The Allies produced over 300,000 of the Swiss-designed Oerlikon Gun and mounted dozens on their ships. See how World War II gun crews used this fearsome anti-air mount to fill the air with a storm of metal! Naval Legends is a series about the construction, service, and daring deeds of legendary 20th-century ships. 📝 Leave us a comment right after subscribing to the channel 🔔 wo.ws/UA-cam-subscription Recommended playlists: 👁🗨 Dry Dock - wo.ws/34bpBh1 World of Warships is the largest virtual shipyard in the world. The quality of the work performed by our artists improves each year, and the requirements for the accuracy of the models they create intensify respectively. 👁🗨 Naval Legends - wo.ws/2Kharxt Naval Legends is a series about the construction, service, and daring deeds of legendary 20th-century ships. Very few vessels survived World War I and II -- most were decommissioned and scrapped. The Naval Legends production crew travels all across the globe to visit almost every active museum ship and chronicle her story. 👁🗨 Naval Fortress - wo.ws/3wbRm8u Naval Fortress is a video series dedicated to the famous strategic forts and coastal defence fortresses. 👁🗨 In The Ports of World of Warships - wo.ws/3q8uy5w In this series, we'll be talking about the intricate details and exclusive features of our in-game Ports. 👁🗨 Armada - wo.ws/3vjlf3b Deep guides for in-game Warships: history, gameplay tips, unique features, advantages and disadvantages and many-many more! 👁🗨 Head Over Keels Is Back - wo.ws/3Jlgk92 👁🗨 Warships Size Comparison - wo.ws/35Wrsef This is a playlist where we compare ships by class, nation, tier, firepower, etc. 👁🗨 Armchair Admirals - wo.ws/3i9sgPp 👁🗨 Naval Traditions - wo.ws/36Cllbz 👁🗨 1:42 Scale Ships - wo.ws/3teWqqx 1:42 Scale is a video series about the history of ship building in the Russian Empire, which is based on the masterpieces of the ship scale modeling. 👁🗨 World of Warships Movies and Trailers - wo.ws/3ewuN4y ⚓⚓⚓ Keep an eye out on the official World of Warships website: wo.ws/website Quick start in WoWs for our subscribers: wo.ws/yt-gift If you're a console player, check out WoWs: Legends wo.ws/WoWSLegends Twitter: wo.ws/twitter Facebook: wo.ws/fb Instagram: wo.ws/inst #worldofwarships #warships #wows
In 1940 just before the fall of France my grandfather Captain WS Green RN, Deputy Director Naval Ordinance, was ordered to travel to Switzerland to secure the manufacturing blueprints necessary to ensure continued quality of oerlikon production in uk could be maintained. This was because it was feared the manufacturer would not be able to transmit information once germany controlled france. Due to hostile air situation he travelled by staff car. Originally intended to embark at a channel port, advancing panzers forced him to divert, and he was taken off by destroyer at la Rochelle on the French west coast
Bullshit ... because it was complicated, overenginered, expensive to produceand making nie pice took long time. Poles redesigned Oerlikon, removed dozens of parts and made Polsten 20mm. Polsten worked good and was much cheaper and faster in production.
Thank you for posting this documentary. My Maternal grandfather used one of these guns (single barrel version) to singlehandedly shoot down a Messerschmitt BF109 from the deck of his Motor torpedo boat while the rest of his crew were on shore in WW2 at the small town of Brixham on England's southern coast. His bravery earned him a recommendation for joining the SBS.
Thank you for this informative video! My father was assigned to this gun as a teen ager on a destroyer escort in the South Pacific in WW II. We owe so much to those young folks in the greatest generation, as we do to our current volunteers in today's military.
when some game devs make a short documentary, expectation: bad research, lazy, free advertising. reality: highly informative video that was well research and included no free advertising
My dad owned two Oerlikon AAA systems. They were his pride and joy. I would help clean and oil them growing up. My step brother was always resentful of dad and took a 60 round magazine and emptied it at a police car and garbage truck. The gun ripped these vehicles apart and some shells went into a residential building. Needless to say the police took my dads 20 mm guns away! My step brother spent less than year in jail. The last casualty of WW two.
The Swiss wouldn't have made a fraction of what the US made as a "neutral" selling to everybody - before they decided to join in the war officially and make even more money selling to themselves as well.
But the Swiss never joined the war. Germany declared war on the US, so who knows when they would have joined in. Britain and the Commonwealth declared war on Japan before Pearl Harbor, which was the biggest mistake in the history of Japan.
Well there's a reason the Allies "accidentally" bombed the Oerlikon factory and the train station over which their products were shipped to Germany... Switzerland is like the smarter version of Italy, instead of joining the winning side of a war they win a war without joining in the first place.
As Swiss I can tell you I have mixed feelings about Switzerlands role in WW2. However, being born way after the war, it's easys to criticize those who took part. The normal population had to go through a time of deprivation. My grandparents told me stories from that time. The fear to be invaded by Hitler was constant. However, we wouldn't have let him in, like the Austrians! Switzerland was determined to defefend itself as hard as possible. Situation looked a bit different with Banks and some Industries but even there, the effect wasn't significant. It was pure luck, huge luck, that invading Switzerland simply wasn't a priority for Hitler. There are very comprehensive publications of the Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War (www.uek.ch/en/index.htm) that really shed light onto Switzerlands role during that time.
Ctrot, my dad was a 20mm gunner in the Armed Guard too. He served aboard the SS Samuel McIntyre, the SS Bardestown Victory, and lastly the SS Ocala Victory. Which ships and theatres did your old man serve on?
