30.5 cm SK L/50 gun
| 30.5 cm SK L/50 | ||
|---|---|---|
Breech horizontal sliding-block | | |
| Recoil | Hydro-pneumatic | |
| Elevation | −8° to +13.5° (naval turrets) | |
| Traverse | depends on the mount | |
| Rate of fire | 2–3 rounds per minute | |
| Muzzle velocity | 855–1,120 m/s (2,810–3,670 ft/s) | |
| Effective firing range | 16,200 m (17,700 yd) at 13.5° elevation 41,300 m (45,200 yd) at 49.2° elevation | |
The 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun
It was also fitted on the subsequent five Kaiser and four König-class battleships and the three Derfflinger-class battlecruisers. The guns were used to great effect at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, when the two Derfflinger-class ships, Derfflinger and Lützow, used them to destroy the British battlecruisers Queen Mary and Invincible.[3] The gun was eventually superseded in German naval use by the much larger and more powerful 38 cm SK L/45.
Before World War I, 30.5 cm SK L/50 guns were emplaced on the islands of
Specifications
The 30.5 cm SK L/50 guns were mounted in twin
In the König-class ships, each gun turret had a working chamber beneath it that was connected to a revolving ammunition hoist leading down to the magazine below. The turrets were electrically controlled, though the guns were elevated hydraulically. In an effort to reduce the possibility of a fire, everything in the turret was constructed of steel.
All of the German gun turrets initially allowed for elevation to 13.5 degrees, although after the battle of Jutland, they were modified to allow elevation to 16 degrees. The centerline turrets on the warships could train 150 degrees in either direction, though the wing turrets on the Helgoland and Kaiser classes were limited to an arc of 80 degrees in either direction.[8]
Coast defense mounts
The island of Helgoland received four twin gun turrets between 1909 and 1912, although their exact type is unknown.[11] Battery Kaiser Wilhelm II was built to protect the port of Zeebrugge in Occupied Flanders during World War I. It consisted of four guns in concrete barbettes mounted on Bettungsschiessgerüst (BSG) (firing platforms). These manually powered mounts rotated on a pivot at the front of the mount and the rear was supported by rollers resting on a semi-circular rail. They were equipped with a gun shield and capable of all-around fire.[12] They were manned by sailors from Naval Artillery Regiment (Matrosen Artillerie Regiment) 1.[13]
By the end of World War I, six guns in BSG mounts equipped Battery Friedrich August on the island of Wangerooge. Three of these were transferred to Helgoland after 1935 when Hitler renounced the Treaty of Versailles which had demilitarized the island. By 1938, they equipped Battery von Schröder and were manned by troops of the Second Naval Artillery Battalion (II. Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung), later 122nd Naval Artillery Battalion (122. Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung).[14] After the French were defeated in 1940 all three guns were transferred to Le Trésorerie, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, France where they assumed their former name of Battery Friedrich August.[15] These guns were initially in open barbettes with 360° traverse, but these were later rebuilt into concrete casemates with overhead cover.[16] that could elevate to 50 degrees and train 220 degrees in either direction.[8]
Ammunition
These guns fired two types of shells during World War I:
Shells used during World War I used an RP C/12 main propellant charge that weighed 91 kg (201 lb) and a smaller RP C/12 fore charge that weighed 34.5 kg (76 lb); this gave the guns a muzzle velocity of 855 meters per second (2,805 feet per second). Coast defense guns used RP C/32 charges that weighed 85.4 kg (188.3 lb) for the main charge and 41.6 kg (91.7 lb) for the fore charge. After 1942, these were increased to 121.5 kg (268 lb) RP C/38 for AP shells and 143 kg (315 lb) RP C/38 for HE rounds. These shells were fired with a muzzle velocity of between 850 and 855 m/s (2,789–2,805 ft/s), but the lightweight coast defense shell had a muzzle velocity of 1,120 m/s (3,700 ft/s).[8]
