Å koda 7 Cm K10

The Å koda 7 cm K10 was a dual-purpose gun of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that was used by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. The gun was actually 66 mm, but the classification system for artillery rounded up to the next highest centimeter. The 7 cm K10 was also used by the Italian Navy on ships ceded as war reparations and as coastal artillery during World War II. The Italians referred to it as the 66/47.

Construction

The Å koda 7 cm K10 was developed and built by Å koda at the Pilsen works. The barrel was made of steel with a horizontal sliding breech block and used fixed quick fire ammunition. The Å koda 7 cm K10 was mainly used for anti-torpedo boat defense and the guns had an elevation of -10° to +20°. In 1915 Skoda engineers developed an anti-aircraft mounting for the K10 which was called the Å koda 7 cm K16 BAG (BAG = ''Ballon-Abwehr Geschutze'' or anti-balloon gun) which could elevate from -6° to +90° and had the same ballistic performance as the K10.

History

The Å koda 7 cm K10 and K16 were mounted aboard battleships, coastal defence ships and cruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy as secondary or tertiary armament. The Italians came into possession of a number of these guns through ships ceded to them as war reparations. The French Navy also came into possession of a number of these guns through ships ceded to them as war reparations, but there is not much evidence that they used them afterwards.

* ''Tegetthoff'' class – The 7 cm K10 and K16 were mounted as tertiary armament on these four Dreadnoughts. Each ship had twelve K10 guns on open pivot mounts on the upper deck, above the casemates mainly for anti-torpedo boat defense. There were another three or four (depending on ship) K16 anti-aircraft mounts on top of the 'B' and 'X' turrets after a 1915–16 refit. After World War I the three surviving ships of the Teggethoff class were ceded as war reparations to the allies. SMS ''Viribus Unitis'' went to Yugoslavia, SMS ''Prinz Eugen'' went to France and SMS ''Tegetthoff'' went to Italy. The Tegetthoff was decommissioned in 1923 and scrapped in 1925.
* ''Radetzky'' class – The 7 cm K16 was mounted as tertiary armament on these three Semi-dreadnoughts. Each ship had four open pivot mounts for anti-aircraft defense after a 1916–17 refit. After World War I SMS ''Radetzky'', SMS ''Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand'' and SMS ''Zrínyi'' were ceded to Italy and scrapped between 1920 and 1926.
* ''Monarch''-class coastal defense ships – The 7 cm K16 was mounted as tertiary armament on two of the three ships of this class. SMS ''Wien'' and SMS ''Budapest'' each had one open pivot mount for anti-aircraft defense after a 1917 refit. SMS ''Monarch'' differed from the other two ships in the Monarch-class because it had one of the earlier Å koda 7 cm L/45 BAG guns after a 1917 refit. After World War I the surviving two ships in the class SMS ''Budapest'' and SMS ''Monarch'' were ceded to Great Britain as war reparations. In 1920 the two ships were sold for scrap to Italy, and were scrapped between 1920 and 1922.
* SMS ''Sankt Georg'' – The 7 cm K16 was mounted as tertiary armament on this Armored cruiser. SMS ''Sankt Georg'' had one open pivot mount for anti-aircraft defense after a 1916 refit. After World War I SMS ''Sankt Georg'' was ceded to the Great Britain as war reparations and sold to an Italian company for scrapping in 1920.
* SMS ''Admiral Spaun'' – The 7 cm K16 was mounted as secondary armament on this Scout cruiser. SMS ''Admiral Spaun'' had one open pivot mount for anti-aircraft defense after a 1917 refit. After World War I SMS ''Admiral Spaun'' was ceded to the Great Britain as war reparations and sold to an Italian company for scrapping in 1920.
* ''Novara'' class – The 7 cm K16 was mounted as secondary armament on the three Scout cruisers of the class. Each ship had one open pivot mount for anti-aircraft defense installed after a 1917 refit. After World War I the three ships were ceded as war reparations to the allies. SMS ''Saida'' renamed ''Venzia'' and SMS ''Helgoland'' renamed ''Brindisi'' went to Italy and served in the Italian Navy until scrapped in 1937. SMS ''Novara'' renamed ''Thionville'' went to France and served in the French Navy until scrapped in 1942.

Notes

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda 7 cm K10
70 mm artillery
World War I naval weapons
World War II naval weapons
World War I artillery of Austria-Hungary
Naval guns of Austria-Hungary
Naval guns of Italy
World War II artillery of Italy
Naval anti-aircraft guns