8.8 cm SK L/45 naval gun

Description

The 8.8 cm SK L/45 gun weighed 2.5 t and had an overall length of about 4 m. It used a vertical sliding-block, or "wedge", as it is sometimes referred to, breech design.

History

During World War I, the SK L/45 was used as anti-torpedo boat guns on all Imperial German Navy dreadnoughts and as main guns on torpedo boats and destroyers. The SK L/45 was also used to replace some of the 8.8 cm SK L/35 anti-torpedo boat guns on pre-dreadnought battleships.

With the growing threat of aircraft, Krupp developed a high angle mount for the gun with a protective shield, known as the SK L/45 MPL C/13. The anti-aircraft gun was first installed on the battlecruiser and eventually all German capital ships had their 8.8 cm anti-torpedo guns completely or partially replaced with a smaller number of the 8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun. This gun became not only the standard anti-aircraft gun on ships, but was also extensively used on every possible place where fixed anti-aircraft defence was needed.

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles imposed many restrictions on the German Reichsmarine and no new anti-aircraft gun could be developed before 1931. As a result, the new light cruiser , the three Königsberg-class cruisers and the heavy cruiser were equipped by the now completely obsolete 8.8 cm SK L/45 C/13. Eventually these guns were replaced by the new 8.8 cm SK C/31 naval gun, 8.8 cm SK C/32 naval gun or the 10.5 cm Flak 38, with most ships being refitted by 1939.

During the 1930s surviving SK L/45 guns were modified to use the same ammunition as the 8.8 cm SK C/30 naval gun and had similar performance.

Versions

• 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval gun in MPL C/06 and MPL C/13 mountings
• 8.8 cm Flak L/45 anti-aircraft gun in MPL C/13 mounting
• 8.8 cm TbtsK L/45 torpedo boat gun in TbtsL C/13 mounting

Users

• German Empire
• Weimar Republic
• Nazi Germany

Ammunition

Fixed type ammunition with and without tracer, which weighed 15 kg, with a projectile length of 355 mm was fired. Ammunition Types Available:

• Armor Piercing (AP) - 10 kg
• High Explosive (HE) - 9 kg
• High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) - 9.5 kg
• Illumination (ILLUM) - 9.4 kg

75 mm FRC M27

Nazi Germany | Transport: 8027 kg | In action: 7930 kg 6500 m 7500 m to 8000 m | Dual-axle flatbed road carriage | Railroad flatcar}}

The 75 mm FRC M27 was a Belgian anti-aircraft gun built after the World War I and used during World War II.

The origins of the FRC M27 lie in the German Krupp 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval gun of 1913. In addition to its role aboard warships of the Imperial German Navy, it was also used as a shore based anti-aircraft gun and coastal artillery during the First World War. The Belgians obtained a number of these guns either when the Germans retreated or as reparations following Germany's defeat during the First World War.

The barrels were lined down to 75 mm by the Fonderie Royale des Canons (FRC) in 1927. The guns were given a muzzle brake and mounted on a shielded, high angle mount on either a dual-axle flatbed road carriage with side platforms for the operators and outriggers to stabilize the gun in its firing position (sometimes it was mounted on a railroad flatcar). Cartridges were equipped with a time fuse head set before firing.

Those weapons captured after the German occupation of Belgium in 1940 were taken into Wehrmacht service as the 7.5 cm Flak(b).

Citations

Main sources

Secondary sources

Other sources

References

1. "SK 88 gun at Landships".