Misplaced Pages

#195804

116-489: The first, major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many warships and cause damage to their lightly armoured interiors. From the 1920s onwards, armour-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank warfare . AP rounds smaller than 20 mm are intended for lightly armoured targets such as body armour, bulletproof glass , and lightly armoured vehicles. As tank armour improved during World War II , anti-vehicle rounds began to use

232-485: A Martensite phase transformation ), while the remainder of the mold, being formed of sand, allowed the metal to cool slowly and the body of the shot to be made tough (resistant to shattering). These chilled iron shots proved very effective against wrought iron armour but were not serviceable against compound and steel armour, which was first introduced in the 1880s. A new departure, therefore, had to be made, and forged steel rounds with points hardened by water took

348-481: A line of battle . The man-of-war now evolved into the ship of the line . In the 18th century, the frigate and sloop-of-war  – too small to stand in the line of battle – evolved to escort convoy trade, scout for enemy ships and blockade enemy coasts. During the 19th century a revolution took place in the means of marine propulsion , naval armament and construction of warships . Marine steam engines were introduced, at first as an auxiliary force, in

464-515: A rifled gun. HEAT shells were developed during World War II as a munition made of an explosive shaped charge that uses the Munroe effect to create a very high-velocity particle stream of metal in a state of superplasticity , and used to penetrate solid vehicle armour . HEAT rounds caused a revolution in anti-tank warfare when they were first introduced in the later part of World War II. One infantryman could effectively destroy any extant tank with

580-408: A silicon - manganese -chromium-based alloy when those grades became scarce. The latter alloy, although able to be hardened to the same level, was more brittle and had a tendency to shatter on striking highly sloped armour. The shattered shot lowered penetration, or resulted in total penetration failure; for armour-piercing high-explosive (APHE) projectiles, this could result in premature detonation of

696-406: A German counter-attack of about 60 tanks. Three of the guns were knocked out, and all bar one gunner killed or fatally wounded. Despite the truck being on fire, Gunn manned the gun himself with a sergeant as his loader, engaging the enemy at 800 yards, he fired 40-50 rounds knocking out two tanks and damaging others before he was killed. The battery commander then took over. From mid-1942, the 2-pdr

812-514: A barrel or barrel extension which taperes towards the muzzle – a system known as the Gerlich principle . This projectile design is very similar to the APCR-design - featuring a high-density core within a shell of soft iron or another alloy - but with the addition of soft metal flanges or studs along the outer projectile wall to increase the projectile diameter to a higher caliber. This caliber

928-426: A certain mass-ratio between length and diameter (calibre) for accurate flight, traditionally a length-to-diameter ratio less than 10 (more for higher density projectiles). If a spin-stabilized projectile is made too long it will become unstable and tumble during flight. This limits how long APDS sub-projectiles of can be in relation to its sub-calibre, which in turn limits how thin the sub-projectile can be without making

1044-459: A core of depleted uranium . Depleted-uranium penetrators have the advantage of being pyrophoric and self-sharpening on impact, resulting in intense heat and energy focused on a minimal area of the target's armour. Some rounds also use explosive or incendiary tips to aid in the penetration of thicker armour. High explosive incendiary/armour piercing ammunition combines a tungsten carbide penetrator with an incendiary and explosive tip. Energy

1160-527: A deck like a helicopter carrier for helicopters and V/STOL aircraft. Ordnance QF 2 pounder The Ordnance QF 2-pounder ( QF denoting "quick firing"), or simply "2 pounder gun", was a 40 mm (1.575 in) British anti-tank gun and vehicle-mounted gun employed in the Second World War . It was the main anti-tank weapon of the artillery units in the Battle of France and, due to

1276-472: A displacement hierarchy, and the size of all vessel types has grown beyond the definitions used earlier in the 20th century. Another key difference between older and modern vessels is that all modern warships are "soft", without the thick armor and bulging anti-torpedo protection of World War II and older designs. Most navies also include many types of support and auxiliary vessels , such as minesweepers , patrol boats and offshore patrol vessels . By 1982

SECTION 10

#1732787326196

1392-636: A gun, the 7.5 cm fired by the Kw.K.37 L/24 of the Panzer IV tank and the Stug III self-propelled gun (7.5 cm Gr.38 Hl/A, later editions B and C). In mid-1941, Germany started producing HEAT rifle grenades, first issued to paratroopers and by 1942 to regular army units. In 1943, the Püppchen , Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust were introduced. The Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck or 'tank terror' gave

1508-416: A handheld weapon, thereby dramatically altering the nature of mobile operations. During World War II, weapons using HEAT warheads were known as having a hollow charge or shaped charge warhead. Claims for priority of invention are difficult to resolve due to subsequent historic interpretations, secrecy, espionage, and international commercial interest. Shaped-charge warheads were promoted internationally by

1624-471: A hardened steel plate at high velocity imparted significant force to the projectile and standard armour-piercing shells had a tendency to shatter instead of penetrating, especially at oblique angles, so shell designers added a mild steel cap to the nose of the shells. The more flexible mild steel would deform on impact and reduce the shock transmitted to the projectile body. Shell design varied, with some fitted with hollow caps and others with solid ones. Since

1740-527: A large metal arrow. APFSDS sub-projectiles can thus achieve much higher length-to-diameter ratios than APDS-projectiles, which in turn allows for much higher sub-calibre ratios (smaller sub-calibre to the full-calibre), meaning that APFSDS-projectiles can have an extremely small frontal cross-section to decrease air-resistance , thus increasing velocity , while still having a long body to retain great mass by length, meaning more kinetic energy . Velocity and kinetic energy both dictates how much range and penetration

