Vickers Model 1931

The Vickers Model 1931 was a British anti-aircraft gun used during the Second World War. The design was rejected by the British and Vickers exported the gun worldwide during the 1930s.

Vickers Model 1931
Romanian-produced 75mm Vickers anti-aircraft gun model 1936/39 displayed in "King Ferdinand" National Military Museum, Bucharest
Type	Anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1937 – 1950s
Used by	List of operators  Belgium China  Denmark  Finland[1] Nazi Germany  Lithuania  Netherlands  Portugal Romania[2] Soviet Union  Switzerland  Turkey  United Kingdom
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Vickers
Designed	~ 1931
Manufacturer	Vickers Reșița
Developed into	75 mm Reșița Model 1943 (Using rifling and cartridge chamber)
Produced	1931 – 1944
Variants	See § Variants
Specifications
Mass	2,825 kg (6,228 lb)
Barrel length	Depend on user Danish guns: Overall: 3.652 m (12 ft 0 in) L/48.7 Bore: 3.375 m (11 ft 1 in) L/45 Dutch guns: Overall: 3.225 m (10 ft 7 in) L/43 Bore: 3 m (9 ft 10 in) L/40 Finnish guns:[1] Overall: 3.429 m (11 ft 3 in) L/45 Bore: 2.98 m (9 ft 9 in) L/39.1 Romanian guns: Overall: 3.375 m (11 ft 1 in) L/45 Bore: 3.225 m (10 ft 7 in) L/43
Shell	Most users: 75×495mmR[3] Romania: 75×561mmR[3] Finland: 76.2×505mmR[1][3]
Shell weight	6.5 kg (14 lb 5 oz) (HE)
Calibre	75 mm (3 in)
Action	Semi-automatic
Carriage	Cruciform
Elevation	0° to +90°
Traverse	360°
Rate of fire	12 rpm
Muzzle velocity	750 m/s (2,500 ft/s)
Effective firing range	5 km (3.1 mi) slant range
Maximum firing range	10 km (33,000 ft) ceiling

Design

The cruciform carriage had two pneumatic or solid rubber wheels that were removable. Two legs locked together for transport and the barrel was secured to them. The other two legs folded in half and were elevated almost vertically into the air.^{[note 1][2]}

Operational history

Romania

Bungescu M1938 Fire-control system, used for the Romanian-made guns

Romania bought a license for 100 in 1936, although hundreds more were built during the war.^[2][4] The second batch of 100 pieces was started in July 1941,^[2][5] the production rate being of 5 pieces per month as of October 1942.^[2][6]

Finland

Finnish 76 ItK/34 V

Finland bought a dozen to help reduce balance of payment problems with the British in 1936. The Finnish guns, designated 76mm ItK/34 V, were chambered in their standard 76.2 mm (3 in) caliber.^[1][3]

Others

Denmark also bought a license, designating it as 75 mm lange luftværnskanon model 1932.^[7] Belgium, the Netherlands,^[8] Lithuania, Turkey, Switzerland and China bought numbers of guns directly from Vickers.

During World War II, those weapons captured after the German conquest of Europe were taken into Wehrmacht service as the 7.5 cm Flak M.35 (b) (Beligian guns), 7.5 cm Flak M.35 (d) (Danish guns) or 7.5 cm Flak M.35 (h) (Dutch guns). Similarly the Soviet Union used those guns it captured from Lithuania after the occupation of the Baltic states in 1940. Supposedly it saw limited British service with Home Defense "barrage units" in 1940 – 1943.^[9]

Variants

Romanian 88 mm anti-tank variant

Romanian Mareșal M-05 tank destroyer during trials. It used the Romanian 75 mm Reșița Model 1943 anti-tank gun, which incorporated features of the 75 mm Vickers. The Mareșal was also proposed to be equipped with another Romanian 88 mm anti-tank gun, based on the 75 mm Vickers.

In 1944, Romania developed an anti-tank adaptation of the 75 mm Vickers M1931. A January 1944 report by Colonel Radu Davidescu mentions how the "75 mm Vickers anti-aircraft gun, adapted as an anti-tank gun" was proposed to be mounted on the Mareșal tank destroyer.^[10] A later report from June 1944 describes how this anti-tank gun adaptation of the 75 mm Vickers was materialized, and its caliber was increased to 88 mm. During trials, this new Romanian 88 mm anti-tank gun was compared to a German 88 mm Flak gun. The Romanian gun performed better in terms of rounds per minute (25 compared to 20 of the German gun), combat weight (4,5 t compared to 7,5 t of the German gun) and traveling weight (4,5 t compared to 5 t of the German gun). In other aspects, the two guns were similar. The new 88 mm gun was also proposed to be mounted on the R-2 light tank chassis (see TACAM R-2). Only four examples are known to have been produced in the short time that remained before Romania was overrun by Soviet forces.^[11]

See also

75 mm Reșița Model 1943 — AT gun using major elements of the: 75 mm Vickers/Reșița Model 1936 (Vickers Model 31)

Notes

1. See the Romanian reference to see exactly how it looked.