7.5 cm PaK 97/38

[Manuferey]

Wonder what they used for a limber. Markus

Whatever they could find, I guess ...

(from expired ebay.de auctions)

Emmanuel

[Manuferey]

After some 7,5 cm Pak 97/38 pulled by horses, here is a gun mounted on a "mule" ... or in German a "Maultier":



Emmanuel

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

An image from Ebay:

Sturm78

[valentine III]

Nice collection of fotos.

I would like to know if there are any german official report about it's real performance. Did they try the gun against its potential targets? Was it worth the effort, to convert the original field guns in AT guns? Would not have been easier to just use the pak 38 carriages to build more pak 38's?

The same height of the Pak 38 would be nice in order not to be an easy to spot target.

Of course it can fire heavier and more effective HE rounds than the pak 38. This would be very useful in certain circumstances, but it was not the main role of the gun.

With it's relatively low muzzle velocity I doubt the AP round (Polish ?? and so most probably outdated) would be very useful against german infantry nightmares: the T-34´s and Kv-1's. Probably useful against light armoured targets: T-60's, and T-70's. Althoug it seems produced a very heavy recoil what is not good in order to maintain a target adquired and reengage it quickly.

I guess the main reason to devote scarce resources to the conversion was the apparent merits of the HEAT shell. The HEAT performance must have risen great expectations even with it's inherent problems.

Thanks

[SIS 5]

Hi Valentine III,

in the booklet "Die deutschen Geschütze 1939 - 1945" by F. M. von Senger und Etterlin You find the following short review about this gun:
"Stopgap solution. This gun was suited to the fight against tanks only with the use of hollow charge ammunition becaus of the low muzzle velocity. It was not popular with the armed forces."

Regards

Bert

[valentine III]

Thanks Bert,

I would like to see something more "technical".

I understand that the only practical use aganist medium tanks and heavier would be with HEAT. That HEAT had some disadvantatges vs de common AP rounds: slow velocity means more time to reach a target and more difficult to hit a moving target. Also HEAT must hit the target in certain places and in certain angles to be really effective, etc

But, how many rounds were the "normal" load of such a gun... how many rounds were needed to "kill" a T-34?, What were the recomended ranges of engagement aganist different menaces, etc

Eduard

[T. A. Gardner]

Hello

This type of wheels I have never seen on this gun , photo is from Ebay

Regards Jos

Just looking through this thread. Saw the pic. My bet, and I'm pretty sure I'm correct, is that those add-ons are wood and a local design that are intended to decrease the gun's ground pressure when towed over soft ground or mud. As the wheels sink in, those wider hubs would lower ground pressure and allow the tow vehicle to pull the gun free when it would otherwise get stuck and have to be dug out.

[CNOCK]

Stp Knokke-West

[peeved]

I would like to know if there are any german official report about it's real performance. Did they try the gun against its potential targets?

Based on the text below from "Die deutsche Panzerjägertruppe 1935-1945" by Fleischer and Eiermann, the Pak 97/38 was considered hard-hitting but hard to hit with.

Markus

[AvB]

Nice one Eddy!