1856-408: A large-calibre anti-tank gun, because of the high mass of the shot, its rigidity, short overall length, and thick body. The APS uses fragmentation warheads or projected plates, and both are designed to defeat the two most common anti-armour projectiles in use today: HEAT and kinetic energy penetrator . Defeating HEAT projectiles can occur by damaging or detonating their explosive filling, or by damaging

1972-430: A merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries only weapons, ammunition and supplies for its crew. In wartime, the distinction between warships and merchant ships is often blurred. Until the 17th century it was common for merchant ships to be pressed into naval service, and not unusual for more than half of a fleet to be composed of merchant ships—there was not a large difference in construction, unlike

2088-469: A much reduced armour penetrating ability. The filling was detonated by a rear-mounted delay fuze. The explosive used in APHE projectiles needs to be highly insensitive to shock to prevent premature detonation. The US forces normally used the explosive Explosive D , otherwise known as ammonium picrate, for this purpose. Other combatant forces of the period used various explosives, suitably desensitized (usually by

2204-446: A pioneer of modern-day amphibious assault ships . During some of her operations, she was known to have used at least four cover names, R1, GL, MT, and Ryujo Maru. An amphibious warfare ship is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines , on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crudely described as ships and craft. In general,

2320-436: A series of bombs propelled by rockets to assist in penetrating the armour of ships and similar targets. Armour-piercing rifle and pistol cartridges are usually built around a penetrator of hardened steel , tungsten , or tungsten carbide , and such cartridges are often called "hard-core bullets". Rifle armour-piercing ammunition generally carries its hardened penetrator within a copper or cupronickel jacket, similar to

2436-557: A shaped charge liner or fuzing system. Defeating kinetic energy projectiles can occur by inducing changes in yaw or pitch or by fracturing the rod. Warship A warship or combatant ship is a ship that is used for naval warfare . Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation , though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations . As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are typically faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships . Unlike

SECTION 20

#1732787326196

2552-403: A shell version. They had been using APHE since the invention of the 1.5% high-explosive Palliser shell in the 1870s and 1880s, and understood the tradeoffs between reliability, damage, percentage of high explosive, and penetration, and deemed reliability and penetration to be most important for tank use. Naval APHE projectiles of this period, being much larger used a bursting charge of about 1–3% of

2668-416: A ship class without redefinition. The destroyer is generally regarded as the dominant surface-combat vessel of most modern blue-water navies. However, the once distinct roles and appearances of cruisers , destroyers , frigates , and corvettes have blurred. Most vessels have come to be armed with a mix of anti-surface, anti-submarine and anti-aircraft weapons. Class designations no longer reliably indicate

2784-499: A shock-buffering cap is placed between the core and the outer ballistic shell as with APC rounds. However, because the round is lighter but still the same overall size it has poorer ballistic qualities, and loses velocity and accuracy at longer ranges. The APCR was superseded by the APDS, which dispensed with the outer light alloy shell once the round had left the barrel. The concept of a heavy, small-diameter penetrator encased in light metal

2900-418: A small calibre and very high velocity. The entire projectile is not normally made of the same material as the penetrator because the physical characteristics that make a good penetrator (i.e. extremely tough, hard metal) make the material equally harmful to the barrel of the gun firing the cartridge. Most modern active protection systems (APS) are unlikely to be able to defeat full-calibre AP rounds fired from

3016-410: A smaller but dense penetrating body within a larger shell, firing at a very-high muzzle velocity . Modern penetrators are long rods of dense material like tungsten or depleted uranium (DU) that further improve the terminal ballistics. The late 1850s saw the development of the ironclad warship , which carried wrought iron armour of considerable thickness. This armour was practically immune to both

3132-459: A smaller number of larger guns to be carried. The final innovation during the 19th century was the development of the torpedo and development of the torpedo boat . Small, fast torpedo boats seemed to offer an alternative to building expensive fleets of battleships. Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced

3248-413: A type of shaped charge used to defeat armoured vehicles. They are very efficient at defeating plain steel armour but less so against later composite and reactive armour . The effectiveness of such shells is independent of velocity, and hence the range: it is as effective at 1000 metres as at 100 metres. This is because HEAT shells do not lose penetrating ability over distance. The speed can even be zero in

3364-591: Is a saboted sub-calibre high-sectional density projectile, typically known as a long rod penetrator (LRP), which has been outfitted with fixed fins at the back end for ballistic-stabilization (so called aerodynamic drag stabilization). The fin-stabilisation allows the APFSDS sub-projectiles to be much longer in relation to its sub-calibre thickness compared to the very similar spin-stabilized ammunition type APDS (armour-piercing discarding sabot). Projectiles using spin-stabilization ( longitudinal axis rotation ) requires

3480-521: Is a projectile which has a core of high-density hard material, such as tungsten carbide , surrounded by a full-bore shell of a lighter material (e.g., an aluminium alloy). However, the low sectional density of the APCR resulted in high aerodynamic drag . Tungsten compounds such as tungsten carbide were used in small quantities of inhomogeneous and discarded sabot round, but that element was in short supply in most places. Most APCR projectiles are shaped like

3596-428: Is added (APC-T). An armour-piercing projectile must withstand the shock of punching through armour plating . Projectiles designed for this purpose have a greatly strengthened body with a specially hardened and shaped nose. One common addition to later projectiles is the use of a softer ring or cap of metal on the nose known as a penetrating cap, or armour-piercing cap . This lowers the initial shock of impact to prevent

