V-11 (37 mm)
Contents
Description
The V-11 is a twin-barreled automatic anti-aircraft gun mount found on five vessels of the Soviet naval trees.
Developed from the single-barrel 70-K found in the Soviet Army and Navy, this mount combines a large shell with high firing rates to produce a very competent anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapon.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
This gun fires quickly for its size, with a reload time of 0.43 seconds stock, 0.33 seconds with an expert crew. The mount is fully traversing, limited only by objects in its way such as other guns or parts of the ship. Vertical guidance is -5°/+89° which gives it the ability to fire anywhere it pleases.
Available ammunition
On the coastal ships Yenot and Rosomacha, you have a choice between Universal (50/50), HE (5 HEF-T/1 AP-T), or AP (1 HEF-T/5 AP-T).
Universal is very useful as it is able to damage both aircraft and lightly armoured ships severely. With how fast the gun can fire, only half of the belt being HE is not an issue against aircraft, and the same holds true for the AP rounds against other vessels.
Comparison with analogues
Compared to the earlier 45 mm/46 21-K, the V-11 fires 5 times faster while not sacrificing too much explosive mass.
The 40 mm Bofors guns found on many American and British vessels have almost identical performance to the V-11.
The 37 mm guns found on German ships have far lower fire rates, while the 37s found on Italian ships are either better (Breda mod.38/mod.39) or far worse (Breda mod.32).
The Japanese have no direct counterpart, the closest being their trusty 25 mm mounts which have a fire rate 5 times slower.
Usage in battles
This gun is best used as it was designed: to crush enemy aircraft with its devastating fire rate and high-explosive shells as well as smother enemy lightly-armoured vessels with its armour-piercing rounds. This mount does not have the best horizontal traverse rate, so it is advisable to take control of the turrets and rotate them towards the target you want them to engage before they come into range and you turn it over to the AI.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- High fire rate, can devastate enemy aircraft/light vessels easily.
- Near-perfect -5°/+89° vertical guidance, aircraft cannot avoid this weapon by attacking from directly overhead.
- Far better effective range compared to the 20 mm cannons found on earlier ships.
Cons:
- Somewhat slow traverse rate, skilled pilots can easily evade AI gunners.
- Despite having a mount shield visual, the armour isn't modeled so this mount gets easily knocked out.
- On cruisers you cannot select different ammo belts like you can on the coastal ships equipped with this weapon.
History
This gun was a navalized version of the Soviet Army's 37 mm 61-K, which was derived from the 45 mm 49-K, which was itself derived from the Bofors 25 mm (1") Model 1933. The 25 mm Bofors guns were originally sold to the Soviet Navy in 1935. Trials were successful, so the Russians started work on a scaled-up version firing 45 mm ammunition. The 45 mm 49-K was a successful design, but the Army judged that 45 mm was too large a caliber for an automatic field weapon and so requested a reduction in caliber to 37 mm.
These Russian designs were generally similar to the Bofors weapons of the 1930s, all of which had common features such as recoil springs and clip-feeds. In 1940 there were comparative trials between the 37 mm 61-K gun and the 40 mm/56 Bofors and it was concluded that there were no significant differences between them.
The naval version of the gun was designed in 1938 and it was accepted into service in 1940. It then went into large scale production and in 1942-43 replaced the semi-automatic 45 mm/46 21-K guns on most Soviet warships. The 37 mm guns became the main automatic weapons of the Soviet Navy during World War II and between 1941 and 1945 some 1,641 70-K guns were supplied to the Soviet Navy. A further 489 Army 61-K guns were also transferred over to the Navy. The naval mount stayed in production until 1955 and a total of 3,113 were built.
In addition to the single 70-K mount there were also a twin 66-K mount and quad 46-K mounts designed before the war. The 66-K was on trials when the war started and and development was then abandoned. The 46-K mount was also on trials at the start of the war. This mounting was designed for the new generations of Soviet warships under construction in the early 1940s. The 46-K mount was fully enclosed, armored, had NBC protection and the guns were water cooled. The mount was successful, but due to the needs of the war, it was not accepted into production. The single 46-K that was produced was installed on board the battleship Oktyabr'skaya Revolutsiya in the spring of 1942 where it was used throughout the war.
In 1940 design of another twin mount designated V-11 was started and by 1944 a prototype entered proofing trials. These were successful and this mount was accepted for service in 1946. Production of the V-11 went on until 1957 and a total of 1,872 mounts were built.
These guns were not exceptional weapons, but they worked well enough and they were the main Soviet automatic weapons from 1942 until 1955. Both the Navy and the Army versions were used in almost all of the conflicts of the second half of the 20th century.
The barrel is monobloc with a blade type breech, which opened to the bottom. The 70-K mounts were air cooled, while V-11 was water cooled. Ammunition was supplied in 5-round clips.
The ammunition for this weapon was developed from that used for the USA's Colt-Browning 37 mm. The USA considered the Colt-Browning ammunition to be inferior to that available for the 40 mm Bofors.
Nomenclature note: This weapon is generally known as "37 mm Model 1939" in Western publications.
The People's Republic of China produces this weapon for both single and twin mounts.
Media
See also
- 70-K (37 mm) - Single barrel variant
External links