Saw your post regarding your father's Armed Guard service. My father (94-years-old on 12/6/18) served aboard the S.S. George W. Childs and was a GM3 and a 20mm gunner. The Childs ran around off of Gourock, Scotland, on the way to the Murmansk "death run." The ship was patched up and send to Omaha Beach to be sunk as a block ship to form part of artificial harbor Mulberry A. Remarkably, there are not only photos of the Childs sunk to the cargo deck but color film footage of the ship taken by the U.S. Coast Guard. The merchant crew were removed from the ship but the A.G. crew remained aboard for a week or more to man the guns. My father and and his crew mates left the ship by lifeboat a few days before the storm came that broke Mulberry A apart. My father returned back to the states aboard the Queen Elizabeth. He got more training at Little Creek and Great Lakes and was assigned to LST-1108 headed for the Invasion of Japan. My father got word of my grandfather's death while aboard and was pulled off the ship in San Pedro awaiting permission to return home for the funeral. Permission denied, he was flown to Hawaii and then to the Philippines where he was assigned to the U.S.S. Nashville just a few days before Japan announced that it would surrender. No quick trip home for my father. The Nashville went to Shanghai and did not return to the States until December. My father was honorably discharged in January 1946. It was not until earlier this year that he received the medals he earned for his service in Africa, Europe, and Asia. I have purchased every book I can find about the A.G. for my father and he enjoys them. He remembers much about his training and all the places he served. People like our Dads deserve much gratitude and recognition for their extraordinary service. Would be interested to know more about your father's service. All best regards, Kevin B. Salem, Massachusetts
Some older gun designs are so practical and dependable that they can still be used in todays battlefields. I've seen these orlicans mounted on pickup trucks in many middle eastern countries to this day.
Oerlikon actually sued the US for copyright infringement of over 250'000 guns and over one billion rounds produced. they won the case and this financed the development of the later Oerlikon 35mm gun
the USA actually built them without licence during the war. The swiss won the lawsuit afterwards, and the money was used to produce the modern, 35mm oerlikon cannons. Which now there are 25mm, 30mm and more variants.
The British purchased contracts and designs and snuck them out of Switzerland, the Americans bought shares, and they cranked them out of the factories like biscuit tins.
That merchant vessel then will be safe against pirates but won't do any merchanting, since it won't be allowed into ports because it's a foreign warship.
@@ShangZilla Merchant vessels can carry weaponry to defend themselves. It hasn't become uncommon for merchant vessels going through areas with high risks for piracy to have either armed escort or onboard weaponry to deal with them. The numbers have gone down massively since 2012ish due to the recaap efforts for the asian region. Less hijackings have occurred, and even less successful ones. Some areas still have significant issues though due to local governments are too incompetent.
During WW2 the Royal Navy assigned thier top gunnery students to AAA gun crew. 40mm Bofors or 20mm Orelikonn. Air attack was considered most dangerous to ship/ships crew. Especially the smaller vessels of the corvette navy.
What’s interesting is that these guns were used on victory ships during WW2. These cargo ships would be easy targets for a plane attack. Or could be easily spotted. But after WW2 they were removed from warships that were still in service.
These guns would be perfect for defense of ships in the Indian Ocean! Those small pirate craft would be blown to smithereens by these 20mm canon rounds! One on either side of the bow, on the stern, and a midships.
The polsten would be cheaper and do the same job. It's just that, the polsten came too late to replace the oerlikon in WW2. I think today, we can design an even cheaper and simpler gun.
TheSuperCarp They mean In Service. The WW 2 ships are Out of Service and are Museums The "Small Patrol ships" they where refering to are In service as Police boats US Coast guard Ect
It's hard to believe, but this was a big blow back weapon without a locked breach. I'm not sure, but I'll bet that it had a sort of pre-ignition, where the firing pin strikes the primer while the breach block is still moving forward and almost closed. Thus, the fired round would have to overcome not only the mass of the breach block, but the forward momentum as well. Sweet engineering!
Equinerhael well if curt is from Cali, he gets only 10 rounds in his bullet box thing(magazine for gun people) but the mere presence of this baby will indefinitely deter any home invasion(or nosy neighbor).... How he (or anyone) uses it is the limit of our imagination.
I am glad I found this video. My Great uncle came back with a trophy from WWII he was a 20mm gunner and had a ring made from the wing spar of a japanese aircraft that landed on the deck of His destroyer escort after he and other gunners managed to break the fighter up before it could hit them. bits of wreckage from the fighter landed on the ship A pair of oerlikon guns were more than enough to devastate the aircraft at close range, breaking it apart sufficiently to prevent damage to the ship from the pilots suicide dive on the rather poorly armored Destroyer escort.
My Dad fired one of these in battle, his best friend was cut in half by enemy aircraft fire as he loaded the gun. Dad blasted that plane out of the sky, but the memory stayed with him for the rest of his life. They were both nineteen years old at the time, they were our greatest generation.
Wow, similar story with my dad on an attack transport in the Aleutian Islands. They were being strafed by Japanese planes and my dad dropped down to pick up another ammo drum. A Japanese 20mm shell exploded and took off the gunner's head and put shrapnel in my dad's arm and knee. He said it was so loud that he didn't hear the shell explode but saw the gun tub get splattered with blood. He could always tell when rain was coming because his knee would hurt.
A great and truly amazing short documentary of the most impressive and truly battle tested anti aircraft gun, the Oerlikon 20mm anti aircraft cannon. Thank you for sharing this wonderful video.
Totally incredible video and the the information on this is very interesting to me and to see how it's done...you had done amazing job on this documentary film...Thank you so much..