| Shell type and designation | Weight | Filling Weight | Muzzle velocity | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World War I | ||||
| Armor-piercing shell (Pzgr L/3.1) | 405.5 kg (894 lb) | 13.6 kg (30 lb) (HE) | 855 m/s (2,810 ft/s) | 20.4 km (22,300 yd) |
| high-explosive shell (Sprenggranate L/4) | 405.9 kg (895 lb) | 26.4 kg | 855 m/s (2,810 ft/s) | unknown |
| World War II | ||||
| Armor-piercing shell (Pzgr L/3.4 (mit Haube)) | 405 kg (893 lb) | 11.5 kg (25 lb) (HE) | 855 m/s (2,810 ft/s) | 32 km (35,000 yd) |
| Armor-piercing shell with ballistic cap (Pzgr L/4.9 (mit Haube)) | 415 kg (915 lb) | unknown | 855 m/s (2,810 ft/s) | 41.3 km (45,200 yd) |
| base-fused high-explosive shell (Sprenggranate L/3.8 m. Bdz.) | 415 kg (915 lb) | unknown | 850 m/s (2,800 ft/s) | unknown |
| base-fused HE shell (Sprenggranate L/5 m. Bdz.) | 415 kg (915 lb) | unknown | 850 m/s (2,800 ft/s) | unknown |
| nose-fuzed HE (Sprgr L/4.8 m. Kz.) | 405 kg (893 lb) | 26.5 kg (58 lb) (HE) | 855 m/s (2,810 ft/s) | unknown |
| base- and nose-fused HE shell with ballistic cap (Sprgr L/3.6 m. Bdz. u. Kz. (mit Haube)) | 250 kg (550 lb) | 14.5 kg (32 lb) (HE) | 1,120 m/s (3,700 ft/s) | 51.4 km (56,200 yd) |
Performance
At 13.5 degrees of elevation, the 30.5 cm gun could hit targets out to 16,200 m (17,717 yards) with armor-piercing shells. After the turrets were improved to allow elevation to 16 degrees, the range correspondingly increased to 20,400 m (22,310 yd). At a range of 12,800 m (14,000 yd), the L3 armor-piercing shells fired by the gun were expected to penetrate 254 mm (10 in) of armor plate. At 15,000 m (16,000 yd) the effectiveness of the shell decreased; it was able to pierce 229 mm (9 in)-thick plate. The range of the World War II guns was significantly greater than the guns used in World War I. With the 405 kg shell at 45 degrees, the guns had a maximum range of 32,000 m (35,000 yd). With the 415 kg shell at 49.2 degrees, the range was 41,300 m (45,166 yd), and with the lighter 250 kg round at 49.1 degrees, the maximum range was 51,400 m (56,200 yd).[8]
See also
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
- BL 12-inch Mk XI – XII naval gun - British contemporary guns
- Obukhovskii 12-inch/52-caliber Pattern 1907 gun - Russian contemporary gun
- 12-inch/50-caliber Mark 7 gun - U.S. contemporary gun
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ Gröner, pp. 23–30.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 54–9.
- ISBN 1-55750-315-X.
- ^ Gröner, p. 24
- ^ Gröner, p. 26
- ^ Gröner, p. 27
- ^ Gröner, p. 56
- ^ Herwig p. 70
- ^ Gardiner and Gray, pp. 146–147
- ^ Rolf (2004), p. 186
- ^ Norton, Augustus; Armstrong, Donald (1919). "Coast Defenses Constructed by the Germans on the Belgian Coast". Journal of the United States Artillery. 51 (1–2). Ft. Monroe, VA: Coast Artillery School Press: 26, 160–5.
- ^ François, Guy (2006). Eisenbahnartillerie: Histoire de l'artillerie lourd sur voie ferrée allemande des origines à 1945 (in French). Paris: Editions Histoire et Fortifications. p. 8.
- ^ Rolf (1998), pp. 38, 300
- ^ Rolf (1998), p. 335
- ^ "The Atlantic Rampart". The Atlantic Wall Linear Museum. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
References
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
- Gander, Terry; Chamberlain, Peter (1979). Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939–1945. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-15090-3.
- Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 22101769.
- Herwig, Holger (1980). "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. ISBN 978-1-57392-286-9.
- Hogg, Ian V. (1997). German Artillery of World War Two (2nd corrected ed.). Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 1-85367-480-X.
- Rolf, Rudi (1998). Der Atlantikwall: Bauten der deutschen Küstenbefestigungen 1940-1945 (in German). Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3-7648-2469-7.
- Rolf, Rudi (2004). A Dictionary on Modern Fortification: An Illustrated Lexicon on European Fortification in the Period 1800-1945. Middleburg, Netherlands: PRAK.
- Schmalenbach, Paul (1983). "German Navy Large Bore Guns Operational Ashore During World War I". Warship International. XX (2): 123–153. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