Armour-piercing ammunition - Misplaced Pages Continue

3712-485: Is also pyrophoric and may become opportunistically incendiary, especially as the round shears past the armour exposing non-oxidized metal, but both the metal's fragments and dust contaminate the battlefield with toxic hazards. The less toxic WHAs are preferred in most countries except the US and Russia. Armour-piercing bombs dropped by aircraft were used during World War II against capital and other armoured ships. Among

3828-408: Is concentrated by using a reduced-diameter tungsten shot, surrounded by a lightweight outer carrier, the sabot (a French word for a wooden shoe ). This combination allows the firing of a smaller diameter (thus lower mass/aerodynamic resistance/penetration resistance) projectile with a larger area of expanding-propellant "push", thus a greater propelling force and resulting kinetic energy. Once outside

3944-648: Is increased velocity for the projectile. However, projectile impact against armour at higher velocity causes greater levels of shock. Materials have characteristic maximum levels of shock capacity, beyond which they may shatter, or otherwise disintegrate. At relatively high impact velocities, steel is no longer an adequate material for armour-piercing rounds. Tungsten and tungsten alloys are suitable for use in even higher-velocity armour-piercing rounds, due to their very high shock tolerance and shatter resistance, and to their high melting and boiling temperatures. They also have very high density. Aircraft and tank rounds sometimes use

4060-877: Is normally contained between the cap and penetrating nose, within a hollow at the rear, or a combination of both. If the projectile also uses a tracer , the rear cavity is often used to house the tracer compound. For larger-calibre projectiles, the tracer may instead be contained within an extension of the rear sealing plug. Common abbreviations for solid (non-composite/hardcore) cannon-fired shot are; AP , AP-T , API and API-T ; where "T" stands for "tracer" and "I" for "incendiary". More complex, composite projectiles containing explosives and other ballistic devices tend to be referred to as armour-piercing shells. Early WWII-era uncapped armour-piercing ( AP ) projectiles fired from high-velocity guns were able to penetrate about twice their calibre at close range (100 m). At longer ranges (500–1,000 m), this dropped 1.5–1.1 calibres due to

4176-402: Is the initial full-bore caliber, but the outer shell is deformed as it passes through the taper. Flanges or studs are swaged down in the tapered section so that as it leaves the muzzle the projectile has a smaller overall cross-section. This gives it better flight characteristics with a higher sectional density, and the projectile retains velocity better at longer ranges than an undeformed shell of

4292-551: The 4.2 cm Pak 41 and 7.5 cm Pak 41 . Although HE rounds were also put into service, they weighed only 93 grams and had low effectiveness. The German taper was a fixed part of the barrel. In contrast, the British used the Littlejohn squeeze-bore adaptor , which could be attached or removed as necessary. The adaptor extended the usefulness of armoured cars and light tanks, which could not be upgraded with any gun larger than

4408-664: The Bofors 37 mm , and significantly outclassed 25mm and 20mm weapons of that era. A drawback of the 2-pounder was that it was nearly twice as heavy as the PaK 36 and had a higher profile. The gun was first put into use on armoured fighting vehicles as the main armament of the new lines of cruiser and infantry tanks - the Cruiser Mk I and the Matilda II which entered production in 1937. The Light Tank Mk VII designed in 1937 also had

4524-482: The North African Campaign the army had to rely on the 2-pdr, augmented by the 25 pounder gun-howitzer functioning as an anti-tank gun—a role for which it was capable (at the expense of diverting it from its main artillery role). As German tank design evolved, anti-armour performance of the 2-pdr gradually became insufficient; however, the gun owes a large part of the bad reputation it gained during

4640-541: The Second World War Nazi Germany's fleet of U-boats (submarines) almost starved Britain into submission and inflicted huge losses on US coastal shipping. The success of submarines led to the development of new anti-submarine convoy escorts during the First and Second World Wars, such as the destroyer escort . Confusingly, many of these new types adopted the names of the smaller warships from

4756-587: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) treaty negotiations had produced a legal definition of what was then generally accepted as a late-twentieth century warship. The UNCLOS definition was : "A warship means a ship belonging to the armed forces of a State bearing the external marks distinguishing such ships of its nationality, under the command of an officer duly commissioned by

Armour-piercing ammunition - Misplaced Pages Continue

4872-507: The age of sail , such as corvette , sloop and frigate . A seaplane tender is a ship that supports the operation of seaplanes . Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are regarded by some as the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War . A major shift in naval warfare occurred with

4988-523: The bombs used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the attack on Pearl Harbor were 800 kg (1,800 lb) armour-piercing bombs, modified from 41-centimeter (16.1 in) naval shells, which succeeded in sinking the battleship USS  Arizona . The Luftwaffe ' s PC 1400 armour-piercing bomb and the derived Fritz X precision-guided bomb were able to penetrate 130 mm (5.1 in) of armour. The Luftwaffe also developed

5104-516: The capital ships from the menace of the torpedo boat. At this time, Britain also introduced the use of fuel oil to power steam warships, instead of coal. Oil produced twice as much power per unit weight as coal, and was much easier to handle. Tests were conducted by the Royal Navy in 1904 involving the torpedo-boat destroyer Spiteful , the first warship powered solely by fuel oil. These proved its superiority, and all warships procured for

5220-420: The dreadnoughts on an even larger hull , battlecruisers sacrificed armour protection for speed. Battlecruisers were faster and more powerful than all existing cruisers, but much more vulnerable to shellfire than contemporary battleships. The torpedo-boat destroyer was developed at the same time as the dreadnoughts. Bigger, faster and more heavily gunned than the torpedo boat , the destroyer evolved to protect

