Britain 5.5in Gun Mk III

Showing the details of the shells used(where known)   Tweet Weapon Details 5.5in Gun Mk III (Field Gun) Manufactured 1941 - 1945 Calibre 140mm Length L/30 Rate of Fire 2rpm   Shell HE S/L 100lb Mk ID (HE High Explosive) 140mm 45.4Kg 510M/Sec ≈6.81Kg explosive Maximum Range 14810 Mtr Range(Mtr) 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Flight Time(Secs) 2.11 4.58 7.49 10.98 15.25 20.59 27.45 36.6 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.2 0.4 0.81 1.66 2.57 3.54 4.58 5.68 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 81 44 22 8 3 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 5 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 10 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 25 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 2 mtr 20 mm An explosion within 5 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 10 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 25 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 2 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 20 mm of the tank armour including the roof. Shell HE S/L 80lb Mk ID (HE High Explosive) 140mm 37.1Kg 594M/Sec ≈5.565Kg explosive Maximum Range 16550 Mtr Range(Mtr) 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Flight Time(Secs) 1.81 3.93 6.43 9.43 13.09 17.68 23.57 31.43 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.17 0.34 0.69 1.43 2.21 3.04 3.93 4.88 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 88 57 25 22 8 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 5 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 10 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 25 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 2 mtr 16 mm An explosion within 5 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 10 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 25 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 2 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 16 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.

© WWIITanks 1980-2024