Before I clicked on the video i was like: "Oh Oerlikon! What a coincidence, same name as the city district in Zürich I work sometimes." Turns out the gun and the company is named that way because the first factory was built in Oerlikon. The hell, I didn't even know we Swiss build AA Guns used on Battleships.
@@martabakcoding7784 AA guns are meant to shoot down Aircraft. Doesn't matter if they are stationed on a US Battleship or to protect factorys as they were used in Switzerland. Was never meant to be used on ships. The British just discovered they were very effectiv and adopted them on their ships.
AA weapons are still produced in Zurich Oerlikon. The former Oerlikon-Bührle (producer of the 20mm and its successor, the 35mm) has been taken over bei Rheinmetall Air Defence, but the factory stayed at its original location.
Oerlikon was in fact a machine tools manufacturer. Years after WWI, the company bought rights from a British company for an anti-tank gun that was not sufficiently performant any more against newer tanks to adapt the gun to be used against aircrafts.
My uncle operated one of these on the USS Alabama. He was a Marine. Asked him why the Navy didn't operate them. He replied " Because Swabbies couldn't shoot worth a damn".
The combination of the 20mm Oerlikon, 40mm Bofors and 5"/38cal guns gave the USN the most effective AA defense in WWII of any other navy--far better than the Italian, German or Japanese AA defense. Later in the war the 5" proximity fuse only enhanced USN AA capability.
The 5" VT fuse also had limited deployment for fear of capture. However, as to the manufacturing of a 40mm VT fuse in WWII, you will need to offer a credible source on that. Whether Western Electric or Raytheon tried to develop a 40mm fuse for WWII might be credible but that is not the point. Many things never pass a prototype phase and fail to be manufactured for deployment. At the time (WWII), the 40mm shell was just too small for practical manufacture or use of the proximity fuse. This is why late in the war the 40mm gun was starting to be replaced by the 3" AA gun, because the 3" gun had the smallest shell that could accommodate the circuitry of a proximity fuse.
@@dougfinlay7528 I believe they used the VT fuze in combat to see its effectiveness but then again, I just remember reading this somewhere, gotta find a source. but yeah 40mm shells were too small for VT fuzes.
Let me know the source when you find as I know of no combat use or even mass production of 40mm VT in WWII. They would have liked to have had a 40mm VT fuse because the 40mm was so widely deployed, but technology at the time couldn't do. That is one big reason why the 3" AA gun was developed for late WWII use on USN ships.
We still have it here in the Philippine Navy. I mean still in service. Just like the Bofors. It is a cheap way of disposing pirate boats made of woods.
The flaw in these designes are the feed system. They would have been far more effective as belt fed weapons as reloading time would be reduced from the potential to preload the belts as long as desired.
Maybe but belts have downsides too in that they can get tangled especially in a rocking ship and if they get wet they shrink and can jam the system. These were a big part of the challenges with belt fed machine guns in the trenches of WW1 and is why it was avoided on ships. The reload system was a little cumbersome but on ships that wasn't as much a problem. It wasn't fired continuesly for a long time the way field machine guns were. The Oerliken was used in bursts if a torpedo bomber got close and they usually came in groups. So when a group gets close you fire the whole drum at them and then you hopefully hit them. The engagement window is so short that the faster reload of a belt wouldn't have been that big an advantage. I don't see the drum as a flaw but rather a deliberate choice. That the reliability of drums on a ship was worth their slower reload speed. On a battlefield you need a continues stream of fire as any interruption in fire can allow the enemy to maneuver but Oerlikon wasn't used for suppressive fire. It was used for burst fire and during that few second burst of engagement you can not afford a jam as the engagement window will have closed before you can clear it. This was different than the Bofors which was used for suppressive AA fire to not allow planes to get close to the ship. The Oerliken was more so the second line of defense that would engage planes that managed to get through the wall of Bofors fire.
@@MrRedeyedJedi I don't think it would have been. The reason for it's role was it's relatively short range and the lightness of it's shells. A belt like I said needs to be kept dry and handled correctly and is more likely to jam. With a burst firing weapon that's not ideal. The simplicity and reliability made it an ideal fall back option. Being the "last resort" option is not a slight though, it is a role the Oerliken is very good at. A good air defense is build on several layers. With American ships it usually was the 5 inch long range guns, the 40mm bofurs medium range and finally the 20mm Oerliken short range.
@@hx20games77 it's a further developed gun from the Becker Cannon, an 1917-1918 aircraft cannon. Patent was given to SEMAG, a swiss company, in 1919. Oerlikon took over SEMAG later on
“Wilf Pickles, Explosion Volunteer” -way to almost impress the girls. Mounted on ships, the first two rounds were always dummies because sometimes in the heat of the moment someone had forgotten to remove the muzzle cap or because of ice the first round would blow up the gun if it were live. The dummy rounds were to punch through the cap that someone had forgotten to remove or an ice plug.
I'm sorry but it wasn't just the Americans fighting the Japanese during ww2, Australia, British, Canadian and others where there to so it wasn't just the Americans getting targeted by kamikazes.
Fly Past I remember reading an account from a USN liaison officer aboard a British carrier that when a kamikaze hits a US carrier the ship would need to return to Pearl for repairs, but with the British Carriers due to their armoured decks all they had to do was "sweep the deck" and the ship was still able to fight, sadly the Pacific war is greatly over simplified, although it is fair to say the Americans did bear most of the burden of the Pacific war.
True, we tend to forget Britten, Australasia, and Canada were fighting tough land engagements, but the kamikaze wasn't used as an actual tactic until Leyte Gulf, and then against naval units, mostly American.
The 20mm was very instrumental in inflicting heavy casualties on the torpedo bombers from Germany & Italy during those resupply convoys to Malta--long term, it was very decisive, kind of like a 'quad-40mm' mount also helped decimate the elite dive bomber & torpedo bomber forces of the IJN.