5336-554: The 4th century BC and the subsequent refinement of this technology enabled the first fleets of siege engine - equipped warships by the Hellenistic age . During late antiquity , ramming fell out of use and the galley tactics against other ships used during the Middle Ages until the late 16th century focused on boarding. Naval artillery was redeveloped in the 14th century, but cannon did not become common at sea until

5452-462: The 6-pdr, it remained in use with armoured cars. Its performance as an anti-armour weapon was improved later in the war with the development of more sophisticated ammunition and got an additional boost with the introduction of the Littlejohn adaptor , which converted it to a squeeze-bore design firing specially-designed shells at much higher velocities. However, the Littlejohn adaptor prevented

5568-516: The Belgian Army). Although Woolwich Arsenal had already designed a successor to the 2-pdr, the 6 pounder gun , it was decided in the face of a possible German invasion to re-equip the army with the 2-pdr, avoiding the period of adaptation to production, and also of re-training and acclimatization with the new weapon. Consequently, 6 pounder production was delayed until November 1941 and frontline availability until spring 1942. Thus during most of

5684-489: The British. The only British APHE projectile for tank use in this period was the Shell AP, Mk1 for the 2 pdr anti-tank gun and this was dropped as it was found that the fuze tended to separate from the body during penetration. Even when the fuze did not separate and the system functioned correctly, damage to the interior was little different from the solid shot, and so did not warrant the additional time and cost of producing

5800-624: The German infantryman the ability to destroy any tank on the battlefield from 50–150 m with relative ease of use and training, unlike the UK PIAT. The first British HEAT weapon to be developed and issued was a rifle grenade using a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch (63.5 mm) cup launcher on the end of the barrel; the British No. 68 AT grenade issued to the British army in 1940. By 1943, the PIAT

5916-620: The German invasion of the Low Countries and the subsequent rear-guard actions at Dunkirk . Most of the British Army's 2-pdrs were left behind in France during the retreat, stripping most of the army's infantry anti-tank capability. Those guns captured at Dunkirk entered German service under the designation 4.0 cm Pak 192 (e) or 4.0 cm Pak 154 (b) , the "e" and "b" referring to the origin (English or mistakenly attributed to

SECTION 50

#1732787326196

6032-534: The QF 2 pdr. Although a full range of shells and shot could be used, changing an adaptor during a battle is usually impractical. The APCNR was superseded by the APDS design which was compatible with non-tapered barrels. An important armour-piercing development was the armour-piercing discarding sabot ( APDS ). An early version was developed by engineers working for the French Edgar Brandt company , and

6148-686: The Royal Navy from 1912 were designed to burn fuel oil. During the lead-up to the Second World War , Germany and the United Kingdom once again emerged as the two dominant Atlantic sea powers. The German navy, under the Treaty of Versailles , was limited to only a few minor surface ships. But the clever use of deceptive terminology, such as Panzerschiffe deceived the British and French commands. They were surprised when ships such as Admiral Graf Spee , Scharnhorst , and Gneisenau raided Allied supply lines. The greatest threat however,

6264-532: The Swiss inventor Henry Mohaupt , who exhibited the weapon before World War II. Before 1939, Mohaupt demonstrated his invention to British and French ordnance authorities. During the war, the French communicated the technology to the U.S. Ordnance Department, who then invited Mohaupt to the US, where he worked as a consultant on the bazooka project. By mid-1940, Germany had introduced the first HEAT round to be fired by

6380-563: The U.K. were promising; however the system was still being developed when the war ended, and the program was subsequently ended along with it. Another development was the 2-pdr HV 'Pipsqueak', a postwar gun using a 40x438R cartridge originally intended as the main armament for the Alvis Saladin armoured car that was to replace the AEC armoured car . This was designed to fire Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) rounds, which would match

6496-483: The Vickers carriage, the gun could also be fired from its wheels, at the expense of limited traverse. The shield was 5/16 inch armour plate. Typically it was towed by a 15-cwt (3/4-ton) truck with 68 rounds on the truck with a further 14 on the carriage itself. It could also be carried "portee" on a 30-cwt truck. The 40 mm 2-pounder could outperform a typical 37 mm piece, such as the German 3.7 cm PaK 36 or

6612-584: The adaptor, the carrier was squeezed from 40 mm to 30 mm diameter. The reduction in cross-sectional area increased the driving force and therefore the velocity of the round taking penetration from 52 mm to 88 mm. A late-war project was the Canadian David High Velocity to allow 2-pdr ammunition to be fired from the larger-calibre 6-pdr. This was intended to improve the muzzle velocity of the shot. Initial trials carried out in Canada and

6728-399: The aim of the bursting charge was to aid the number of fragments produced by the shell after armour penetration, the energy of the fragments coming from the speed of the shell after being fired from a high velocity anti-tank gun, as opposed to its bursting charge. There were some notable exceptions to this, with naval calibre shells put to use as anti-concrete and anti-armour shells, albeit with

6844-554: The attacks, as in the Battle of the Coral Sea . Modern warships are generally divided into seven main categories, which are: aircraft carriers , cruisers , destroyers , frigates , corvettes , submarines , and amphibious warfare ships . Battleships comprise an eighth category, but are not in current service with any navy in the world. Only the deactivated American Iowa -class battleships still exist as potential combatants, and battleships in general are unlikely to re-emerge as

6960-542: The barrel, the sabot is stripped off by a combination of centrifugal force and aerodynamic force, giving the shot low drag in flight. For a given calibre, the use of APDS ammunition can effectively double the anti-tank performance of a gun. Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot ( APFSDS ) in English nomenclature , alternatively called "arrow projectile" or "dart projectile" ( German : Pfeil-Geschoss , Swedish : pilprojektil , Norwegian : pilprosjektil ),

