forces of
being shot out of an AA gun.
Paul Wahler
· December 19
I recently read a fascinating book about the development of the
proximity fuse. The title of the book is “12 Seconds of Silence” - a
reference to the time from when the V-1 “buzz” motor shut off and when
the unguided missle hit the ground. A terrifying 12 seconds to
contemplate if you were going to die. I highly recommend this book.
Neal Sollan
· December 20
Have heard the author talk. For those who may wonder about the title …
It comes from what the author considers the greatest achievement (event)
in the WW2 history of the proximity fuze. The British moved by PF
equipped AAA to in effect from a defensive line across the normal routes
used by V-1s and took out the vast majority of them long before they
got to densely populated areas. The victory however was short lived and
had a notable example of poor timing.
In an a.m. BBC broadcast there was an announcement that the V-1 threat
to Britain had effectively ceased. In the p.m. the first V-2 landed
(somewhere in Greater London as I remember). AAA and hence the PF was
useless against this type of missile
Paul Wahler
· December 21
I love these ‘little’ pieces of WWII history which have only been
explored fully after the secrecy acts of various countries have passed.
I was even more surprised about the proximity fuse use in artillery shells.
I got this book from the niece of Merle Tuve, the person Section T was
named for. I can see her family resemblance in the photo of Tuve.
Edward Adamchek
· January 26
Maryellen: Check out the U.S. Naval Institute’s video on Willis Lee. If
you haven’t seen it, you must - it’s about 30 minutes (more or less) and
describes some of his stunts as well as the fact that he forced the
BuOrd to release the 5” proximity shell to be shipped to the PTO when it
was 1:5 effect…
(more)
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Geren Nichols
· December 27
Vacuum tubes!!! Can you even shoot your current iPhone out a 5″ gun with
2,600′ fps muzzle velocity and expect it to work?
The VT amazingly tough (only had to work once for a few seconds).
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Ted Kennedy
· December 25
I love the story of R V Jones, the British electronic warfare expert. On
being sent to the US with radar secrets and I think the PF details he
was accompanied by an armed officer. R V J protested that he didn’t need
a body guard only to be told the guy wasn’t there to protect him but to
shoot and kill him if R V J was in danger of capture.
Graham Figg
· December 31
The “Oslo Letter” was authenticated by the inclusion of a prototype
German proximity fuse.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Report