8.8 cm SK C/31 naval gun

The 8.8 cm SK C/31 was a German naval gun that was used in World War II.

The 8.8 cm SK C/31 gun weighed 4,255 kilograms (9,381 lb), had an overall length of 6.87 meters (22 ft 6 in) and its bore length was 6.341 meters (20 ft 9.6 in). It used a vertical sliding-block breech design. The gun was normally on the twin gun carriage (German: Doppel Lafette or abbreviated Dopp. L) C/31, the mount plus guns weighed 27,300 kilograms (27.3 t). The C/31 mount was later modified to carry the 10.5 cm SK C/33 naval gun. Useful life expectancy was fairly short 1,500 effective full charges (EFC) per barrel.

Only the heavy cruiser (Panzerschiff) Deutschland received the gun, six 8.8 cm SK C/31 were briefly installed, replacing its three obsolete 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns, though in 1940 these were again replaced with six 10.5 cm C/33 L/65 guns. Other German capital ships were equipped with a new version of the 8.8 cm gun, the 8.8 cm SK C/32 naval gun which used a shorter shell and were also mounted in a slightly modified carriage, the C/32 which had a slightly larger pivot mount.

Fixed type ammunition with and without tracer, which weighed 18.5 kg (41 lb), with a projectile length of 1,227.5 mm (48.33 in) was fired. Ammunition Types Available:

• High Explosive (HE) - 9 kg (20 lb)

• Illumination (ILLUM) - 9.4 kg (21 lb)

• List of naval guns

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• SK C/31 at Navweaps.com