7076-877: The best-performance penetrating caps were not very aerodynamic, an additional ballistic cap was later fitted to reduce drag. The resulting rounds were classified as armour-piercing capped ballistic capped (APCBC). The hollow ballistic cap gave the rounds a sharper point which reduced drag and broke away on impact. Semi-armour-piercing ( SAP ) shot is a solid shot made of mild steel (instead of high-carbon steel in AP shot). They act as low-cost ammunition with worse penetration characteristics to contemporary high carbon steel projectiles. Armour-piercing composite rigid ( APCR ) in British nomenclature , high-velocity armour-piercing ( HVAP ) in US nomenclature, alternatively called "hard core projectile" ( German : Hartkernprojektil ) or simply "core projectile" ( Swedish : kärnprojektil ),

SECTION 60

#1732787326196

7192-531: The bursting charge. Armour-piercing high-explosive ( APHE ) shells are armour-piercing shells containing an explosive filling, which were initially termed "shell", distinguishing them from non-explosive "shot". This was largely a matter of British usage, relating to the 1877 invention of the first of the type, the Palliser shell with 1.5% high explosive (HE). By the start of World War II, armour-piercing shells with bursting charges were sometimes distinguished by

7308-513: The campaign to the open terrain, which made the high-silhouette piece hard to conceal, and to poor tactics. In North Africa, it was found that the 2-pdr was damaged by being towed long distances across rough, stony deserts. Starting in 1941, the British developed the " en portee " method of mounting the 2-pdr, and later the 6-pounder, on a truck. Though only intended for transport, with the gun carried unloaded, crews tended to fire from their vehicles for more mobility, with consequent casualties. Hence

7424-409: The case where a soldier places a magnetic mine onto a tank's armour plate. A HEAT charge is most effective when detonated at a certain, optimal distance in front of a target and HEAT shells are usually distinguished by a long, thin nose probe protruding in front of the rest of the shell and detonating it at a correct distance, e.g., PIAT bomb. HEAT shells are less effective when spun, as when fired from

7540-491: The conflict, APCBC fired at close range (100 m) from large-calibre, high-velocity guns (75–128 mm) were able to penetrate a much greater thickness of armour in relation to their calibre (2.5 times) and also a greater thickness (2–1.75 times) at longer ranges (1,500–2,000 m). In an effort to gain better aerodynamics, AP rounds were given ballistic caps to reduce drag and improve impact velocities at medium to long range. The hollow ballistic cap would break away when

7656-528: The difference between a heavily armoured battleship and an ocean liner. Until the threat of piracy subsided in the 19th century, it was normal practice to arm larger merchant ships such as galleons . Warships have also often been used as troop carriers or supply ships, such as by the French Navy in the 18th century or the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War. In war since

7772-498: The early 2000s onwards, rifled APFSDS mainly exist for small- to medium-calibre (under 60 mm) weapon systems, as such mainly fire conventional full-calibre ammunition and thus need rifling. APFSDS projectiles are usually made from high-density metal alloys, such as tungsten heavy alloys (WHA) or depleted uranium (DU); maraging steel was used for some early Soviet projectiles. DU alloys are cheaper and have better penetration than others, as they are denser and self-sharpening. Uranium

7888-573: The early 20th century, merchant ships were often armed and used as auxiliary warships , such as the Q-ships of the First World War and the armed merchant cruisers of the Second World War . The main types of warships today are, in order of decreasing size: aircraft carriers – amphibious assault ships – cruisers – destroyers – frigates – corvettes – fast attack boats . A more extensive list follows: The first evidence of ships being used for warfare comes from Ancient Egypt , specifically

8004-403: The first time, the aircraft carrier became the clear choice to serve as the main capital ship within a naval task force. World War II was the only war in history in which battles occurred between groups of carriers. World War II saw the first use of radar in combat. It brought the first naval battle in which the ships of both sides never engaged in direct combat, instead sending aircraft to make

8120-494: The government of the State and whose name appears in the appropriate service list or its equivalent, and manned by a crew which is under regular armed forces discipline." The first practical submarines were developed in the late 19th century, but it was only after the development of the torpedo that submarines became truly dangerous (and hence useful). By the end of the First World War submarines had proved their potential. During

8236-413: The gun commander could rotate the gun by pushing against the gunners shoulders. The commander was aided by a simple ring and bead sight on the top of the shield. The gunner had a 1.9x magnification telescopic sight with a 21 degree field of view, graduated from 600 yd (550 m) to 1,800 yd (1,600 m) at 300 yd intervals. The gunner also had a notch and bead sight above the telescopic With

8352-455: The gun, as did the Daimler armoured car developed in the following years. To improve performance a squeeze bore system was developed. The Littlejohn adaptor which screwed onto the end of the gun's barrel was used with Armour-piercing, composite non-rigid (APCNR) ammunition. The round fired a light alloy carrier surrounding a heavy tungsten shot; as it passed through the tapered barrel of

8468-468: The guns were capable of being reloaded quickly enough to be reused in the same battle. The size of a ship required to carry a large number of cannons made oar-based propulsion impossible, and warships came to rely primarily on sails. The sailing man-of-war emerged during the 16th century. By the middle of the 17th century, warships were carrying increasing numbers of cannons on their broadsides and tactics evolved to bring each ship's firepower to bear in

