15 cm Schiffskanone L/45

Infobox Weapon
name=15 cm SK L/45


caption=
origin=Germany
type=naval gun
railroad gun
coast defense gun
is_ranged=
is_bladed=
is_explosive=yes
is_artillery=yes
is_vehicle=
is_UK=
service=1908-1945
used_by=GER
wars=World War I, World War II
designer=Krupp
design_date=1906-08
manufacturer=Krupp
production_date=
number=
variants=
weight=
length=
part_length=convert|6.71|m|in
width=
height=
crew=
cartridge=separate-loading, case charge
caliber=convert|149.1|mm|in
action=
rate=
velocity=840 m/s
range=
max_range=
feed=
sights=
breech=horizontal sliding-wedge
recoil=hydro-spring
carriage=
elevation=
traverse=
blade_type=
hilt_type=
sheath_type=
head_type=
haft_type=
diameter=
filling=
filling_weight=
detonation=
yield=
armour=
primary_armament=
secondary_armament=
engine=
engine_power=
pw_ratio=
suspension=
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The 15 cm SK L/45 (15 cm Schiffskanone (Ship's gun)) 45 caliber) was a German naval gun used in World War I and World War II.

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, Köln-class light cruisers and Brummer-class minelaying cruisers. After World War I it was fitted to the light cruiser Emden. It was also fitted to German merchant raiders during World War II.

Ammunition

It used convert|45.3|kg|lb 15 cm Spgr L/4.1 HE shells with a bursting charge weight between convert|3.9|kg|lb and convert|4.09|kg|lb, depending on how the shell was fuzed.

Coast Defense 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) on the Isle of Jersey [Gander and Chamberlain, p. 266] . They show it using convert|44|kg|lb shells with a range of convert|18000|m|yd

Railroad Gun

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

References

* Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. "Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945". New York: Doubleday, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3

External Links

[http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_59-45_skc16.htm the 15cm SK L/45 on NavWeaps]

Notes