15 cm SK L/45

15 cm SK L/45

Gun salvaged from SMS Bremse, at the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre, Hoy, Orkney
Type Naval gun
Railroad gun
Coast-defence gun
Place of origin German Empire
Service history
In service 1908—45
Used by Germany
Wars World War I, World War II
Production history
Designer Krupp
Designed 1906—08
Manufacturer Krupp
Specifications
Barrel length 6.71 metres (20 ft)

Shell separate-loading, case charge
Caliber 149.1 millimetres (5.87 in)
Breech horizontal sliding-wedge
Recoil hydro-spring
Muzzle velocity 840 metres per second (2,800 ft/s)

The 15 cm SK L/45[Note 1] was a German naval gun used in World War I and World War II.

Naval service

This gun was fitted as the casemate-mounted secondary armament in all Imperial German dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers, the armored cruiser SMS Blücher and as primary armament in the Pillau, Wiesbaden, Königsberg, Cöln and the Brummer-class cruisers. After World War I it was fitted to the light cruiser Emden.

15 cm SK L/45 Mounts[1]
Type of Mount Designation Weight Elevation Range (during World War I) Ship classes
Single pedestal mounts in casematesMPL C/0615,770 kilograms (34,770 lb)-7° to +20°14,900 metres (16,300 yd)Nassau, Helgoland, Kaiser, von der Tann, Moltke, Blücher
MPL C/06.1116,533 kilograms (36,449 lb)-10° to +19°13,500 metres (14,800 yd)König, Seydlitz, Derfflinger
MPL C/1317,950 kilograms (39,570 lb)-8.5° to +1913,500 metres (14,800 yd)Bayern, Hindenburg, Mackensen
MPL C/13 mod18,350 kilograms (40,450 lb)-8.5° to +2215,800 metres (17,300 yd)Wartime modification to MPL C/13
Single pedestal mounts in open half-shieldsMPL C/1416,185 kilograms (35,682 lb)-10° to +22°15,800 metres (17,300 yd)Wiesbaden, Königsberg II
MPL C/1617,116 kilograms (37,734 lb)-10° to +27°16,800 metres (18,400 yd)Cöln II, Emden
MPL C/16 mod-10° to +3017,600 metres (19,200 yd)wartime modification to MPL C/16

Ammunition

It used 45.3 kilograms (100 lb) 15 cm Spgr L/4.1 HE shells with a bursting charge weight between 3.9 kilograms (8.6 lb) and 4.09 kilograms (9.0 lb), depending on how the shell was fuzed.

Coast Defense Gun

15 cm SK L/45 coastal artillery gun at Nordarnøy, Gildeskål, Norway
Rear view of the above pictured gun

The same gun was used for coast defense duties in concrete emplacements after World War I. One example was 3./Marine-Artillerie Abteilung 604 ("3rd Battery of Naval Artillery Battalion 604") in Jersey.[2] They show it using 44 kilograms (97 lb) shells with a range of 18,000 metres (20,000 yd)

Railroad Gun

Main article: 15 cm SK "Nathan"

It was also used as a railroad gun during World War I.

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Footnotes

Notes
  1. SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon); L - Länge in Kaliber (length in caliber)
Citations
  1. from NavWeaps
  2. Gander and Chamberlain, p. 266

References

External links

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