8584-447: The high-explosive filling. Advanced and precise methods of differentially hardening a projectile were developed during this period, especially by the German armament industry. The resulting projectiles change gradually from high hardness (low toughness) at the head to high toughness (low hardness) at the rear and were much less likely to fail on impact. APHE shells for tank guns, although used by most forces of this period, were not used by

8700-527: The introduction of the aircraft carrier . First at Taranto and then at Pearl Harbor , the aircraft carrier demonstrated its ability to strike decisively at enemy ships out of sight and range of surface vessels. By the end of the Second World War, the carrier had become the dominant warship. Shinshū Maru was a ship of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. She was the world's first purpose-built landing craft carrier ship, and

8816-551: The ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protected by case-hardened steel armour, and powered by coal-fired triple-expansion steam engines, pre-dreadnought battleships carried a main battery of very heavy guns in fully-enclosed rotating turrets supported by one or more secondary batteries of lighter weapons. The role of corvettes , sloops and frigates were taken by new types of ships like destroyers , protected cruisers and armoured cruisers . Another revolution in capital warship design began shortly after

8932-462: The jacket which would surround lead in a conventional projectile . Upon impact on a hard target, the copper case is destroyed, but the penetrator continues its motion and penetrates the target. Armour-piercing ammunition for pistols has also been developed and uses a design similar to the rifle ammunition. Some small ammunition, such as the FN 5.7mm round, is inherently capable of piercing armour, being of

9048-752: The light of battlefield experience, and the high-explosive shell was not produced until late 1942. The 2-pdr gun became a part of the Royal Artillery in 1938, when five field brigades were converted to anti-tank regiments. In the early western campaigns, the 2-pdr was employed by two types of Royal Artillery formations: anti-tank regiments of infantry divisions (four batteries with 12 pieces each), and light anti-aircraft/anti-tank regiments of armoured divisions (two 12-gun AT batteries). From October 1940, separate 48-gun anti-tank regiments were introduced in armoured divisions too. Infantry brigade structure initially included an anti-tank company , though it

9164-399: The main material for warship construction. From the 1850s, the sailing ships of the line were replaced by steam-powered battleships , while the sailing frigates were replaced by steam-powered cruisers . The armament of warships also changed with the invention of the rotating barbettes and turrets , which allowed the guns to be aimed independently of the direction of the ship and allowed

9280-593: The need to rearm quickly after the Dunkirk evacuation , remained in service during the North African campaign . In its vehicle-mounted variant the 2-pounder was a common main gun on British tanks early in World War II, as well as being a typical main armament of armoured cars , such as the Daimler , throughout the war. As the armour protection of Axis tanks improved, the 2-pounder lost effectiveness and it

9396-754: The northern Nile River most likely to defend against Mediterranean peoples. The galley warship most likely originated in Crete an idea which was soon copied and popularized by the Phoenicians . In the time of Mesopotamia , Ancient Persia , Phoenicia , Ancient Greece and the Ancient Rome , warships were always galleys (such as biremes , triremes and quinqueremes ): long, narrow vessels powered by banks of oarsmen and designed to ram and sink enemy vessels, or to engage them bow -first and follow up with boarding parties. The development of catapults in

9512-472: The penetration of the 'Littlejohn adaptor' shot while still allowing high-explosive (HE) shells to be fired. The claimed performance was better, the 1,295 m/s (4,250 ft/s) shot penetrating 85 mm (3.3 in) of armour at 60 degrees at 900 m (980 yd). Development of this gun was also abandoned when the role of the Saladin shifted towards infantry fire support, and a low-velocity 76 mm gun

9628-480: The place of the Palliser shot. At first, these forged-steel rounds were made of ordinary carbon steel , but as armour improved in quality, the projectiles followed suit. During the 1890s and subsequently, cemented steel armour became commonplace, initially only on the thicker armour of warships. To combat this, the projectile was formed of steel—forged or cast—containing both nickel and chromium . Another change

9744-444: The point from deflecting away from the armour face. Shot and shell used before and during World War I were generally cast from special chromium steel that was melted in pots. They were forged into shape afterward and then thoroughly annealed , the core bored at the rear and the exterior turned up in a lathe . The projectiles were finished in a similar manner to others described above. The final, or tempering treatment, which gave

9860-411: The poor ballistic shape and higher drag of the smaller-diameter early projectiles. In January 1942 a process was developed by Arthur E. Schnell for 20 mm and 37 mm armour piercing rounds to press bar steel under 500 tons of pressure that made more even "flow-lines" on the tapered nose of the projectile, which allowed the shell to follow a more direct nose first path to the armour target. Later in

9976-586: The primary method of conducting anti-tank warfare. They are still in use in artillery above 50 mm calibre, but the tendency is to use semi-armour-piercing high-explosive ( SAPHE ) shells, which have less anti-armour capability but far greater anti-materiel and anti-personnel effects. These still have ballistic caps, hardened bodies and base fuzes , but tend to have far thinner body material and much higher explosive contents (4–15%). Common terms (and acronyms) for modern armour-piercing and semi-armour-piercing shells are: High-explosive anti-tank ( HEAT ) shells are

10092-444: The projectile hit the target. These rounds were classified as armour-piercing ballistic capped (APBC) rounds. Armour-piercing, capped projectiles had been developed in the early 1900s, and were in service with both the British and German fleets during World War I. The shells generally consisted of a nickel steel body that contained the burster charge and was fitted with a hardened steel nose intended to penetrate heavy armour. Striking

10208-433: The projectile mass too light for sufficient kinetic energy (range and penetration), which in turn limits how aerodynamic the projectile can be (smaller calibre means less air-resistance ), thus limiting velocity , etc, etc. To get away from this, APFSDS sub-projectiles instead use aerodynamic drag stabilization (no longitudinal axis rotation), by means of fins attached to the base of the sub-projectile, making it look like

