M1 series 76mm tank gun, rate of fire ?

I saw a piece of footage from the Okinawa campaign showing a Sherman ( I was not able to recognize the exact version, but it had the distinct 76mm turret ) giving direct fire support. What amazed me was the rapid rate of fire, no more than 2 seconds between each shot. 105mm guns giving artillery support in a later scene had only half the rate of fire.

 

I guess the film was just high-speed. No-one can load and fire a gun once in 2 secs!

 

My first thought as well, or that it was a "cut-and-paste" job. But I saw the sequence over and over again and it also shows some straws moving in the breeze and found nothing irregular about them.

 

Loading the 76mm M1A1-2 gun on the later Shermans could probably be done in 2 sec intervals... But never the 105mm artillery pieces !!

KBO

 

What I meant by "half the rate of fire" was that it took at least twice as much time between each shot. 4-5 seconds in other words. Sorry, badly formulated.

 

Oh OK, well then I'd say its possible, as experienced gun crews could reload their guns very rapidly !!

Experienced Flak 88 crews could reload in 2 sec intervals !

 

A trainer of Finnish Armoured Brigade told me that he could load 3 rounds in Leo 2 in 10 secs. A round in hands, one in balls ( good that there are non-radioactive tungsten in those APFSDS ) and one in his ankles.

 

I'd say American tank crews would definitely be able to pull it off, then, because the rounds of the 76mm were distinctly smaller and lighter than those of the 88. But for how long? I wouldn't be very surprised if at some point there has been a two-second tank gun reloading, but can they do that in rapid succession in the heat of battle?

 

Risaldar Bharat Singh's loader was considered the faster tank loader in the british army. But he had the advantage of loading the small 37mm of a Stuart. It's said to have been "almost burst fire".

 

Yeah, it's highly unlikely that a Sherman (or any WWII tanks for that matter) were capable of such rate of fire. It probably takes more than 2 seconds just to open and close the breech of the gun, let alone picking up and sliding a round inside. The French 75mm in WWI had a very simple load and lock breech, but it took even an experienced gun crew just to maitain the rate of 15-20 rounds per minute.

 

Well thats also an 3-4 sec interval, wich isnt bad for a WW1 gun.

But if a experienced Flak 88 crew can maintain a 2 sec interval, then im pretty sure a experienced Sherman reloader can to.

Btw welcome back Liang !! Its been long since you've been here !

Best regards, KBO.

 

Thanks, I haven't been able to keep up with you guys lately. Just returned from some traveling in Europe, too bad I didn't get a chance to visit any memorials or war museums.