B-13 (130 mm)

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

Ground vehicles

• SU-100Y

Naval vehicles

• Bezuprechny
• Leningrad
• Moskva
• Ognevoy
• Smelyi
• Soobrazitelny
• Stroyny
• Tashkent

General info

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Available ammunition

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Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

The B-13 was the replacement for the 130 mm/55 pattern 1913 and the main destroyer gun of World War II. The design for a new cannon was originally intended for Soviet submarines and posses superior ballistic characteristics to the Pattern 1913 it was replacing. Designed by G. N. Rafalovits at the Bolshevik Plant no. 232 in Leningrad, the gun changed multiple times during development. Originally intended to use a wedge lock and fixed ammunition and high barrel pressure, the design was switched to a destroyer weapon when it was found to be too big for the Pravda-class submarines. The design was thus changed to separate ammunition to reduce costs as it was now not needed for a dry-mount weapon. The gun also had the barrel changed to 50 calibers. Due to the changes and delays, it entered service in 1936 but entered production a year before because of the need for these guns.

Taking lessons from World War I, the Leningrad-class destroyer leader was the first ship to mount this cannon. The B-13 was the first mount to use this cannon and was a single-mount cannon with a 13mm gun shield. The gun was subsequently used on the Minsk, Baku, Tashkent, Gnevnyi, Storozhevoi, and Ognevoy-classes along with the one-off Pr. 45 Opitnyi destroyer. The B-13 also found itself on the Shikila and Khasan-class river monitors, as coastal artillery and as railway guns during World War II. With over 1,000 guns built, the B-13 remained in service through the 1970s in the coastal artillery, where it was mounted along the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula to protect Vladivostok from a potential Chinese attack.

During World War II, it was found that the high barrel pressure give a barrel life of 130 rounds, which meant the barrels would have to be replaced before the guns magazines. Attempts to fix this issue resulted in three barrel types which all had different grove depths and removable liners instead of a monobloc barrel. The original liners were 1mm deep but later models were 1.95mms and later 2.17mms which were all incompatible with ammunition and range tables which significantly hampered performance and was a logistical nightmare to manage and the breech mechanism was found to be unreliable. Production ended in 1954, but it would also see service in other nations.

Finland managed to repair five guns left behind by the Soviets during the Battle of Hanko during the Continuation War (World War II in Finland) which served in the coastal defense and railroad gun roles. The Finns nicknamed the gun Nikolajev and used the guns into the 1990s. The Polish Navy got two Skoryy-class destroyers in the late 1950s along with using the B-13 as coastal batteries on the Hel Peninsula. Finally, China got these guns on their Anshan-class (ex-Gnevny-class) destroyers.

Another application of the B-13 was as the weapon mounted on the SU-100Y prototype self-propelled gun. While it was originally planned by the ABTU (Directorate of Armored Forces) to mount a 152mm howitzer, the No 185 Factory instead armed it with the B-13. Intended for use primarily against fortifications the SU-100Y never entered production due to the end of the Winter War in Finland and the difficulty to transport the large machine by rail. The prototype would see service during the Battle of Moscow during World War II, but the plans for a self-propelled gun against fortifications evolved in a different direction creating the KV-2 heavy tank.

Media

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See also

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External links

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USSR naval cannons
20 mm	ShVAK
25 mm	2M-3
30 mm	AK-230 · 30 mm/54 AK-630 · BP "Plamya"
37 mm	37 mm/67 70-K · V-11
45 mm	45 mm/46 21-K · 45 mm/68 21-KM · 45 mm/89 SM-20-ZIF · 45 mm/89 SM-21-ZIF
57 mm	AK-725
75 mm	75 mm/50 Canet patt.1892
76 mm	34-K · 39-K · 76 mm/60 AK-176M · AK-726 · D-56TS · F-34 · Lender AA gun, pattern 1914/15
85 mm	85 mm/52 92-K · 85 mm/54.6 ZIS-C-53 · 90-K
100 mm	100 mm/56 B-34 · 100 mm/70 SM-5-1 · Minizini
102 mm	Pattern 1911
120 mm	120 mm/50 pattern 1905
130 mm	130 mm/55 pattern 1913 · 130 mm/58 SM-2-1 · B-13
152 mm	152 mm/57 B-38
180 mm	180 mm/57 B-1-P · 180 mm/60 B-1-K
305 mm	12-inch/52 pattern 1907 · 305 mm/54 B-50
	Foreign:
40 mm	2pdr QF Mk.IIc (Britain) · Skoda (Czechoslovakia)
47 mm	3 pdr QF Hotchkiss (Britain)
76 mm	76 mm/40 Ansaldo mod.1917 (Italy)
88 mm	SK C/30 (Germany)
120 mm	120 mm/50 Mk.4 Bofors M1924 (Sweden) · 120 mm/50 O.T.O. Mod.1933 (Italy)
152 mm	152/53 mm O.T.O. Mod.1929 (Italy)
320 mm	320 mm/44 Ansaldo model 1934 (Italy)