10324-421: The projectile will have. This long thin shape also has increased sectional density , in turn increasing penetration potential. Large calibre (105+ mm) APFSDS projectiles are usually fired from smoothbore (unrifled) barrels, as the fin-stabilization negates the need for spin-stabilization through rifling . Basic APFSDS projectiles can traditionally not be fired from rifled guns, as the immense spinning caused by

10440-683: The required hardness/toughness profile (differential hardening) to the projectile body, was a closely guarded secret. The rear cavity of these projectiles was capable of receiving a small bursting charge of about 2% of the weight of the complete projectile; when this is used, the projectile is called a shell, not a shot. The high-explosive filling of the shell, whether fuzed or unfuzed, had a tendency to explode on striking armour in excess of its ability to perforate. During World War II, projectiles used highly alloyed steels containing nickel -chromium- molybdenum , although in Germany, this had to be changed to

10556-572: The rifling damages and destroys the fins of the projectile, etc. This can however be solved by the use of "slipping driving bands" on the sabot ( driving bands which rotates freely from the sabot). Such ammunition was introduced during the 1970s and 1980s for rifled high-calibre tank guns and similar, such as the Western Royal Ordnance L7 and the Eastern D-10T . However, as such guns have been taken out of service since

10672-514: The rigid projectile from shattering, as well as aiding the contact between the target armour and the nose of the penetrator to prevent the projectile from bouncing off in glancing shots. Ideally, these caps have a blunt profile, which led to the use of a further thin aerodynamic cap to improve long-range ballistics . Armour-piercing shells may contain a small explosive charge known as a "bursting charge". Some smaller- calibre armour-piercing shells have an inert filling or an incendiary charge in place of

10788-453: The round cast-iron cannonballs then in use and to the recently-developed explosive shell . The first solution to this problem was effected by Major Sir W. Palliser , who, with the Palliser shot , invented a method of hardening the head of the pointed cast-iron shot. By casting the projectile point downwards and forming the head in an iron mold, the hot metal was suddenly chilled and became intensely hard (resistant to deformation through

10904-520: The same weight. As with the APCR, the kinetic energy of the round is concentrated at the core of impact. The initial velocity of the round is greatly increased by the decrease of barrel cross-sectional area toward the muzzle, resulting in a commensurate increase in velocity of the expanding propellant gases. The Germans deployed their initial design as a light anti-tank weapon, 2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 , early in World War II , and followed by

11020-472: The second quarter of the 19th century. The Crimean War gave a great stimulus to the development of guns. The introduction of explosive shells soon led to the introduction of iron , and later steel , naval armour for the sides and decks of larger warships. The first ironclad warships, the French Gloire and British Warrior , made wooden vessels obsolete. Metal soon entirely replaced wood as

11136-470: The ships carry the troops from the port of embarkation to the drop point for the assault and the craft carry the troops from the ship to the shore. Amphibious assaults taking place over short distances can also involve the shore-to-shore technique, where landing craft go directly from the port of embarkation to the assault point. Amphibious assault ships have a well deck with landing craft which can carry tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles and also have

11252-499: The standard APCBC round (although some of the German Pzgr. 40 and some Soviet designs resemble stubby arrows), but the projectile is lighter: up to half the weight of a standard AP round of the same calibre. The lighter weight allows a higher muzzle velocity. The kinetic energy of the round is concentrated in the core and hence on a smaller impact area, improving the penetration of the target armour. To prevent shattering on impact,

11368-478: The start of the 20th century, when Britain launched the Royal Navy 's all-big-gun battleship Dreadnought in 1906. Powered by steam turbines , it was bigger, faster and more heavily gunned than any existing battleships , which it immediately rendered obsolete. It was rapidly followed by similar ships in other countries. The Royal Navy also developed the first battlecruisers . Mounting the same heavy guns as

11484-576: The suffix "HE"; APHE was common in anti-tank shells of 75 mm calibre and larger, due to the similarity with the much larger naval armour-piercing shells already in common use. As the war progressed, ordnance design evolved so that the bursting charges in APHE became ever smaller to non-existent, especially in smaller calibre shells, e.g. Panzergranate 39 with only 0.2% high-explosive filling. The primary projectile types for modern anti-tank warfare are discarding-sabot kinetic energy penetrators , such as APDS. Full-calibre armour-piercing shells are no longer

11600-447: The target's armour thickness. The penetrator is a pointed mass of high-density material that is designed to retain its shape and carry the maximum possible amount of energy as deeply as possible into the target. Generally, the penetration capability of an armour-piercing round increases with the projectile's kinetic energy, and with concentration of that energy in a small area. Thus, an efficient means of achieving increased penetrating power

11716-430: The travelling position, one of the legs was used as a towing trail, and the other two were folded. When the gun was positioned for combat, the legs were emplaced on the ground and the wheels were lifted up. Woolwich Arsenal had continued to develop their carriage and when re-examined was seen to be superior to Vickers design, and with this carriage the gun was adopted as 'Ordnance QF 2-pounder Mark IX on Carriage Mark II'. It

11832-462: The use of waxes mixed with the explosive). Cap suffixes (C, BC, CBC) are traditionally only applied to AP, SAP, APHE and SAPHE-type projectiles (see below) configured with caps, for example "APHEBC" (armour-piercing high explosive ballistic capped), though sometimes the HE-suffix on capped APHE and SAPHE projectiles gets omitted (example: APHECBC > APCBC). If fitted with a tracer, a "-T" suffix