Narrator says "American ships". Which is mostly or completely true for the final WWII period with kamikazes. Other nationalities served aboard the ships.
Yes that is true but the US had more ships and man power than all of British and Commonwealth Nations combine in the Pacific Theater. So if the British, Australians, and Canadians were to match the US might in the Pacific they would of have to commit to maybe 3 times the total of their combined forces to be equal the the US might in the Pacific. Plus once Hitler killed himself the British pulled out of the Pacific
1:39 is aboard the USS Kidd. The black speck on the left side of the screen in the Skull and Crossbones (the Kidd DD-661) is the only national navel ship in history with written authorization to fly it. While you certainly can not tell it is the S&C the signal flags on the right screen seem to match those flown on the Kidd as the call letters of the ham radio club that operated from the old jamming room. Certainly this is not positive, but I'd bet on it.
Meidän oli matkalla tarkoitus käydä Yhinmäessä ja rajaviranomaisilta oli haettu lupaa jo hyvissä ajoin ennen matkaa. Mutta lupaa ei kuulunut eikä koskaan tullut. Sääli, tämä olisi pitänyt nähdä paikanpäällä !!
Interestingly, the 20 MM cannon installed on the Me-109 and I believe the FW-190 were Oerlikons as well, though I'm sure of a slightly different design.
Good gun, but all nations soon realized the 20mm for AA was not effective for AA defense. The Germans replace the 20mm Wirbelwinds with Ostwind 37m AA vehicles, and the Allies, especially the US Navy, with the 40mm and 3 inch with a proximity fuze and fire-control radar, to take on the Japanese Kamikaze threat. The greater range and weight of shell was needed to reach out and touch enemy aircraft.
Putting these in dual or quad mounts greatly helped keeping them on par with 37mm and higher caliber variants. The 40mm bofors was however, much superior, if only they would have used its VT fuze shells more. An advantage of the 20mm is that, it's efficient where the higher calibers weren't.
A friend of mines dad told me that during engagements all was calm as long as the 5" guns were firing, then it became worse when the 40mm guns started.firing Because the last defense was the 20mm guns
The Allies produced over 300,000 of the Swiss-designed Oerlikon Gun and mounted dozens on their ships. See how World War II gun crews used this fearsome anti-air mount to fill the air with a storm of metal!
Naval Legends is a series about the construction, service, and daring deeds of legendary 20th-century ships.
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In 1940 just before the fall of France my grandfather Captain WS Green RN, Deputy Director Naval Ordinance, was ordered to travel to Switzerland to secure the manufacturing blueprints necessary to ensure continued quality of oerlikon production in uk could be maintained. This was because it was feared the manufacturer would not be able to transmit information once germany controlled france. Due to hostile air situation he travelled by staff car. Originally intended to embark at a channel port, advancing panzers forced him to divert, and he was taken off by destroyer at la Rochelle on the French west coast
then what happened?
Wow that's so relevant to this video. Great story
@@faustopacheco120 "he was taken off"
@@suprememasteroftheuniverse after that...
@@faustopacheco120 probably taken to britain
This is a nearly 100 hundred years old weapon and it's still relevant today. That is enough to understand how good it is.
Bullshit ... because it was complicated, overenginered, expensive to produceand making nie pice took long time. Poles redesigned Oerlikon, removed dozens of parts and made Polsten 20mm. Polsten worked good and was much cheaper and faster in production.
Like the M2 Browning or the M1911
Same with Ma Duece.
I've seen quad 50's, not the impact of the cannon but that's a bunch of lead downrange.
@@zepter00 shut up you ass
You know noting about this gun
Idiot
Swiss quality m8
Oerlikon 20mil - Swiss
Bofors 40mil - Swedish
...
Why are the best AA weapons made by neutral countries?
76mm is an incredible AA weapon and it’s Italian they’re just constantly switching sides so they’re somewhat neutral you could say
@@mosesgoldbergshekelstien1520 italy was all but not neutral xD
don't forget the 2cm Flak 30 was also Swiss and the 20*138mmB Solothum is also Swiss despite being owned by Krupp - Rheinmetall.
@@gianurwiler5098 chaotic neutral
Rheinmetal made it. Germany was hardly neutral ;)
Thank you for posting this documentary. My Maternal grandfather used one of these guns (single barrel version) to singlehandedly shoot down a Messerschmitt BF109 from the deck of his Motor torpedo boat while the rest of his crew were on shore in WW2 at the small town of Brixham on England's southern coast. His bravery earned him a recommendation for joining the SBS.
Thank you for this informative video! My father was assigned to this gun as a teen ager on a destroyer escort in the South Pacific in WW II. We owe so much to those young folks in the greatest generation, as we do to our current volunteers in today's military.
Did he ever fire it at the enemy?
Am I the only one who thinks these would be excellent against somali pirates?
I think it'll be a blast
So would CWIS
@@chrismc410too expensive for patrol boats. This is cheaper plus we have stockpiles.
when some game devs make a short documentary, expectation: bad research, lazy, free advertising. reality: highly informative video that was well research and included no free advertising
My dad owned two Oerlikon AAA systems. They were his pride and joy. I would help clean and oil them growing up. My step brother was always resentful of dad and took a 60 round magazine and emptied it at a police car and garbage truck. The gun ripped these vehicles apart and some shells went into a residential building. Needless to say the police took my dads 20 mm guns away! My step brother spent less than year in jail. The last casualty of WW two.
My brother decided to test out a fission fusion bomb in his garage and got bad sun burn
For a "neutral" country, I'll bet the Swiss made a bundle during the war.
