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Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann
I have had the pleasure of examining the 88mm field/flak/ati-tank gun first hand at the Ft. Sill Oklahoma Field Artillery Museum. Its breech is very similar to the 105mm M102 howitzer I was trained on... They were built for speed.
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The 88mm gun on U-boats was the same caliber, but based on a German WWI naval gun instead of the more famous "88" you examined at Ft. Sill (as you pointed out later in your post). That being said, the U-boat gun was also "quick-firing" and capable of a maximum rate of fire of about 15 to 18 rounds per minute.
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Ergo, U-Boat 88's (and 105's I believe) would be confined to a direct fire role.
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Correct. According to the U-boat Commander's Handbook (you can buy it from Amazon.com), the recommended range for a gunnery engagement was about 600 to 800 yards, at night, in conditions where the target couldn't shoot back.
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I'm not sure about the 88, but our 105's were one part shell containing increments of powder (little burlap bags) and one part projectile. The shell and projectile were loaded separately.
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In U-boats, the 88mm round was one piece.
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If the deck gun is in operation, there are most likely crewmen who have little to do inside the sub and would naturally be part of a human conveyor belt removing waterproofing (airtight tubes w/ rubber gaskets containing shells I believe... similar to what we used for our propellant charge) and handing off projectiles to the next man.
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You actually needed about five people to man and service the deck gun at full rate of fire: the gunner, loader, and gun-layer at the gun itself, and two folks carrying ammunition to the gun, either with ready rounds from the small (20 round) ammunition locker on deck near the gun, or from the "human conveyor belt" passing ammunition from within the submarine to the conning tower. On at least some submarines there was a chute that was used to pass ammunition from the conning tower down to the ammunition carriers on deck.
If you're still learning and exploring, I suggest you look up the following references (for a start).
- Williamson, Gordon.
Wolf Pack. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. 2005
- Blair, Clay.
Hitler's U-boat War. Two volumes:
The Hunters, 1939 - 1942 and
The Hunted, 1943 - 1945. Naval Institute Press: 2001.
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http://uboat.net/
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http://www.uboatarchive.net/
- If you're anywhere near Chicago, check out the U-505 exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (
http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/
"Dr. Google" can be pretty helpful in finding various web-based resources; Amazon.com has a large selection of u-boat related materials as well.
Pablo