The Škoda 19 cm vz. 1904 was a naval gun of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

that was used by the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

during the World War I. The 19 cm vz. 1904 was also used by the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

and

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

during World War II. The Italians referred to it as the 190/39.

Construction

The Škoda 19 cm vz. 1904 was developed and built by

Škoda Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...

at the Pilsen works. These guns used Krupp horizontal sliding breech blocks with separate loading metallic cased charges and projectiles. Unlike other large naval guns of the time which used separate loading bagged charges and ammunition, the 19 cm vz. 1904 used separate loading ammunition with charges inside of a brass cartridge case to provide

obturation In the field of firearms and airguns, obturation denotes necessary barrel blockage or fit by a deformed soft projectile (obturation in general is closing up an opening). A bullet or pellet, made of soft material and often with a concave base, wi ...

History

The Škoda 19 cm vz. 1904 was used as secondary armament on the battleships and the armored cruiser . They were mounted on either pedestal mounts in single casemates amidships or in single

turrets Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...

. After World War I SMS ''Sankt Georg'' and were assigned to the United Kingdom as war reparations, while and were assigned to France. Between 1920 and 1921 these ships except SMS ''Erzherzog Karl'' were delivered to Italy for scrapping. The exact number of guns used for coastal defense during World War II is unknown. Coastal batteries are believed to have been located at Šibenik,

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

. Number of guns salvaged: * 12 guns each from the two ''Erzherzog Karl''-class battleships * 5 guns from SMS ''Sankt Georg''
Total = 29 guns Location and numbers of coastal batteries: * 2 batteries of 2 guns – Šibenik * 2 batteries of 2 guns – Pula * 2 batteries of 2 guns – Naples * 2 batteries of 4 guns – Tripoli * 2 guns on pontoon GM269
Total = 20 guns

Ammunition

Ammunition was of separate loading type with a cartridge case and a bagged charge which weighed . Ammunition types: * Armor piercing – Length: , Weight: * Common pointed- Length: , Weight: * Shrapnel – Length: , Weight:

Photo gallery

Photos of the Tripoli battery from the Italian State Archive.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda 19 cm Vz. 1904 190 mm artillery World War I naval weapons Naval guns of Austria-Hungary World War I artillery of Austria-Hungary Naval guns of Italy World War II artillery of Italy Coastal artillery