The Swiss wouldn't have made a fraction of what the US made as a "neutral" selling to everybody - before they decided to join in the war officially and make even more money selling to themselves as well.
But the Swiss never joined the war. Germany declared war on the US, so who knows when they would have joined in. Britain and the Commonwealth declared war on Japan before Pearl Harbor, which was the biggest mistake in the history of Japan.
Well there's a reason the Allies "accidentally" bombed the Oerlikon factory and the train station over which their products were shipped to Germany...
Switzerland is like the smarter version of Italy, instead of joining the winning side of a war they win a war without joining in the first place.
As Swiss I can tell you I have mixed feelings about Switzerlands role in WW2. However, being born way after the war, it's easys to criticize those who took part.
The normal population had to go through a time of deprivation. My grandparents told me stories from that time. The fear to be invaded by Hitler was constant. However, we wouldn't have let him in, like the Austrians! Switzerland was determined to defefend itself as hard as possible.
Situation looked a bit different with Banks and some Industries but even there, the effect wasn't significant. It was pure luck, huge luck, that invading Switzerland simply wasn't a priority for Hitler. There are very comprehensive publications of the Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War (www.uek.ch/en/index.htm) that really shed light onto Switzerlands role during that time.
To 'everybody' you say? Please clarify? Did they sell planes, major combat ships or tanks to the Axis?
better than History Channel
sparcerX Pawnstars and other what the heck..... 😆
History channel use to be like this 😭😭😭
You are right 🤠🤠🤠
Anything is better than history channel.
Yes agrees
My father's assigned weapon in the US Navy Armed Guard, WWII. Never fired it in anger but earned the title of "Eagle Eye" in gunnery practice.
Ctrot, my dad was a 20mm gunner in the Armed Guard too. He served aboard the SS Samuel McIntyre, the SS Bardestown Victory, and lastly the SS Ocala Victory.
Which ships and theatres did your old man serve on?
Saw your post regarding your father's Armed Guard service. My father (94-years-old on 12/6/18) served aboard the S.S. George W. Childs and was a GM3 and a 20mm gunner. The Childs ran around off of Gourock, Scotland, on the way to the Murmansk "death run." The ship was patched up and send to Omaha Beach to be sunk as a block ship to form part of artificial harbor Mulberry A. Remarkably, there are not only photos of the Childs sunk to the cargo deck but color film footage of the ship taken by the U.S. Coast Guard. The merchant crew were removed from the ship but the A.G. crew remained aboard for a week or more to man the guns. My father and and his crew mates left the ship by lifeboat a few days before the storm came that broke Mulberry A apart. My father returned back to the states aboard the Queen Elizabeth. He got more training at Little Creek and Great Lakes and was assigned to LST-1108 headed for the Invasion of Japan. My father got word of my grandfather's death while aboard and was pulled off the ship in San Pedro awaiting permission to return home for the funeral. Permission denied, he was flown to Hawaii and then to the Philippines where he was assigned to the U.S.S. Nashville just a few days before Japan announced that it would surrender. No quick trip home for my father. The Nashville went to Shanghai and did not return to the States until December. My father was honorably discharged in January 1946. It was not until earlier this year that he received the medals he earned for his service in Africa, Europe, and Asia. I have purchased every book I can find about the A.G. for my father and he enjoys them. He remembers much about his training and all the places he served.
People like our Dads deserve much gratitude and recognition for their extraordinary service. Would be interested to know more about your father's service.
All best regards,
Kevin B.
Salem, Massachusetts
Another example of Swiss neutrality.
Switzerland: "We take no sides.
Everyone can have our weapon!!"
yes but not to defend civilian populations, it is a question of principle not to help Ukraine protect these cities from Russian drones and missiles.
Thumbs up if you think Swiss engineering is awesome!
It was over enginered. Poles removed dozens parts from this and created 20mm
Olsten. The same Effective but much faster and cheaper in production .
zepter00 but was poles' designed in the 30's?
Could it have been mass produced before the war?
@@zepter00 b.utthur.t pole spammer.
@@zepter00 definetly not
@@gianurwiler5098 you have zero clue about this.
Some older gun designs are so practical and dependable that they can still be used in todays battlefields. I've seen these orlicans mounted on pickup trucks in many middle eastern countries to this day.
Oerlikon actually sued the US for copyright infringement of over 250'000 guns and over one billion rounds produced.
they won the case and this financed the development of the later Oerlikon 35mm gun
Damn we shoulda bombed their factories into dust in response
Its also funny since Oerlikon stole it themselves lol
@@ShutUpBubi not really, they bought up the patents
During the war my grandmother did the rifling on these barrels made in Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
Oerlikon: So how many guns do you want again
USN: Yes
the USA actually built them without licence during the war.
The swiss won the lawsuit afterwards, and the money was used to produce the modern, 35mm oerlikon cannons. Which now there are 25mm, 30mm and more variants.
@@swisstraeng thats the most Capatlist move ive seen
The British purchased contracts and designs and snuck them out of Switzerland, the Americans bought shares, and they cranked them out of the factories like biscuit tins.
Merchant vessels in the gulf should pick up these mil surp cheap for use on Somali Pirates.
That merchant vessel then will be safe against pirates but won't do any merchanting, since it won't be allowed into ports because it's a foreign warship.
Shang Zilla Register it as a naval auxiliary or armed merchant, then?
@@ShangZilla Merchant vessels can carry weaponry to defend themselves. It hasn't become uncommon for merchant vessels going through areas with high risks for piracy to have either armed escort or onboard weaponry to deal with them. The numbers have gone down massively since 2012ish due to the recaap efforts for the asian region. Less hijackings have occurred, and even less successful ones.
