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Lewis Army Museum: Antiaircraft guns (photo diary) [1]

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Date: 2023-08-14

The Lewis Army Museum near Tacoma, Washington includes a couple of antiaircraft guns. Antiaircraft guns are artillery pieces that are fired from the ground in defense against attacks by aircraft. The development of these weapons appears to have started as early as 1910 when airplanes were first used in battle. During World War I, armies began converting field artillery pieces to antiaircraft use by using mountings that allowed them to fire nearly vertically. During World War II, rapid-firing antiaircraft guns were developed, and radar was used for target tracking. Antiaircraft guns were largely phased out in the 1960s with the development of guided surface-to-air missiles.

M-51 Skysweeper

This was the first complete antiaircraft gun system. It was first deployed in 1950. The system had a T-38 radar for tracking, analog computer for lead calculation and autoloading for rapid firing. It fired 45 shells per minute. It was used in the Korean War. It was phased out of service in 1959.

This system has a crew of six: Commander, gunner, a-gunner, and three loaders. The main gun is 75mm with 2 10-round revolver magazines. It can fire 45 rounds per minute and has an effective vertical range of 20,000 feet.

Type 65 Twin 37 Antiaircraft gun

This gun has a crew of seven: commander, gunner, a-gunner, and 4 loaders. It fires 160-180 rounds per minute per gun and has an effective range of 8,500 meters. According to the Museum:

“Entered service in 1949 as the Chinese copy of the Soviet Union’s M-1939 antiaircraft weapon system. Simple and easy to use, it takes 1 minute to put the gun into action. This weapon can be found in use by many third world countries today.”

Unidentified

More military museum exhibits

Lewis Army Museum: Half-Tracks (photo diary)

Lewis Army Museum: An Iraqi tank and more (photo diary)

Lewis Army Museum: Some Army vehicles (photo diary)

Lewis Army Museum: Some tanks (photo diary)

Naval Destroyer Museum: On the deck of the Turner Joy (photo diary)

Naval Destroyer Museum: Guns and torpedoes on the Turner Joy(photo diary)

Naval Undersea Museum: Mines (photo diary)

Museums 101: A couple of deep diving vessels (photo diary)

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/14/2186802/-Lewis-Army-Museum-Antiaircraft-guns-photo-diary

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