3.7 cm Flak M42

3.7 cm Flak M42
General Historical Information
Place of origin:	Germany
Category:	Anti-Aircraft
Used by:	Germany
Passengers:	1
Calibre:	3.7 cm
Ammunition:	AP/HE tracer
Elevation:	-10 / +90°
Traverse:	360°
Rate of Fire:	250 rpm
Used by vehicles / ships:	U-Boot-Klasse XIV "Milchkuh" U-Boot-Klasse IX Typ IX B
Position 1:	Gunner
Historical Picture

This weapon was manufactured by Rheinmetal-Borsig and was essentially the 3.7 cm Flak 36 used by the army but with a longer barrel. It had a much higher rate of fire than the 3.7 cm SK C/30 already in use by the navy which had to be reloaded manually after every shot. This new gun was recoil operated, air cooled and used five-round ammunition strips. These were the first German light anti-aircraft guns to have shields, a surprising shortcoming of earlier weapons. It was even lighter than the previous gun.

The design of this gun emphasized ease of manufacturing. Constructed of a monobloc barrel connected to the breech ring by a bayonet joint to allow easy replacement. Used a vertical sliding breech block, hydraulic brake and spring recuperator.

Near the end of World War II twin guns were mounted on some submarines. It also began to be phased out by the 3.7 cm Flak 43 which was used by all branches of the German military.

Twin Mount

3.7 cm Flak M42
General Historical Information
Place of origin:	Germany
Category:	Anti-Aircraft
Used by:	Germany
Passengers:	1
Calibre:	3.7 cm
Ammunition:	AP/HE tracer
Elevation:	-10 / +90°
Traverse:	360°
Rate of Fire:	250 rpm
Used by vehicles / ships:	Roon Seydlitz
Position 1:	Gunner
Historical Picture

The twin mount for the 3.7 cm Flak M42 is on some of the ships in the Naval Ops custom map series. This naturally doubles the rate of fire of the Flak M42 making it much more effective than the 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns on other ships in that series.