The Škoda 7 cm K10 was a

dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...

of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

that was used by the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', ) was the navy, naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were designated ''SMS'', for ''Seiner Majestät Schiff'' (His Majes ...

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 The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...

on ships ceded as war reparations and as

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 ...

during World War II. The Italians referred to it as the 66/47.

Construction

The Škoda 7 cm K10 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 responsi ...

at the Pilsen works. The barrel was made of steel with a horizontal sliding breech block and used fixed quick fire ammunition. The Škoda 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 Škoda 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 Škoda 7 cm K10 and K16 were mounted aboard

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

coastal defence ship Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...

s and

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

s 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 The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

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

Dreadnought The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...

s. 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 Škoda 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 The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

. 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 A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers. Intended for fleet scouting duties a ...

. 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

s 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

until scrapped in 1937. SMS ''Novara'' renamed ''Thionville'' went to France and served in the

until scrapped in 1942.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda 7 cm K10 Škoda naval guns 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 World War I anti-aircraft guns