The 37 mm gun M1 was an
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
autocannon
An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...
developed in the United States. It was used by the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
The gun was produced in a towed variant, or mounted along with two
M2 machine guns on the
M2/
M3 half-track
A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the cro ...
, resulting in the
T28/T28E1/M15/M15A1 series of multiple gun motor carriages.
In early World War II, each Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Auto-Weapons battalion was authorized a total of thirty-two 37 mm guns in its four firing batteries, plus other weapons.
During World War II the 37 mm gun M1 was deployed in
coast defense anti-
motor torpedo boat batteries (AMTB) alongside
90 mm guns, usually four 90 mm and two 37 mm guns per battery. Some AMTB batteries consisted of four 37 mm guns, but most sources have little information on these batteries. In the later part of the war the 37 mm gun was typically replaced by the
40 mm Bofors gun M1.
[McGovern and Smith, p. 43]
Components
Two gun units were coupled to the M5
gun director
A director, also called an auxiliary predictor, is a mechanical or electronic computer that continuously calculates trigonometric firing solutions for use against a moving target, and transmits targeting data to direct the weapon firing crew.
Na ...
using the M1 remote control system. The system was powered by the M5 generating unit. If the remote system was inoperative the M5 sighting system was used.
Ammunition
The M1 utilized fixed
ammunition. Projectiles were fitted with a 37×223mmSR
cartridge
Cartridge may refer to:
Objects
* Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition
* ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device
* Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators
Other uses
* Cartridge (surname), a ...
case.
Variants
*The 37 mm M9 autocannon was a derivative of the M1A2 anti-aircraft gun. It had a barrel, weighed (the barrel alone weighing 120 pounds), had a muzzle velocity of , and had a rate of fire of 150 rounds per minute. It was used on
PT boat
A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...
s around 1944 in the Pacific theater during World War II, replacing the
M4 autocannon
The 37 mm Automatic Gun, M4, known as the T9 during development, was a 37 mm (1.46 in) recoil-operated autocannon designed by John Browning, Browning Arms Company. The weapon, which was built by Colt's Manufacturing Company, Colt, ...
.
Comparison of anti-aircraft guns
See also
*
List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation
This is a historic (index) list of United States Army weapons and materiel, by their Standard Nomenclature List (SNL) group and individual designations — an alpha-numeric nomenclature system used in the United States Army Ordnance Corps Supply ...
*
Kerrison Predictor
The Kerrison Predictor was one of the first fully automated anti-aircraft fire-control systems. It was used to automate the aiming of the British Army's Bofors 40 mm guns and provide accurate lead calculations through simple inputs on three main ...
Notes
References
*Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000. Pg.106
*
*
*
* TM 9-2300 standard artillery and fire control material. dated 1944
* TM 9-235
* TM 9-1235
* SNL A-29
External links
"US Army Gets A New Antiaircraft Gun", September 1940 ''
Popular Science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
''
FM 4-112 Coast Artillery Field Manual: Antiaircraft Artillery gunnery, Fire Control, Position Finding, and Horizontal Fire, Antiaircraft Automatic Weapons (Case I Firing)History of the Americanization of the Bofors 40mm Automatic Antiaircraft Gun€”some references to the 37mm
€”Antiaircraft.org
{{WWIIUSGuns
37 mm artillery
Anti-aircraft guns of the United States
World War II anti-aircraft guns
World War II weapons of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s