page_title: Anti-tank gun
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-tank gun / History / World War II
context_page_description: An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance of tanks during World War I. To destroy hostile tanks, artillerymen often used field guns depressed to fire directly at their targets. However, this practice expended too much valuable ammunition and was of increasingly limited effectiveness as tank armor became thicker. The first dedicated anti-tank artillery began appearing in the 1920s and by World War II was a common appearance in many European armies. In order to penetrate armor they fired specialized ammunition from longer barrels to achieve a higher muzzle velocity than field guns. Most anti-tank guns were developed in the 1930s as improvements in tanks were noted, and nearly every major arms manufacturer produced one type or another.
  Anti-tank guns deployed during World War II were often manned by specialist infantry rather than artillery crews, and issued to light infantry units accordingly.
context_section_description: At the outbreak of World War II, most armies were fielding light anti-tank guns firing 3.7 cm (37mm) ammunition. The guns were usually mounted on two-wheeled carriages so they could be towed into position, then withdrawn and repositioned rapidly. Since they weighed only a few hundred pounds on average, they could also be manhandled into position. All fired high-explosive and solid armor-piercing shot effective at relatively medium range, and an increasing number were manufactured with protective gun shields in addition to a split rail mounting. They were able to destroy tanks fielded by both sides during the first two years of the war, but soon proved impotent against the heavier tank armor that debuted in 1940. Introducing improved ammunition and increasing muzzle velocity initially helped compensate for their mediocre performance, but it was clear that small caliber anti-tank guns would soon be overtaken by yet more heavily armored tanks. Medium caliber guns in the 40mm to 50mm range began to appear, some of which simply utilised rebored 37mm barrels. Although they too were soon approaching obsolescence, most remained in use with infantry units until the end of the war. Anti-tank guns remained ineffective against sloped armor, as demonstrated by an incident in 1941 when a single Soviet T-34 tank was hit more than 30 times by a battalion-sized contingent of German 37mm and 50mm anti-tank guns. The tank survived intact and was driven back to its own lines a few hours later. This helped earn the Pak 36 the moniker of Panzeranklopfgerät ("tank door knocker") because its crew simply revealed their presence and wasted their shells without damaging the T-34's armor. Anti-tank gunners began aiming at tank tracks, or vulnerable margins on the turret ring and gun mantlet, rather than testing their lighter cannon against bow and turret armor. These difficulties resulted in new types of ammunition being issued, namely high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) projectiles.
  Towards the end of World War II, armor plating became still thicker, with tanks such as the Tiger II being fitted with armor over 100mm in thickness, as compared to the 15mm more typical in 1939. This prompted the development of a third generation of anti-tank guns, large caliber pieces in the 57mm to 100mm range. The British Army adopted the Ordnance QF 6-pounder and Ordnance QF 17-pounder, which were then considered great advances in firepower, and the Wehrmacht fielded the even larger 7.5 cm Pak 41 and 8.8 cm Pak 43. While the early 37mm anti-tank guns were easily concealed and moved; the large caliber weapons available late war required equally large vehicles to tow them into place and were difficult to conceal, dig in, withdraw, or reposition. By 1945, large anti-tank guns had become almost impractical in their role, and their size and weight was considered a liability. They were also expensive to produce and although they were capable of defeating the most formidable of opponents, most tank units still consisted of less heavily armoured models that remained vulnerable to less expensive and more practical guns as well. Many heavy anti-tank guns were issued, at least initially, on the divisional level but gradually made their way to individual infantry battalions.
  Meanwhile, the effect of very compact hollow charge warheads was being noted and a number of countries began producing man-portable anti-tank weapons utilizing this ammunition. The development of man-portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank rocket launchers began in 1941; most could be reloaded, but a few such as the German Panzerfaust were fired from disposable tubes. Unlike anti-tank guns, their light weight made them easily portable by individual infantrymen on the battlefield, and they offered similar degrees of firepower whilst being quicker and cheaper to produce.
  Towed anti-tank guns disappeared from most Western countries, such as the United States, after World War II, to be replaced by shoulder-fired rocket launchers, recoilless rifles, and eventually, guided anti
caption: German PaK 38 50mm anti-tank gun
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