German airborne artillery. Based on Davis gun?

Anyone have more details? Thanks in advance.


To the Allies' surprise, the Germans had brought artillery onto the island. This was unheard of in 1941, artillery being thought of as too cumbersome and heavy for airborne operations. The Germans had managed it by deploying one of the first recoilless guns seen in Europe. The recoilless gun had been invented by an American naval officer, Commander Davis during the First World War, and was very basic. Davis reasoned that if two guns were placed back to back and fired simultaneously, the recoil from both would cancel each other out. He made a gun with a single central chamber and two barrels facing in opposite directions. One barrel carried an explosive projectile, the other an equivalent weight of grease and lead shot. When the central cartridge was exploded the two projectiles were sent down their barrels at identical speeds making the entire mechanism free from recoil. The explosive shell went to its target while the wad of grease and shot disintegrated in the air. The Davis gun was purchased by the British and experiments undertaken to see if it could be used as an anti-submarine weapon but the war ended before the trials were completed. The German Rheinmetall company continued to experiment with the idea and eventually reduced it to a much simpler form. Reasoning that recoil could still be counterbalanced if the ejected 'countershot' was smaller but faster they found that the shell could be counterbalanced by a stream of gas moving at very high speed through a nozzle in the gun breech. The LG40 was of 75mm caliber, weighed 320lbs and fired a 13lbs high explosive shell to a range of 6.8km. The conventional 75mm gun of the German Army weighed 2,470lbs and fired the same shell to a range of 9.4km. Thus the recoilless rifle allowed virtually the same firepower as a conventional artillery piece with two-thirds the range but one eighth the weight.

AMS Strike Photos!


AMS Strike Photos!

 

7.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

ENGLISH:The recoilless gun was the miracle solution to marry large bore and lightness: the heavy recoil recovery mechanism as well as the strong anchoring became useless. The trailblazers were the Germans (2). They started the development in the early thirties, first with the idea to use them in aircraft but later also for airborne troops. The new weapon took part in the conquest of Crete, but the abandonment of airborne operations afterwards meant a slowing down in their development. In 1944, the penury
of propellant in the Reich put a definitive end to that weapon, which wasted a lot of it
In the meantime, taking cue on their adversary, the US and the British took over the idea but only a limited number experienced combat during the war. It became very popular after the war and in the fifties, before being enthroned by the antitank missiles.
Technically, the solutions used by the two sides differed slightly. The Germans used a plastic cartridge (one of the first military application of the new material), which volatilized in a fraction of a second, allowing afterwards the gases to escape through a
blast pipe behind the shell. Burney, the father of the British recoilless guns, preferred to use a classical cartridge, but enameled
with brass discs, which melted away when the propellant ignited, allowing the gases to flow sideways to several blast pipes. The US adopted a system similar to the British one, but there was a unique rear blast pipe.
(2) the British made an unconvincing attempt towards the end of World War I with a recoilless gun mounted under a plane. It is possible that the Russians would have had such a weapons in the late thirties, but it is not sure
The Germans were the only warring parties of the war to use recoilless guns on the battlefield. Its adversaries were only at the testing phase when the conflict ended. The studies started in 1937 to give the airborne troops a gun that would be effective but
also light enough. The first operational model, 75mm LG 40, achieved an extraordinary weight reduction compared to the
classical weapons: it weighted 150 kg vs. 400 kg for the 75mm le. IG 18, standard among the German infantry. It could be dropped with the first waves of paratroopers, who got a decent artillery support.
The successful first model was closely followed by a still more ambitious one, the 105mm LG 40 gun, which would give to
troops devoid of the support of classical artillery, a support comparable to the one enjoyed by infantry units. The guns of both caliber's had their first combat experience in Crete. They made a strong impression not only on the Germans but also on their enemies.
Since Crete was the last large-scale German airborne operation, the focus of recoilless guns shifted from the paratroopers to the mountain troops. They too were devoid of artillery support in the difficult battlefields, where they operated.
Besides many projects of caliber 105, of which none was mass-produced, the Germans also envisaged to build the 150mm
LG 42 to replaced their heavier infantry gun, the 150mm s. IG. 33. At that juncture though, the German recoilless gun was
already on the wane. Among the many shortages
of the end of the war, was the propelling powder. The recoilless weapons wasted a lot of it and that was enough to seal its disappearance in 1944.
Germany adversaries all took inspiration in the German example to develop their own models, even when the technical solution adopted differed

The LG 40 was the first recoilless gun to experience combat with land forces. The German airborne troops got
their first ones in the second half of 1940 and used it during the conquest of Crete in May of 1941. It was the evolution of the
75mm LG 1/370 and made a large use of aluminium to get the lightest possible gun. As a light weapon, it was succssful, since it could be dismounted in four loads and dropped with parachutes. Besides the classical explosive ammunitions, it could also fire shape charge shells, to boost its antitank abitilies.
The end of the airborne operations after Crete slowed down the development of the LG 40, but a more economical variant was derived for the mountain troops. The overall weight was increased by 100 kg and it had to be dismounted in five instead of four loads, but no more light alloys was needed to build it. It fought in the Carpathians and in Italy. The production ended in 1944 because the wastage of propellant inherent to such a weapon, at a time when Germany suffered from all possible shortages






