History, technical details and pictures

88 mm gun history

This canon, devised in 1930, was built by the Krupp factories and was delivered through the year 1933. An enhanced production is used in 1936.

It is used for anti-aircraft artillery, the Flak, and it took the name 88 Flak 18. Its main advantage over other guns is its very high rate of fire and it was used in 1941 on the eastern front as an anti-tank gun.

The 88 mm gun is the same gun that equipped the Tiger tanks, which proved their fearsome effectiveness on different battlefields, knowing that the enemy tanks, including the British Churchill and the American Sherman had only a 75 mm gun. The German fire power is far superior to the Allies.

During the Battle of Normandy, the 88 mm gun was the most feared guns by the Allies. Its range was 3 to 4 times greater than the allied guns and its ability to destroy the tank shields remained the same despite the distance.

A final version of the 88 mm gun was produced at the end of WWII, known as 88 mm Flak 41 which was capable of firing 20 projectiles per minute.

Many 88 mm guns were located near the beaches or in the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall during the Normandy landings and they have often been considered as priority targets by the Allies.

This is one of the best known and most effective guns of the Second World War.