Germany 5.5cm Gerat 58 Flak 5.5cm Gerat 58 Flugabwehrkanone (translates as Anti Aircraft Gun)

Showing the details of the shells used(where known)   Tweet Weapon Details 5.5cm Gerat 58 Flak 5.5cm Gerat 58 Flugabwehrkanone (translates as Anti Aircraft Gun) History The very delayed replacement for the 5cm Flak 41, with a bore increase as the 50mm shell was found to be unstable in its Anti Aircraft role Manufacturer Rheinmetal-Borsig Manufactured 1944 - 1945 Calibre 55mm Length L/76 Rate of Fire 140rpm   5.5cm Gerat (HE High Explosive) 55mm 2.03Kg 1050M/Sec 0.485Kg explosive Maximum Range 15000 Mtr Range(Mtr) 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Flight Time(Secs) 1.16 2.99 6.29 13.98 52.59 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.1 0.2 0.41 0.89 1.46 2.15 2.99 4.06 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 98 88 60 29 15 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 4 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 8 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 21 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr 1 mm An explosion within 4 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 8 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 21 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 1 mm of the tank armour including the roof.

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.

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