15 cm SK L/45

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15 cm SK L/45
German gun from SMS Bremse - geograph.org.uk - 118942.jpg
Gun salvaged from SMS Bremse, at the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre, Hoy, Orkney
Type Naval gun
Railroad gun
Coastal artillery
Place of origin German Empire
Service history
In service1908—45
Used byGermany
Wars World War I
World War II
Production history
Designer Krupp
Designed1906
ManufacturerKrupp
Produced1908
Specifications
Mass5,730 kilograms (12,630 lb)
Length6.71 metres (22 ft 0 in)
Barrel  length6.32 metres (20 ft 9 in)L/45
Shell separate loading quick fire
Caliber 149.1 millimetres (5.87 in)
Breech horizontal sliding-wedge
Recoil Hydro-spring
Elevation See table
Traverse −150° to +150°
Rate of fire 5-7 rpm
Muzzle velocity 840 metres per second (2,800 ft/s)
Maximum firing rangeSee table

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

Contents

The 15 cm SK L/45 was a widely used naval gun on many classes of World War I dreadnoughts and cruisers in both casemates and turrets. It was constructed of an A tube and two layers of hoops with a Krupp horizontal sliding-wedge breech block. During World War I a few pre-war cruisers that were armed with 10.5 cm guns were rearmed with these weapons. In World War II the 15 cm SK L/45 was widely used as coastal artillery and as primary armament on German auxiliary cruisers.

Ship classes that carried the 15 cm SK L/45 include:

15 cm SK L/45 mounts [1]
Type of mountDesignationWeightElevationRange (during World War I)Ship classes
Single pedestal mounts in casematesMPL C/0615,770 kg (34,770 lb)−7° to +20°14.9 km (9.3 mi) at 20° Nassau, Helgoland, and Kaiser classes, SMS Von der Tann, Moltke class, SMS Blücher
MPL C/06.1116,533 kg (36,449 lb)−10° to +19°13.5 km (8.4 mi) at +19 König class, Seydlitz, Derfflinger class, Lützow
MPL C/1317,950 kg (39,570 lb)−8.5° to +1913.5 km (8.4 mi) at +19 Bayern class, Hindenburg, Mackensen class
MPL C/13 mod18,350 kg (40,450 lb)−8.5° to +2215.8 km (9.8 mi) at +22Wartime modification to MPL C/13
Single pedestal mounts in open half-shieldsMPL C/1416,185 kg (35,682 lb)−10° to +22°15.8 km (9.8 mi) at +22 Wiesbaden class, Königsberg class
MPL C/1617,116 kg (37,734 lb)−10° to +27°16.8 km (10.4 mi) at +27 Cöln class, SMS Emden
MPL C/16 mod−10° to +3017.6 km (10.9 mi) at +30wartime modification to MPL C/16

Ammunition

Ammunition was of separate loading quick fire type. The projectiles were 61 cm (2 ft) long with a single bagged charge which weighed 13–14 kg (29–31 lb).

The gun was able to fire:

Coast defense gun

15 cm SK L/45 coastal artillery gun at Nord-Arnoya, Gildeskal Municipality, Norway 15 cm SK L45 coastal artillery gun at Nordarnoy, Norway - 1.jpg
15 cm SK L/45 coastal artillery gun at Nord-Arnøya, Gildeskål Municipality, Norway
Rear view of the above pictured gun 15 cm SK L45 coastal artillery gun at Nordarnoy, Norway - 2.jpg
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

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

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