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US 90mm AA Guns



Lynn's info on the 90mm AA Gun is substantially correct. Development was actually initiated in 1938. The designers of the 90mm gun were never able to equal the muzzle velocity [about 3280 FPS] of the German 88mm gun [originally an AA weapon} due to serious barrel erosion problems. So, the MV was about 2700 FPS. The development of proximity fuzes made the 90mm AA Gun an effective weapon which was credited with saving London from the V-1 "Buzz Bomb" rockets, in 1944. As Lynn mentioned, it could not be fired, in travel position on the wheels. The German 88mm was used, very successfully, against British tanks, in N. Africa, firing from the wheels, with no emplacement, whatsoever. The 90mm gun was eventually utilized on the US M-26/46
series tanks, some of which saw limited action in Korea. Unfortunately, they were too heavy for the existing bridges & too wide for the roads.George S Patton's son was a tank unit commander in Korea. Best regards, jb