It was basically an enlarged version of the recoilless 75mm LG 40, with the correction of some drawbacks that
combat experience had revealed (moving of the firing mechanism and cancelling of the torque of the barrel due to the riffled front part). Like its predecessor, it had been designed for airborne troops, but served mainly with mountain troops when the era of airborne operations was over.
There were two variants, the LG 42-1 was the original, partially made of light alloys, while the LG 42-2 only used steel because
of the mounting penury of aluminium in the Reich. In that latter variant, the barrel was shortened (1.636 meter) to keep the weight unchanged.
The prototype was the 105mm LG 2/350 by Rheinmetall, but the manufacturing was taken over by Dürkopp
105mm LG 2/350 recoilless gun
To improve the effect of the shells on the targets, Rheinmetall developed an enlarged version of his 75mm LG 40. The LG 2/350, followed by the LG 2/370, served as prototype for the operational weapon, the 105mm LG 42, which the firm Dürkopp took
over the manufacturing


Pagina 17 - Heavy infantry weapons

 

"German 75-mm Recoilless Gun, LG 40" from Tactical and Technical Trends

The following report on the German LG 40 75-mm recoilless gun (7.5-cm Leichtgeschütz 40) appeared in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 26, June 3, 1943.

[DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

GERMAN 75-MM RECOILLESS GUN, LG 40*​

This weapon is a short-rifled howitzer without a recoil or counter-recoil system, mounted on a light aluminum alloy carriage. A funneled (Venturi) tube is attached to the rear of the bored breechblock; its function is to allow the gases to disperse to the rear, thus eliminating a recoil mechanism. The firing mechanism is seated in a cone-shaped receptacle and centered in the breechblock by vertical struts. The weight of the complete gun is reduced to a minimum by using hollow machined parts, plastic washers, tubular carriage, and aluminum alloy body. Because of the weight of the complete piece, it lends itself to use by airborne troops.


The general characteristics of the gun are:
Date of manufacture
1942
Caliber
75 mm
Weight
Complete
325 lbs
Barrel
98 lbs
Carriage
63 lbs
Wheels and axles
36 lbs
Breechblock and Venturi tube
66 lbs
Breech ring
62 lbs
Length of gun (over-all)
45 in
Length of barrel
29 1/2 in
Rifling
28 lands and grooves -uniform right-hand twist;
one turn in 19 calibers
Maximum range**
3-4,000 yds
Rate of fire**
12-15 rpm
Muzzle velocity?
Sights**
Cross-leveling gear, and
straight tube telescope
Ammunition**
HE and hollow charge
Tube
Monobloc
Elevation
42°-20°
Traverse
60°-360°
Carriage
Platform or tripod type;
detachable wheels for transport
Tactical use
AT and antipersonnel
a. Barrel
The tube is of monobloc steel construction. On the breech end, interrupted collars provide for attachment of the tube to the breech rings. It is also machined to seat the extractor and the barrel lock. Externally and midway on the barrel, a steel band is clamped. Its purpose is to lock the barrel and the front leg of the tripod in transport.
b. Breech Ring
This part of the gun is recessed to receive the barrel and breechblock. It contains borings for the extractor pin, breech-lever mechanism, "safe and fire" lever as well as the barrel lock. The trunnions for mounting it to the carriage and the elevating rack are also attached to the breech ring.
c. Breechblock
The breech is of the horizontal sliding block type. It is bored to receive the firing housing and firing lever. The firing housing, which acts as a diffuser for gases escaping to the rear, is screwed at the rear to secure the funnel-shaped "Venturi" tube. The breech mechanism lever performs a double function. It operates the breechblock and also cocks the piece when the lever is depressed.
d. Venturi Tube
This funnel-shaped tube is screwed on to the rear of the breechblock. Its purpose is to disperse the gases to the rear, eliminating recoil.
e. Carriage
The top carriage or body is constructed of an aluminum alloy, formed with a circular base. It contains borings for the elevating and traversing mechanisms and lock, as well as the trunnion caps for seating the trunnions. The gun can be traversed 360° by locking the elevating mechanism, but its ordinary traverse is 60°. Elevation is limited to 42° by stops, but the rack can be locked at 20°. At the right side is a bracket for attaching a small spare-parts box.
f. Lower Carriage or Platform
The lower carriage consists of the wheels, platform, three tubular legs, tubular guide rails, tubular axletree, base ring traversing rack, and stub axles.
The wheels are light-weight metal disks fitted with solid rubber tires and can be quickly detached from the axletree.
The three tripod legs are pivoted in lugs on the base ring. The front leg can be placed in one of two positions for firing by engaging it in a slot in the center of the axletree. The left and right legs can be placed in two positions by locking them in slots of the guide rail. The three tripod legs have small spades for steadying the gun while firing. Remarks: The method of firing the piece and the types of cartridges, propellants, and projectiles are, and will be, unknown until they are secured. Many theories have been suggested by observers, but until the projectile is received and fired it remains pure conjecture. No detailed information is available at present concerning the sighting equipment, because the captured weapon arrived in the U.S. without sights of any kind. There is a sight bracket attached to the left side of the carriage. *Extracted from a recent Aberdeen Proving Ground report.
**From a British report.

German 75-mm Recoilless Gun, LG 40, WWII Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 26, June 3, 1943 (Lone Sentry)

 

Cool.

 

Still can't determine whether the Germans bought a davis gun. One would assume they did since it was invented 1912-1914.

DAVIS AMMUNITION