Bofors 57 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/60

Design

The Bofors 57 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/60 is at its core a scaled up version of the famous Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/70, but constructed as a twin-gun system sharing the same receiver/mantle with ammunition feeding from the sides into each gun. The guns were water-cooled and fed by large 80-cartridge magazines that allowed several long bursts to be fired without reloading. File:Musee-de-Port-Louis-Canon-a.jpg|French "57mm/60 modèle 1951" on display at Port-Louis naval museum. File:AA 57mm gun mg 8423 (no background + brightened).jpg|French "57mm/60 modèle 1951" on display at Port-Louis naval museum.

Use in the Dutch Navy

The Dutch were the initial users of the Bofors 57 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/60. As part of rebuilding the Dutch Navy post World War II, the Dutch Navy had requested several naval gun systems to be developed by Bofors for their next generation of naval-vessels, one being a twin-barreled 57 mm dual-purpose gun for the planned s and . This request led to the creation of the Bofors 57 mm Naval Automatic Gun L/60, which entered active service with the Dutch Navy in 1953 mounted on the cruisers De Ruyter and De Zeven Provinciën.

Use in the Swedish Navy

Following the Dutch example, the Swedish navy decided to acquire the new 57 mm system for a new generation of destroyers in 1950. In Swedish service the weapon was fitted to the s and , both of which entered service in 1956. The weapon was initially designated 57 mm automatkanon m/50 (57 mm akan m/50), meaning "57 mm autocannon m/50", but around 1970 the weapon was redesignated to 57 mm torndubbelautomatpjäs m/50 (57 mm tdblapjäs m/50), meaning "57 mm turret double automatic piece m/50" (literal).

The gun was in use until the Halland-class destroyers were taken out of service.

Use in the French Navy

The Bofors 57 mm L/60 naval gun was also purchased by the French Navy and came to serve on a number of naval-vessels under the designation 57mm/60 modèle 1951 (57mm/60 mle 51) from 1952 onward, although primarily post 1956. The French navy version of the system featured a French designed naval mount that maintained the system in mechanical equilibrium, even when firing. The French mounting was some 8 tons lighter than the Dutch/Swedish version.

In French service the gun notably armed light escorts as main guns and larger ships as secondary guns. The following French ships were armed with the 57mm/60 mle 51 system:

• The battleship (1952 retrofit)
• The anti-aircraft cruiser
• The anti-aircraft cruiser
• s
• T 47-class fleet escorts (also known as the Surcouf class)
• T 53-class fleet escorts

References

References

1. "Bofors automatic 57mm Dual-Purpose guns".
2. (2003). "030306_SAK57_Mk3.pdf". Bofors Luftvärnsförening (Bofors Anti-Aircraft Association).
3. "57 mm/60 Modèle 1951 on NavWeaps.com".
4. (1958). "Bofors". AB Bofors, Karlskoga (Boforskoncernen).
5. "120 mm Bofors naval guns".
6. (1955). "Amreg Fl, Ammunitionsregister för flottan, 1955". Ammunitionssektionen, Marinförvaltningens Artilleribyrå.
7. (1965). "Amreg Marinen, Ammunitionsregister för marinen, 1962, ändringar 1965". Kungliga Marinförvaltningen.
8. (1977). "AMKAT, Ammunitionskatalog, Data och bilder, Marinen, 1977 års utgåva". [[Swedish Defence Materiel Administration]] (FMV).