Contents

37 mm gun M1

Anti-aircraft autocannon

37 mm gun M1A2 on carriage M3
37 mm antiaircraft gun in the Solomon Islands.
Type	Anti-aircraft autocannon
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	USA
Wars	World War II Rhodesian Bush War
Production history
Designer	John M. Browning and the Colt company
Produced	1939–July 1943
No. built	At least 7,278
Specifications
Mass	2,780 kg (6,130 lb)
Barrel length	bore: 2 m (6.56 ft) / 54 calibers
Width	1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
Height	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Shell	Fixed QF 37×223mmSR
Shell weight	.6 kg (1 lb 5 oz)
Caliber	37 mm (1.45 in)
Breech	vertical block
Carriage	four-wheeled trailer
Elevation	-5° to + 90°
Traverse	360°[1]
Rate of fire	120 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	792 m/s (2,598 ft/s)
Effective firing range	3,200 m (3,499 yds)
Maximum firing range	8,275 m (9,049 yds)[1]

The 37 mm gun M1 was an anti-aircraft autocannon developed in the United States. It was used by the US ArmyinWorld War II.

The gun was produced in a towed variant, or mounted along with two M2 machine guns on the M2/M3 half-track, resulting in the T28/T28E1/M15/M15A1 series of multiple gun motor carriages.

In early World War II, each Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Auto-Weapons battalion was authorized a total of thirty-two 37 mm guns in its four firing batteries, plus other weapons.^[2]

During World War II the 37 mm gun M1 was deployed in coast defense anti-motor torpedo boat batteries (AMTB) alongside 90 mm guns, usually four 90 mm and two 37 mm guns per battery. Some AMTB batteries consisted of four 37 mm guns, but most sources have little information on these batteries. In the later part of the war the 37 mm gun was typically replaced by the 40 mm Bofors gun M1.^[3]

One or two gun units were coupled to the M5 gun director using the M1 remote control system. The system was powered by the M5 generating unit. If the remote system was inoperative the M5 sighting system was used, but it was only usable up to 25 degrees of elevation.

The M1 utilized fixed ammunition. Projectiles were fitted with a 37×223mmSR cartridge case.

• The 37 mm M9 autocannon was a derivative of the M1A2 anti-aircraft gun. It had a 74 in (1.9 m) barrel, weighed 405 lb (184 kg) (the barrel alone weighing 120 pounds), had a muzzle velocity of 3,000 ft/s (910 m/s), and had a rate of fire of 150 rounds per minute. It was used on PT boats around 1944 in the Pacific theater during World War II, replacing the M4 autocannon.

Country	Gun model	RPM	Projectile weight
United States	37 mm gun M1	120	.6 kg (1.3 lb)
Nazi Germany	3.7 cm SK C/30	30	.74 kg (1.6 lb)[6]
France	Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925	15-21	.72 kg (1.6 lb)[7]
Italy	Cannone-Mitragliera da 37/54 (Breda)	60-120	.82 kg (1.8 lb)[8]
Nazi Germany	3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43	150	.64 kg (1.4 lb)[9]
Soviet Union	37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)	80[10]	.73 kg (1.6 lb)[11]
United Kingdom	QF 2-pounder naval gun	115	.91 kg (2.0 lb)[12]
Sweden	Bofors 40 mm gun	120	.9 kg (2.0 lb)[13]

• List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation
• Kerrison Predictor

• Hogg, Ian. Twentieth-Century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000. ISBN 0-7607-1994-2 Pg.106
• Hogg, Ian V. (1998). Allied Artillery of World War Two. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-165-9.
• Hunnicutt, R. P. (2001). Half-Track: A History of American Semi-Tracked Vehicles. Novato, CA: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-742-7.
• McGovern, Terence; Smith, B. W. (2006). American Coastal Defenses 1885-1950. New York: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-922-3.
• TM 9-2300 standard artillery and fire control material. dated 1944
• TM 9-235
• TM 9-1235
• SNL A-29

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 37mm Gun M1.

• "US Army Gets A New Antiaircraft Gun", September 1940, Popular Science
• FM 4-112 Coast Artillery Field Manual: Antiaircraft Artillery gunnery, Fire Control, Position Finding, and Horizontal Fire, Antiaircraft Automatic Weapons (Case I Firing)
• History of the Americanization of the Bofors 40mm Automatic Antiaircraft Gun—some references to the 37mm
• 37mm Antiaircraft Automatic Gun—Antiaircraft.org