37 mm/54 Breda Mod.39 (37 mm)

37 mm/54 Breda Mod.39 (37 mm) can engage targets vertically above the warship, with an ability to fire perfectly 90° up.

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• RN Attilio Regolo
• RN Comandante Margottini

General info

Comparison of the 37 mm/54 Breda family, from the left: Mod.32, Mod.38, and finally a single-mount Mod.39.

The gun comes in a two different variants - the one on RN Attilio Regolo having a slightly longer reload time between firing each of the 6-round magazines. Comparing to the other guns in the family it trades an ability to fire at a targets directly above the ship for a single gun per mount.

Cannon		Sample Ship	Mount	Ammo	Reloading rate (s)	Vertical Guidance (°)		Targeting speed (°/s)
						Below	Above	Horizontal	Vertical
	37 mm/54 Breda Mod.32	RN Eugenio di Savoia	Dual	1500	0.4	-10	80	17	13
	37 mm/54 Breda Mod.32	RN Trento	Dual	1500	0.3	-10	80	17	13
	37 mm/54 Breda Mod.38	RN Raimondo Montecuccoli	Dual	1500	0.4	-10	80	17	13
	37 mm/54 Breda Mod.38	RN Duca degli Abruzzi	Dual	1500	0.3	-10	80	17	13
	37 mm/54 Breda Mod.39	RN Attilio Regolo	Single	1500	0.4	-10	90	17	13
	37 mm/54 Breda Mod.39	RN Comandante Margottini	Single	1500	0.3	-10	90	17	13

Available ammunition

The gun fires a high-explosive shell, there is no specific belt configuration visible in the game. Typically, one or two hits are more than enough to take down most of the airplanes.

Comparison with analogues

Comparatively speaking the gun has a below-average firepower, with about average guidance speed. The key upside of the gun is its ability to fire on targets at all angles, without leaving any blind spot for enemy dive bombers to exploit.

Cannon		Sample ship	Mount	Ammo	Reload time (s)	Vertical guidance (°)		Targeting speed (°/s)
						Below	Above	Horizontal	Vertical
	37 mm/54 Breda Mod.39	RN Attilio Regolo	Single	1500	0.4	-10	90	17	13
	2pdr QF Mk.IIc (40 mm)	HMS Enterprise	Quad	2240	6	-10	75	13	13
	QF Mark VII (40 mm)	HMS Liverpool	Single	2000	0.4	-10	88	30	24
	37 mm/67 70-K	Krasny Krym	Single	2000	0.3	-5	85	17	13
	3.7 cm SK C/30 (37 mm)	Leipzig	Dual	2000	–	-10	85	17	13
	Bofors L/60 Mark 1 (40 mm)	USS Cleveland	Dual	2000	0.4	-15	88	26	20

Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

Pros:

Cons:

History

The Breda 37 mm/54 was a light anti-air gun developed in the early 1930s by the Italian company Breda. It was adopted as the standard light anti-air gun of the Italian army and navy, replacing the British pom-poms. The 37 mm/54 was a gas-operated autocannon that featured a selectable fire rate of 60, 90, or 120 rounds per minute, and was fed by a 6-round sequentially-loaded magazine, which allowed for a high sustained rate of fire. Both single- and dual-mount variants of the gun were built.

The 1939 version of the mount represented a significant advancement for the series, as it addressed a major issue that had been raised by crews - vibrations of the gun. This was achieved by incorporating an equilibrator, which allowed the entire gun to recoil, thus significantly enhancing long-range accuracy. Additionally, a unique collapsible single-gun mount was developed. It featured a mechanism that enabled the entire gun to be lowered below an armored hatch, when the barrel was lifted up 90 degrees. This design feature protected the gun from environmental factors or shrapnel damage when there were no valid targets to engage.

It is noteworthy that the Mod. 1939 was not the last iteration of the gun. A variant known as the Mod. 1941 was designed and developed, but it was never put into production. This variant was a towed single-gun version that was specifically intended for use by the Royal Italian Army. However, it never saw active service as the necessary production capacity was not available.

The standard ammunition used on the Breda 37/54 was contact high-explosive 37 x 232SR with a muzzle velocity of 800 m/s. The gun was capable of engaging targets up to 5,000 m altitude, or against naval targets at a maximum effective range of 4 km.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• 37 mm/54 Breda Mod.32
• 37 mm/54 Breda Mod.38

External links

• [Wikipedia] Cannone-Mitragliera da 37/54 (Breda)
• [NavWeaps] 37 mm/54 (1.5") Models 1932, 1938 and 1939
• [Gruppo di Cultura Navale] MITRAGLIERA da 37/54 Breda - Mod. 1939
• [Enciclopedia delle armi] Munizioni calibro da 31 a 37 mm