Some areas still have significant issues though due to local governments are too incompetent.
@@ShangZilla How come? Allied cargo ships often were fitted with cannons
@@Gremlinke96 international law forbids it.
During WW2 the Royal Navy assigned thier top gunnery students to AAA gun crew. 40mm Bofors or 20mm Orelikonn.
Air attack was considered most dangerous to ship/ships crew. Especially the smaller vessels of the corvette navy.
What’s interesting is that these guns were used on victory ships during WW2. These cargo ships would be easy targets for a plane attack. Or could be easily spotted. But after WW2 they were removed from warships that were still in service.
That's like the Browning 50 caliber machine gun and the Browning 30 caliber machine gun.
They're over 100 years old and they're still applicable.
Those Oerikon AA Guns weren't any jokes!!! The skilled crews who operated these weapons made the weapons platforms even deadlier!!!
These guns would be perfect for defense of ships in the Indian Ocean! Those small pirate craft would be blown to smithereens by these 20mm canon rounds! One on either side of the bow, on the stern, and a midships.
The polsten would be cheaper and do the same job.
It's just that, the polsten came too late to replace the oerlikon in WW2.
I think today, we can design an even cheaper and simpler gun.
"Today you can still see the gun installed on some small patrol ships"
> USS Alabama
TheSuperCarp the Bama is pretty small okay?(shh let me believe)
TheSuperCarp
They mean In Service.
The WW 2 ships are Out of Service and are Museums
The "Small Patrol ships" they where refering to are In service as Police boats US Coast guard Ect
+ Trules well compared to the other USN BBs the Sodaks were small in terms of Length
You think he meant in service currently? Ya think?
I dont think USS Alabama is a small potrol boat
Fun Fact: The aa gun that Cuba Gooding Jr. was shooting in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor was a dual 20mm oerlikon aa gun
It's hard to believe, but this was a big blow back weapon without a locked breach. I'm not sure, but I'll bet that it had a sort of pre-ignition, where the firing pin strikes the primer while the breach block is still moving forward and almost closed. Thus, the fired round would have to overcome not only the mass of the breach block, but the forward momentum as well. Sweet engineering!
_Sweet engineering!_
Or should I say... Swiss engineering?
I will see myself out.
Sweet engineering and Swiss Engineering - pretty much one and the same!!!!!
Need one for home defense.
Very true
Curt Gray wait what r u gonna do about the bullet button, barrel shroud, flash hider, buttstock. U can't have more than 10 rounds in ur mag....
DOn't worry, just keep firing. Eventually, you'll have less than 10 rounds!
Equinerhael well if curt is from Cali, he gets only 10 rounds in his bullet box thing(magazine for gun people) but the mere presence of this baby will indefinitely deter any home invasion(or nosy neighbor).... How he (or anyone) uses it is the limit of our imagination.
Ok.
That was one of the best description videos of this weapon I have ever seen. Well done great videos and descriptions
I am glad I found this video. My Great uncle came back with a trophy from WWII he was a 20mm gunner and had a ring made from the wing spar of a japanese aircraft that landed on the deck of His destroyer escort after he and other gunners managed to break the fighter up before it could hit them. bits of wreckage from the fighter landed on the ship
A pair of oerlikon guns were more than enough to devastate the aircraft at close range, breaking it apart sufficiently to prevent damage to the ship from the pilots suicide dive on the rather poorly armored Destroyer escort.
William Byrd ss
My Dad fired one of these in battle, his best friend was cut in half by enemy aircraft fire as he loaded the gun. Dad blasted that plane out of the sky, but the memory stayed with him for the rest of his life. They were both nineteen years old at the time, they were our greatest generation.
Wow, similar story with my dad on an attack transport in the Aleutian Islands. They were being strafed by Japanese planes and my dad dropped down to pick up another ammo drum. A Japanese 20mm shell exploded and took off the gunner's head and put shrapnel in my dad's arm and knee. He said it was so loud that he didn't hear the shell explode but saw the gun tub get splattered with blood. He could always tell when rain was coming because his knee would hurt.
A great and truly amazing short documentary of the most impressive and truly battle tested anti aircraft gun, the Oerlikon 20mm anti aircraft cannon. Thank you for sharing this wonderful video.
Got to hear them light up with boffors on the USS alabama. They sounded like ray guns nothing like normal machine guns was so amazing!
The godfather of 20mm cannon, now still use
Totally incredible video and the the information on this is very interesting to me and to see how it's done...you had done amazing job on this documentary film...Thank you so much..
Damned this is just like the history channel back in the day.
Before I clicked on the video i was like: "Oh Oerlikon! What a coincidence, same name as the city district in Zürich I work sometimes."
Turns out the gun and the company is named that way because the first factory was built in Oerlikon.
The hell, I didn't even know we Swiss build AA Guns used on Battleships.
Yeah pretty surprising they made widely used naval armament considering Swiss doesn't even have a coastline
@@martabakcoding7784 AA guns are meant to shoot down Aircraft. Doesn't matter if they are stationed on a US Battleship or to protect factorys as they were used in Switzerland.
Was never meant to be used on ships. The British just discovered they were very effectiv and adopted them on their ships.
AA weapons are still produced in Zurich Oerlikon. The former Oerlikon-Bührle (producer of the 20mm and its successor, the 35mm) has been taken over bei Rheinmetall Air Defence, but the factory stayed at its original location.
Oerlikon was in fact a machine tools manufacturer. Years after WWI, the company bought rights from a British company for an anti-tank gun that was not sufficiently performant any more against newer tanks to adapt the gun to be used against aircrafts.
