The 12.8 cm SK C/34
[SK - ''Schnelladekanone'' (quick loading cannon); ''C - Construktionsjahr'' (year of design)] was a German medium-caliber naval gun deployed on destroyers from 1934 through the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Some of these guns remained in service until 2003 in the coastal defense units of Norway.
Characteristics
The 12.8 cm SK C/34 was used on the
Type 34,
Type 36 and
Type 36B destroyers as well as the sloop ''
Grille
Grill or grille may refer to:
Food
* Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function
* Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...
'', the training ship
''Bremse'' and the torpedo boats
''Leopard'' and ''Luchs''. They were also intended for the unbuilt
Type 38B destroyers,
Type 40 torpedo-boats and the
Type XI U-boats. These guns were either mounted on single hand worked MPLC/34 mounts, converted 10.5 cm MPLC/28 mounts or in two twin Drh LC/38 mounts for Type XI U-boats.
[Campbell, ''Naval Weapons of WWII'', p.246.]
The gun could be depressed to -10° and raised to 30°. It had an arc of fire of 360°, meaning that they could rotate a full circle, able to fire at any given point. The gun fired a high-explosive shell at a muzzle velocity of to a range of .
Eight of the naval guns were also purchased by Greece, intended to be used in the construction of two new Greek Destroyers in 1941. However, the outbreak of the Second World War forced the Greek government to cancel their plans. Instead, the Greeks installed the guns to monitor to Corfu strait during the Greco-Italian War.
See also
*
List of naval guns
List of Naval Guns by country of origin in decreasing caliber size
List of naval guns by caliber size, all countries
Naval anti-aircraft guns
See also
* List of artillery
* List of the largest cannon by caliber
*Glossary of British ordnanc ...
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
*
4.7 inch QF Mark IX & XII : equivalent British destroyer guns, firing a shell nearly 12 pounds lighter, to a range 2,000 yards less than the German gun.
*
5"/38 caliber gun
The Mark 12 5"/38 caliber gun was a United States dual-purpose naval gun, but also installed in single-purpose mounts on a handful of ships. The 38 caliber barrel was a mid-length compromise between the previous United States standard 5"/51 low ...
: equivalent US gun, but unlike the German gun had dual-purpose mount allowing anti-aircraft fire. However, the 5"/38 caliber was a lighter weapon, and had a shorter barrel. It fired a shell that was about 15% lighter than the German gun, and was also out-ranged by the German weapon by 1,000 yards.
Notes
Citations
References
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External links
SK C/34 on navweaps.com
{{WWIIGermanGuns
128 mm artillery
World War II artillery of Germany
Naval guns of Germany
World War II naval weapons
Coastal artillery
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s