Type 88 AA (75 mm)
This page is about the Japanese naval cannon Type 88 AA (75 mm). For other uses, see Type 88 (Disambiguation). |
Contents
Description
75 mm Type 88 AA is a naval cannon of the Imperial Japanese Navy adopter early in the interwar period, seen its first wide use in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Despite having the AA, Anti-Air, designation, it struggles to deal with aerial targets, owning it to a very limited vertical guidance. Instead, it performs very well against coastal vessels, in particular small motor torpedo boats, with the HE shells.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
Available ammunition
Penetration statistics | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
100 m | 1,000 m | 2,000 m | 3,000 m | 4,000 m | 5,000 m | ||
Type 90 HE | HE | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Type 95 AP | APHEBC | 100 | 83 | 68 | 55 | 45 | 37 |
Type 90 HE-TF | HE-TF | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Shell details | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
Type 90 HE | HE | 720 | 6.52 | 0 | 0.1 | 420 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
Type 95 AP | APHEBC | 720 | 6.53 | 0.15 | 0.1 | 150 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Type 90 HE-TF | HE-TF | 720 | 6.52 | 0 | 0.1 | 420 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Comparison with analogues
Compared to its peers, Type 88's strong point is a large explosive filler in the APHEBC shells. Shells trade that explosive filler for a lower penetration, but that penetration is still more than enough to reach ammo racks on any coastal vessel, destroyer, most of the light cruisers or even several heavy cruisers. Her performance in the coastal battles is also aided by a good horizontal targeting speed of 21°/s and a fairly good rate of fire. Where she suffers is an extremely limited vertical targeting, slow muzzle velocity, fully exposed crew or a poor performance of the HE shell, which ultimately makes it a rather unremarkable weapon for the calibre.
HE
Cannon | Sample Ship | Ammo | Calibre (mm) |
Muzzle velocity (m/s) |
Sustained rate of fire (rounds/min) |
Targeting speed (°/s) |
Vertical guidance (°) |
TNT equivalent (kg) |
TNT equivalent per minute (kg) |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Horizontal | Vertical | |||||||||||
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3-inch Mark 10 | USS Raleigh | HE | 76 | 825 | 17 | 8.5 | 15 | 85 | 0.5 | 8.5 | 8 |
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3 inch Mk.33 | Geniere | HE | 76.2 | 823 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 85 | 0.5 | 3 | 8 |
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3-inch Mk.34 | USS Asheville | HE | 76.2 | 823 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 85 | 0.5 | 3 | 8 |
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34-K (76 mm) | Soobrazitelny | HE | 76.2 | 845 | 27 | 12 | 8 | 85 | 0.483 | 13.04 | 8 |
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39-K (76 mm) | Tashkent | HE | 76.2 | 845 | 20 | 18 | 11 | 87 | 0.483 | 9.66 | 8 |
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76 mm/60 AK-176M | MPK Pr.12412 | HE | 76.2 | 845 | 20 | 30 | 26 | 85 | 0.616 | 12.32 | 10 |
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AK-726 (76 mm) | SKR-7 | HE | 76.2 | 980 | 16.2 | 26 | 30 | 85 | 0.616 | 9.98 | 10 |
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3 inch 12pdr 12 cwt QF Mk.V (76 mm) | HMS Churchill | HE | 76.2 | 823 | 17 | 25 | 25 | 70 | 0.5 | 8.5 | 8 |
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76 mm/45 QF 3in 20cwt (76 mm) | HMS Valhalla | HE | 76.2 | 762 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 40 | 0.32 | 3.84 | 6 |
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Type 88 AA (75 mm) | Type 5 | HE | 75 | 720 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 50 | 0.42 | 8.4 | 5 |
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8 cm/40 3rd Year Type (76 mm) | Type K-8 No.13 late | HE | 76.2 | 685 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 75 | 0.48 | 9.6 | 8 |
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8 cm/60 Type 98 (76 mm) | IJN Agano | HE | 76.2 | 902 | 25 | 18 | 16 | 85 | 0.399 | 9.98 | 7 |
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76 mm/40 Ansaldo mod.1917 (76 mm) | RN Aquila | HE | 76.2 | 690 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 75 | 0.65 | 9.75 | 10 |
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76 mm/62 OTO-Melara Compact (76 mm) | Sparviero | HE | 76 | 925 | 85.7 | 51 | 30 | 85 | 1.08 | 92.57 | 15 |
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76 mm/62 SMP 3 (76 mm) | Albatros | HE | 76.2 | 930 | 8.57 | 34 | 60 | 85 | 0.864 | 7.40 | 15 |
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75 mm/50 model 1922 | Duguay-Trouin | HE | 75 | 850 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 85 | 0.45 | 6.75 | 8 |
AP / SAP
Cannon | Sample Ship | Ammo | Calibre (mm) |
Muzzle velocity (m/s) |
Sustained rate of fire (rounds/min) |
Targeting speed (°/s) |
Vertical guidance (°) |
TNT equivalent (kg) |
TNT equivalent per minute (kg) |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack @ 5000 m (mm) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Horizontal | Vertical | |||||||||||