I made a giant Oerlikon in minecraft because I loved it so much. It really stands out in my world
Some guys had all the fun.
I saw a real 20mm oerlikon on a building on an Indonesia island government building
These are damn good videos.
My uncle operated one of these on the USS Alabama. He was a Marine. Asked him why the Navy didn't operate them. He replied " Because Swabbies couldn't shoot worth a damn".
Oerlikon gun made by neutral Swiss company and sold their guns to the UK. Nice way to avoid involvement in the war!
They sold to Japan and Germany. Sounds neutral to me.
Its always been a dream of mine to fire a dual-Oerlikon mount.
If you do, remember to pull up the plate between your legs or you might regret it. Blowback is a bitch.
Also had the 40mms as well . Thank you .
This gun accounted for 35% of all Japanese planes shot down by the US Navy during WWII in the Pacific... a staggering number..
when are we getting the USS Kidd?
Or did you mean in game?
In the game
you can get the fletcher if you'd like
What he means is that the USS Kidd is a Fletcher class destroyer.
Jez that gun looks beautiful
An experimental gun system tried on several American PT boats was called the Thunderbolt, a mount of four 20-mm Orlikon guns mounted on the stern.
Swiss they remai mercenary’s in some way or the other. A great gun, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of this title puncher!
Oerlikon. My favorite Transformer.
used to have this on our naval coastal patrol crafts.
The combination of the 20mm Oerlikon, 40mm Bofors and 5"/38cal guns gave the USN the most effective AA defense in WWII of any other navy--far better than the Italian, German or Japanese AA defense. Later in the war the 5" proximity fuse only enhanced USN AA capability.
40mm bofors had VT fuze shells. These weren't used enough due to fear if being captured and reverse engineered.
The 5" VT fuse also had limited deployment for fear of capture. However, as to the manufacturing of a 40mm VT fuse in WWII, you will need to offer a credible source on that. Whether Western Electric or Raytheon tried to develop a 40mm fuse for WWII might be credible but that is not the point. Many things never pass a prototype phase and fail to be manufactured for deployment. At the time (WWII), the 40mm shell was just too small for practical manufacture or use of the proximity fuse. This is why late in the war the 40mm gun was starting to be replaced by the 3" AA gun, because the 3" gun had the smallest shell that could accommodate the circuitry of a proximity fuse.
@@dougfinlay7528 I believe they used the VT fuze in combat to see its effectiveness but then again, I just remember reading this somewhere, gotta find a source.
but yeah 40mm shells were too small for VT fuzes.
Let me know the source when you find as I know of no combat use or even mass production of 40mm VT in WWII. They would have liked to have had a 40mm VT fuse because the 40mm was so widely deployed, but technology at the time couldn't do. That is one big reason why the 3" AA gun was developed for late WWII use on USN ships.
3:58 That was quite satisfying and quite good to hear.
We still have it here in the Philippine Navy. I mean still in service. Just like the Bofors. It is a cheap way of disposing pirate boats made of woods.
Well done. I really enjoy these videos!
The flaw in these designes are the feed system. They would have been far more effective as belt fed weapons as reloading time would be reduced from the potential to preload the belts as long as desired.
Maybe but belts have downsides too in that they can get tangled especially in a rocking ship and if they get wet they shrink and can jam the system. These were a big part of the challenges with belt fed machine guns in the trenches of WW1 and is why it was avoided on ships.
The reload system was a little cumbersome but on ships that wasn't as much a problem. It wasn't fired continuesly for a long time the way field machine guns were. The Oerliken was used in bursts if a torpedo bomber got close and they usually came in groups. So when a group gets close you fire the whole drum at them and then you hopefully hit them. The engagement window is so short that the faster reload of a belt wouldn't have been that big an advantage.
I don't see the drum as a flaw but rather a deliberate choice. That the reliability of drums on a ship was worth their slower reload speed. On a battlefield you need a continues stream of fire as any interruption in fire can allow the enemy to maneuver but Oerlikon wasn't used for suppressive fire. It was used for burst fire and during that few second burst of engagement you can not afford a jam as the engagement window will have closed before you can clear it.
This was different than the Bofors which was used for suppressive AA fire to not allow planes to get close to the ship. The Oerliken was more so the second line of defense that would engage planes that managed to get through the wall of Bofors fire.
@MrMarinus18 perhaps a better feed attachment so it was not stuck assigned to merely a last resort, would have seen its service extended.
@@MrRedeyedJedi I don't think it would have been. The reason for it's role was it's relatively short range and the lightness of it's shells.
A belt like I said needs to be kept dry and handled correctly and is more likely to jam. With a burst firing weapon that's not ideal. The simplicity and reliability made it an ideal fall back option.
Being the "last resort" option is not a slight though, it is a role the Oerliken is very good at. A good air defense is build on several layers. With American ships it usually was the 5 inch long range guns, the 40mm bofurs medium range and finally the 20mm Oerliken short range.
@MrMarinus18 well it's no longer in service. Say what you want but other systems replaced it for reasons.
@MrMarinus18 weapons that are belt fed took over its role....hmm interesting.
This gun is still in service today in some navies.
Oerlikon 2/3/4 autocannon is sick
Thank you Germany for such a badass weapon
*Switzerland
@@hx20games77 The Company is pretty much owned by Germany. Look up the company , Orelikon
But the place of origin is Swiss
@@hx20games77 it's a further developed gun from the Becker Cannon, an 1917-1918 aircraft cannon. Patent was given to SEMAG, a swiss company, in 1919. Oerlikon took over SEMAG later on
What year they start making it under license in the USA?
1941
I'm getting ready for a turkey shoot. Nice invention Swissmates!
