Machine Guns and Cannons (Ground, Vehicle, and Aircraft Mounted Weapons)

[Henry Yeh]

The following drawing is for MF1.

All the ammo is load in the "magazine" (named "BOITE A CARTOUCHES" on the drawing).
The ammo belt is introduced in the part n°2 which is a guidance system for the belt ("COULOIR D'ARRIVEE DE MUNITIONS) connected to the cannon (rep. n°1 on the drawing).
You don't have to remove the gun prior to ammo installation. We load the weapon manually, by using various tools, to put a shell in firing chamber.

Thanks, that's exactly the info I'm looking for.

[Slerski]

The following drawing is for MF1.

All the ammo is load in the "magazine" (named "BOITE A CARTOUCHES" on the drawing).
The ammo belt is introduced in the part n°2 which is a guidance system for the belt ("COULOIR D'ARRIVEE DE MUNITIONS) connected to the cannon (rep. n°1 on the drawing).
You don't have to remove the gun prior to ammo installation. We load the weapon manually, by using various tools, to put a shell in firing chamber.

Thanks, that's exactly the info I'm looking for.

You're welcome 

[dy031101]

I've been hearing of a 90mm DCA cannon, which was said to be the main gun of French pre-WWII FMC F1 and late-WWII ARL-44 heavy tanks.

How does it perform when compared to, say, the M3 gun used by the M26 Pershing?  Thanks in advance.

[Jschmus]

I've been hearing of a 90mm DCA cannon, which was said to be the main gun of French pre-WWII FMC F1 and late-WWII ARL-44 heavy tanks.

How does it perform when compared to, say, the M3 gun used by the M26 Pershing?  Thanks in advance.

I'm having trouble finding any information about this weapon.  It's mentioned in the Wiki article about the ARL-44, where it is mentioned that the French were having trouble getting 90mm guns from the US, so they adapted the DCA 45, a 90mm naval anti-aircraft gun.  The handful of other mentions I've seen quote the Wiki article verbatim.  I checked the Navweaps site, and the only 90mm naval gun mentioned to be in French service is this:

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNFR_35-50_m1926.htm

Which doesn't sound like something that would be easily modified into a tank weapon.  I will continue searching.

[dy031101]

Thanks.

I checked the Navweaps site, and the only 90mm naval gun mentioned to be in French service is this:

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNFR_35-50_m1926.htm

The single mount seems to be located pretty close to the aft main gun, which gives me a sense of compactness......

[apophenia]

Yep, that's the same gun in two different naval mounts. DCA just stands for Défense Contre Avions -- in other words, AAA. The designation for the piece itself was 90 mm CCA Mle 1926-30 (CCA = Côte Contre Avions) but it was also referred to as a Mle 32, Mle 39, or by the Germans as a 9 cm Flak M/26-30(f).

Images
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/738/dcawy0.jpg
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/5418/dca2ob2.jpg

More likely, the DCA 1945 was based on the French Army's equivalent, the Canon de 90 mm de D.C.A. a traction mecanique Mle1926. A handful of these also saw German service.

Images
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=135505&sid=8d4e2fc570e6ee135c887e0c34b658b2
http://members.cox.net/oddessa_ss/9cm%20Flak%20M39_f_1.JPG
http://members.cox.net/oddessa_ss/9cm%20Flak%20M39_f_2.JPG

[dy031101]

Does anyone have a reasonably clear picture of a tank hull ball mount for Maxim-type water-cooled machineguns?

(Most pictures that I've seen for a non-pintle mount with such machineguns are from Mark I~VIII tank sponsons, which look asthetically ancient- for want of a better term- to me.  )

[rickshaw]

Does anyone have a reasonably clear picture of a tank hull ball mount for Maxim-type water-cooled machineguns?

(Most pictures that I've seen for a non-pintle mount with such machineguns are from Mark I~VIII tank sponsons, which look asthetically ancient- for want of a better term- to me.  )

You could go "Phallic" as the Australian Sentinel did with its hull mounted Vickers MMG:

[dy031101]

You could go "Phallic" as the Australian Sentinel did with its hull mounted Vickers MMG......

It's like the MG's own mantlet...... 

But the armour cover of the MG's water sleeve...... 

[rickshaw]

You could go "Phallic" as the Australian Sentinel did with its hull mounted Vickers MMG......

It's like the MG's own mantlet...... 

But the armour cover of the MG's water sleeve...... 

I can just imagine the instructing NCO.  "This is the hull mounted machine gun.  Yes, we know what it looks like.  Have a good chuckle and get over it!" 

[dy031101]

Another question: on Japan's Type 5 Chi-Ri tank prototype, a 37mm gun is mounted in the hull.

I know two-gun arrangements aren't exactly new- M3 Medium, Char B1, and early-model Churchill have those, too, but their hull-mounted guns are either as a result of inability to adopt a turreted big gun or as a specialized second main weapon (Churchill's howitzer); Chi-Ri's hull-mounted 37mm gun was weaker in both HE and AT departments than its turreted gun (75mm or 88mm)...... although I did hear that the cancelled production examples were to dispense with that gun, why was it installed in the first place?

===========================================================

It seems like Vickers Medium Tanks also have ball mount for Maxim-type (Vickers) machineguns......

[ChernayaAkula]

>>HERE'S<< a fantastic thread on ww2incolor.com on machine guns and cannons used in German aircraft! Lots of pics and diagrams!

Apart from the actually fielded weapons, lots of projects are covered as well.

For example, this projected gun fit on a Ta 152:

[dy031101]

Adding another question; it might not be all that hard for the informed, but I'd like to be sure:

Between water-cooled (Maxim type) MG and air-cooled MG, which one is more low-tech and easier to make?

[rickshaw]

Adding another question; it might not be all that hard for the informed, but I'd like to be sure:

Between water-cooled (Maxim type) MG and air-cooled MG, which one is more low-tech and easier to make?

There are essentially no differences between the two from a manufacturing viewpoint.  The water-cooled one has a water jacket, obviously but apart from that they are basically the same internally (of course depending on mechanisms utilised).  Both will have a barrel, a bolt and feed mechanism and a trigger mechanism.  The air-cooled weapon may have a slightly heavier barrel than the water-cooled one.

[dy031101]

South Africans are said to have mounted the French 90mm F1 gun onto 17-pounder carriage to test their modification of the gun itself.  See here.