11948-519: The vehicles tended to reverse into action so that the gunshield of the 2-pdr would provide a measure of protection against enemy fire. An infantry battalion anti-tank platoon would have eight guns on 3-ton lorries On 21 November 1941 during battle of Sidi Rezegh Second lieutenant George Ward Gunn J Battery Royal Horse Artillery was earned the Victoria Cross for his action with a 2-pdr. The troop of four portee 2-pdrs under his command engaged

12064-422: The weight of the complete projectile, but in anti-tank use, the much smaller and higher velocity shells used only about 0.5% e.g. Panzergranate 39 with only 0.2% high-explosive filling. This was due to much higher armour penetration requirements for the size of shell (e.g. over 2.5 times calibre in anti-tank use compared to below 1 times calibre for naval warfare). Therefore, in most APHE shells put to anti-tank use

12180-417: Was conceptually similar, although the wheels had to be removed when the gun was emplaced for combat. This carriage was also manufactured by Vickers. The unusual construction gave the gun good stability and a traverse of 360 degrees , allowing it to quickly engage moving vehicles from any approach. The gunner had handwheels for traverse and elevation. Additionally, he could disengage the traverse mechanism and

12296-697: Was developed as both a tank weapon and an anti-tank gun. For reasons of economy and standardization, it was accepted - as the 2-pdr Mark IX - for both purposes in October 1935. Carriages for the gun were designed by Vickers and the Design Department at the Woolwich Arsenal . Vickers was the first to submit a design, which was accepted as the 'Ordnance QF 2-pounder Mark IX on Carriage Mark I'. A limited number of pieces were built in 1936. The carriage had an innovative three-legged construction. In

12412-622: Was developed; a combination of a HEAT warhead and a spigot mortar delivery system. While cumbersome, the weapon at last allowed British infantry to engage armour at range; the earlier magnetic hand-mines and grenades required them to approach suicidally close. During World War II, the British referred to the Munroe effect as the cavity effect on explosives . Armour-piercing solid shot for cannons may be simple, or composite, solid projectiles but tend to also combine some form of incendiary capability with that of armour-penetration. The incendiary compound

12528-482: Was fielded in two calibres (75 mm/57 mm for the 75 mm Mle1897/33 anti-tank gun , 37 mm/25 mm for several 37 mm gun types) just before the French-German armistice of 1940. The Edgar Brandt engineers, having been evacuated to the United Kingdom, joined ongoing APDS development efforts there, culminating in significant improvements to the concept and its realization. The APDS projectile type

12644-796: Was further developed in the United Kingdom between 1941 and 1944 by L. Permutter and S. W. Coppock, two designers with the Armaments Research Department. In mid-1944 the APDS projectile was first introduced into service for the UK's QF 6-pdr anti-tank gun and later in September 1944 for the QF-17 pdr anti-tank gun. The idea was to use a stronger and denser penetrator material with smaller size and hence less drag, to allow increased impact velocity and armour penetration. The armour-piercing concept calls for more penetration capability than

12760-460: Was gradually replaced by the 57 mm QF 6-pounder starting in 1942. It equipped infantry battalion anti-tank platoons replacing their anti-tank rifles until in turn replaced by 6-pounders but remained in service until the end of the war. This QF 2-pounder was distinctly different from the QF 2 pounder "pom-pom" gun naval anti-aircraft gun used by the Royal Navy which was a 40 mm autocannon. The gun

12876-575: Was increasingly displaced to infantry anti-tank platoons, to Home Guard units in Great Britain, and to the Far East, where it was still effective against the smaller and more lightly armoured Japanese tanks. It was finally removed from service entirely in December 1945. As a vehicle weapon, it remained in use throughout the war. Although most tanks equipped with it were withdrawn or upgraded to

12992-399: Was later employed in small-arms armour-piercing incendiary and HEIAP rounds. Armour-piercing, composite non-rigid ( APCNR ) in British nomenclature , alternatively called "flange projectile" ( Swedish : flänsprojektil ) or less commonly "armour-piercing super-velocity", is a sub-calibre projectile used in squeeze bore weapons (also known as "tapered bore" weapons) – weapons featuring

13108-409: Was selected for it instead. Initially one of the most serious shortcomings of the 2-pdr was the lack of a high-explosive shell resulting from the British doctrine, especially when the 2-pdr was the main gun of a tank; this was very important when a tank was being used for infantry support, intentionally leaving it with only its machine gun for anti-personnel use. The doctrine was slow to change even in

13224-415: Was the introduction of a soft metal cap over the point of the shell – so called "Makarov tips" invented by Russian admiral Stepan Makarov . This "cap" increased penetration by cushioning some of the impact shock and preventing the armour-piercing point from being damaged before it struck the armour face, or the body of the shell from shattering. It could also help penetration from an oblique angle by keeping

13340-624: Was the introduction of the Kriegsmarine 's largest vessels, Bismarck and Tirpitz . Bismarck was heavily damaged and sunk/scuttled after a series of sea battles in the north Atlantic in 1941, while Tirpitz was destroyed by the Royal Air Force in 1944. The British Royal Navy gained dominance of the European theatre by 1943. The Second World War brought massive changes in the design and role of several types of warships. For

13456-559: Was typically equipped with 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank guns ; these companies were disbanded later in the war. From 1942, infantry battalions received their own six-gun anti-tank platoons . The organization was different in the Far East theatres. The exact internal structure of AT units was also subject to changes and variations. The gun first saw combat with the British Expeditionary Force (World War II) during

#195804