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3-inch Mark 10 | USS Raleigh | APCBC | 76 | 823 | 17 | 8.5 | 15 | 85 | 0.13328 | 2.27 | 57 |
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3-inch Mk.34 | USS Asheville | APHE | 76.2 | 823 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 85 | 0.0637 | 0.38 | 62 |
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34-K (76 mm) | Soobrazitelny | APHEBC | 76.2 | 816 | 27 | 12 | 8 | 85 | 0.119 | 3.21 | 65 |
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39-K (76 mm) | Tashkent | APHEBC | 76.2 | 816 | 20 | 18 | 11 | 87 | 0.119 | 2.38 | 65 |
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Type 88 AA (75 mm) | Type 5 | APHEBC | 75 | 720 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 50 | 0.150 | 3 | 55 |
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76 mm/40 Ansaldo mod.1917 (76 mm) | RN Aquila | APHE | 76.2 | 690 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 75 | 0.319 | 4.79 | 20 |
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76 mm/62 OTO-Melara Compact (76 mm) | Sparviero | SAP | 76 | 925 | 85.7 | 51 | 30 | 85 | 0.6552 | 57.46 | 32 |
Usage in battles
Typically for the Great War-era guns, Type 88 AA struggles to deal with air targets, and has a fully exposed crew. But in many other ways it overperforms compared to other guns of the period. She's able to deal with the coastal vessels relatively well. Firing 1 high-explosive round every 3 seconds, and typically 2 to 3 rounds are able to destroy every boat it gets to see. AP rounds are best avoided, except for the situations when firing at a particularly large bow of a vessel, such as the Schnellboot, in order to prevent rounds constantly fusing on the same section. HT-TF rounds should be used only against aerial targets, as they might fuse ahead of a boat, inflicting minimal damage with the shrapnel.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Horizontal targeting speed
- Good sustained rate of fire
- Explosive filler of the HE rounds is more than enough to deal with wooden boats
- Very good characteristics of the armour-piercing shells
- Access to the dedicated anti-air shells (HE-TF)
Cons:
- Slow muzzle velocity and long shell travel time makes it difficult to hit distant targets
- Relatively low explosive filler of the HE shells
- Very limited vertical guidance make it impossible to engage dive bombers
- Exposed crew
History
The Type 88 was the most produced Japanese medium anti-aircraft cannon during World War II. The Type 88 AA was designed to replace the earlier Type 11 design from World War I. A modern medium anti-aircraft gun developed for the Imperial Japanese Army, the gun was not a straight copy of any foreign design, but an amalgamation of the best aspects of foreign designs according to the Army Technical Bureau. The primary influence was the British OQF 3in 20cwt anti-aircraft gun from World War I.
Adopted in 1928 (on the Gregorian calendar, 2588 on the Japanese Imperial calendar, hence the Type 88 designation), 2,000 guns were ultimately built and used by every field artillery unit for medium-level air defense. While it was battle-proven during the 1937 Invasion of Manchuria, the 1938 Soviet-Japanese Border Conflicts, and the 1937-1945 Second Sino-Japanese War, it was obsolete by 1941. It was still effective against the obsolete aircraft used in China and was also used during the war as an anti-tank gun, which was particularly effective against the M4 Shermans at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The gun was also planned for use on the Kei-Tei Mod. Kō studied but never finished during 1945. The final significant role was the defense of the Japanese Home Islands against the Allied Bombing Campaign. However, they were not capable of shooting down the high altitude B-29 Superfortresses leading to an experimental attempt to mount the Type 88 on the Ki-109 to counter these aircraft, though it never made it into production.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
- 34-K (76 mm)
- 3-inch Mark 10 (76 mm)
- Type 88 (75 mm) - Aircraft variant
External links
Japan naval cannons | |
---|---|
20 mm | JM61 · Type 98 |
25 mm | 25 mm/60 Type 96 |
37 mm | Type 4 · Type 11 pattern 1922 |
40 mm | 40 mm/62 Vickers |
57 mm | Type 97 |
75 mm | Type 88 AA |
76 mm | 3-inch/40 Type 41 · 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type · 8 cm/60 Type 98 |
100 mm | 100/65 mm Type 98 mod A |
120 mm | 120 mm/45 3rd Year Type · 120 mm/45 10th year type |
127 mm | 5 inch/40 Type 89 · 127 mm/50 3rd Year Type |
140 mm | 140 mm/50 3rd Year Type |
152 mm | 6-inch/45 Type 41 · 15 cm/50 Type 41 |
155 mm | 155 mm/60 3rd Year Type |
200 mm | 20 cm 3rd year type No.1 |
203 mm | 20 cm/45 Type 41 · 20 cm/50 3rd year type No.2 |
356 mm | 36 cm/45 Type 41 |
410 mm | 410 mm/45 Type 3 |
Foreign: | |
20 mm | 20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II (USA/Britain) |
40 mm | Bofors L/60 Mark 1 (USA) · Bofors L/60 Mark 2 (USA) · Bofors L/60 Mark 3 (USA) |
47 mm | 3 pdr QF Hotchkiss (Britain) |
76 mm | 3-inch Mark 10 (USA) · 3 inch Mk.33 (USA) · 3-inch Mk.34 (USA) |
120 mm | 4,7-inch/40 Armstrong (Britain) |
127 mm | 5 inch/38 Mk.12 (USA) |
305 mm | 12-inch/45 Vickers (Britain) · 12-inch/50 Vickers (Britain) |