30.5 cm SK L/50 gun

Specifications

Naval Turrets

The 30.5 cm SK L/50 guns were mounted in twin gun turrets. The Helgoland-class ships used six C/1908 mountings; these turrets had 100 mm-thick roofs and 300 mm-thick sides. Later ship classes used improved designs. The Kaiser class carried five C/1909 gun houses, while the subsequent König class carried five turrets of the C/1911 type. The primary improvement for the LC/1909 turret was an increase in armor thickness of the roof, from 100 mm to 300 mm; side armor remained the same. The turret roofs on the LC/1911 mounts were reduced to 110 mm; again, the sides remained at a thickness of 300 mm. Derfflinger and Lützow used four C/1912 mountings, while their half sister carried an improved C/1913 type. The C/1912 mounts had 110 mm-thick roofs and 270 mm-thick sides. The turrets on the newer Hindenburg had the thickness of their roofs increased to 150 mm, though the sides were the same as in the preceding C/1912 type. Weights for the gun houses ranged from 534–549 tons (543–558 metric tons); the variations depended primarily on the thickness of armor.

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. This layout was also used in the preceding battleships. On the Derfflinger-class battlecruisers, the two forward and the superfiring rear turret used this configuration, although the rearmost gun turret had its magazine and shell room inverted.

All of the German gun turrets initially allowed for elevation to 13.5 degrees, which gave a maximum range of 187 hm. During the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, British ships had been able to open fire first, outside the range of the German guns, and it was examined how the range of the German guns could be improved. Increasing the maximum elevation of the guns would mean higher gun mounts, larger turrets and a significant increase in total weight. Instead the turrets were modified to compensate the increase of the maximum elevation to 16 degrees with a decrease of the maximum depression from -8 to -5.5 degrees. This correspondingly increased the range to 205 hm. 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.

Coast defense mounts

The island of Helgoland received four twin gun turrets between 1909 and 1912, although their exact type is unknown. Battery Kaiser Wilhelm II was built to protect the port of Zeebrugge in Occupied Flanders, and to cover the Scheldt estuary from a potential British landing, 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. They were manned by sailors from Naval Artillery Regiment (Matrosen Artillerie Regiment) 1. Construction of the battery started in September 1915 and the battery was operational on 13 April 1916.

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). 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. These guns were initially in open barbettes with 360° traverse, but these were later rebuilt into concrete casemates with overhead cover. that could elevate to 50 degrees and train 220 degrees in either direction.

Ammunition

These guns fired two types of shells during World War I: armor-piercing (AP) L/3.1 and high explosive (HE) L/4 types. During World War II, the guns fired a wider variety of shells, including armor-piercing L/3,4 and L/4,9 types, and high explosive L/3.8, L/5, and L/4.8 shells, as well as specially designed coast defense artillery projectiles. The AP and HE rounds weighed between 405 and 415 kg (915 lb), while the coastal artillery projectiles weighed only 250 kg (551 lb).

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).

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).

Notes

Footnotes

References

References

1. Gröner, pp. 23–30.
2. Gröner, pp. 54–9.
3. Brown, David K.. (1999). "The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906-1922". Naval Institute Press.
4. Gröner, p. 24
5. Gröner, p. 26
6. Gröner, p. 27
7. Gröner, p. 56
8. DiGiulian, Tony. (28 December 2008). "Germany 30.5 cm/50 (12") SK L/50". Navweaps.com.
9. Herwig p. 70
10. Gardiner and Gray, pp. 146–147
11. Schmalenbach (1993), p. 79
12. Rolf (2004), p. 186
13. Norton, Augustus. (1919). "Coast Defenses Constructed by the Germans on the Belgian Coast". Coast Artillery School Press.
14. François, Guy. (2006). "Eisenbahnartillerie: Histoire de l'artillerie lourd sur voie ferrée allemande des origines à 1945". Editions Histoire et Fortifications.
15. Corremans and Reyntjens, pp 21-25
16. Rolf (1998), pp. 38, 300
17. Rolf (1998), p. 335
18. "The Atlantic Rampart". The Atlantic Wall Linear Museum.