Swiss design is crap. Overenginered, expensive to buy, ecpensive to poroduce, too complicated crap.
I need that in my backyard.
was wondering if there were gonna be any more of these, but why are they not about ships anymore? No more museum ships to visit?
ayyyyy. NEUTRAL SWISS POWER OP
were these also mounted on half tracks?
My Dad was assigned to one of the two 20mm guns on HMS Rosebay 1943-1945.
Would've liked to see the quad mounting variant.
ost straight out amazing
Thank for sub thai. from thailand.
How did quadruple Oerlikon look like?
PiXeLGeneral id love to see one
Some quad-mount Oerlikons were mounted on Elco PT boats. They were called "Thunderbolts".
Like a lot of guns taped together.
The Israelis actually modified half-tracks to fit 20mm quadmounts, talk about overkill.
“Wilf Pickles, Explosion Volunteer” -way to almost impress the girls.
Mounted on ships, the first two rounds were always dummies because sometimes in the heat of the moment someone had forgotten to remove the muzzle cap or because of ice the first round would blow up the gun if it were live. The dummy rounds were to punch through the cap that someone had forgotten to remove or an ice plug.
I'm sorry but it wasn't just the Americans fighting the Japanese during ww2, Australia, British, Canadian and others where there to so it wasn't just the Americans getting targeted by kamikazes.
Fly Past I remember reading an account from a USN liaison officer aboard a British carrier that when a kamikaze hits a US carrier the ship would need to return to Pearl for repairs, but with the British Carriers due to their armoured decks all they had to do was "sweep the deck" and the ship was still able to fight, sadly the Pacific war is greatly over simplified, although it is fair to say the Americans did bear most of the burden of the Pacific war.
True, we tend to forget Britten, Australasia, and Canada were fighting tough land engagements, but the kamikaze wasn't used as an actual tactic until Leyte Gulf, and then against naval units, mostly American.
The 20mm was very instrumental in inflicting heavy casualties on the torpedo bombers from Germany & Italy during those resupply convoys to Malta--long term, it was very decisive, kind of like a 'quad-40mm' mount also helped decimate the elite dive bomber & torpedo bomber forces of the IJN.
Narrator says "American ships". Which is mostly or completely true for the final WWII period with kamikazes. Other nationalities served aboard the ships.
Yes that is true but the US had more ships and man power than all of British and Commonwealth Nations combine in the Pacific Theater. So if the British, Australians, and Canadians were to match the US might in the Pacific they would of have to commit to maybe 3 times the total of their combined forces to be equal the the US might in the Pacific.
Plus once Hitler killed himself the British pulled out of the Pacific
amazing documentary 👌
Suitable during era of WW2 !
Nice spring, bro
1:39 is aboard the USS Kidd. The black speck on the left side of the screen in the Skull and Crossbones (the Kidd DD-661) is the only national navel ship in history with written authorization to fly it. While you certainly can not tell it is the S&C the signal flags on the right screen seem to match those flown on the Kidd as the call letters of the ham radio club that operated from the old jamming room. Certainly this is not positive, but I'd bet on it.
lol didint expect a light AA gun
Also I Never Knew these where so big!
You forget the teensy bit of information that the aimer was often locked into the mount during engagements !
Meidän oli matkalla tarkoitus käydä Yhinmäessä ja rajaviranomaisilta oli haettu lupaa jo hyvissä ajoin ennen matkaa. Mutta lupaa ei kuulunut eikä koskaan tullut. Sääli, tämä olisi pitänyt nähdä paikanpäällä !!
Great info
Interestingly, the 20 MM cannon installed on the Me-109 and I believe the FW-190 were Oerlikons as well, though I'm sure of a slightly different design.
Number of thumbs up by Japanese Naval Aircraft:
Zero
Aircraft used this cannon a long with the Hisspano Susa 20mm 30mm and their version of the 40mm .
"Wilf Pickles?" Lol, great name.
I want one of these guns soo bad but would never be able to afford one at auction.
Good gun, but all nations soon realized the 20mm for AA was not effective for AA defense. The Germans replace the 20mm Wirbelwinds with Ostwind 37m AA vehicles, and the Allies, especially the US Navy, with the 40mm and 3 inch with a proximity fuze and fire-control radar, to take on the Japanese Kamikaze threat. The greater range and weight of shell was needed to reach out and touch enemy aircraft.
Putting these in dual or quad mounts greatly helped keeping them on par with 37mm and higher caliber variants.
The 40mm bofors was however, much superior, if only they would have used its VT fuze shells more.
An advantage of the 20mm is that, it's efficient where the higher calibers weren't.
I love this gun
Bruh these guys teach better then my history teacher
Thank you very much for the spanish subtitles.
A good great designed weapon
Some People Say That An Oerlikon Is Just A Modernized 50 mm Browning MG Well this Videos proved them wrong
Nah it has nothing to do with the M2 browning.
The 20mm oerlikon from WW2 was based on WW1's 20mm Becker gun, from germany.
They were even used as last ditch defence in the Falklands..........Some were taken out of museums and re-activated for this purpose
A friend of mines dad told me that during engagements all was calm as long as the 5" guns were firing, then it became worse when the 40mm guns started.firing
Because the last defense was the 20mm guns
The Royal Navy also suffered kamikaze attacks in the Pacific
The Oerlikon could actually fire at about 400rpm.
Wish they can made one video for the QF 2-pounder pom-pom!!!! Essspecially the "Chicago Piano"!!
Where are the English gun volunteers based. Looks like an interesting museum
Explosion Museum. Gosport, Hampshire. UK. Across the harbour from Portsmouth.
這些槍炮是海軍才有嗎？是 屬 加農炮？還是機槍？