8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun

8.8 cm SK C/35
A gun aboard the minesweeper Hansestadt Danzig
Type	Naval gun
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
In service	1938—1945
Used by	Kriegsmarine Romanian Naval Forces
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designed	1935–38
Specifications
Weight	776 kilograms (1,711 lb)
Length	3.985 meters (13 ft 0.9 in)
length	3.731 meters (12 ft 2.9 in) (bore length)

The 8.8 cm SK C/35^{[Note 1]} was a German naval gun used in World War II.

Description

The 8.8 cm SK C/35 gun weighed 776 kilograms (1,711 lb) and had an overall length of 3.985 meters (13 ft 0.9 in) with a vertical sliding-block breech. The gun fired a 9.5 kg (21 lb) projectile 88 mm in diameter, and the barrel is sometimes described as 45 caliber. A 2.82 kg (6.2 lb) propellent charge produced muzzle velocity of 700 m/s (2,300 ft/s) with nose-fuzed high explosive and high explosive incendiary projectiles (with or without tracer). Useful life expectancy was 12,000 effective full charges (EFC) per barrel.^[1]

Ammunition

Ammunition was of a fixed type with a Complete Round Weight of 33 lb, (15 kg) and a projectile length of around 14 in (385.5 mm) in length. The gun was able to fire

• Armor Piercing (AP) - 22.5 lb (10.2 kg)
• High Explosive (HE) - 19.8 lb (9.0 kg)
• Illumination (ILLUM) - 20.7 lb (9.4 kg)

The High Explosive (HE) round has a muzzle velocity of 2,297 fps (700 mps) ^[2]

History

The typically unshielded SK C/35 deck gun of a type VII U-boat is visible below the torpedo tail.

Naval guns

This was the standard deck gun mounted forward of the conning tower in Type VII boats, although a few substituted a high-angle 8.8 cm SK C/30 naval gun for anti-aircraft defense.^[1] The SK C/35 was designed for the prototype VIIA boats of 1935 with a nominal ammunition allowance of 220 rounds. During the early war years, these guns were used to encourage surrender of independently routed merchant ships or to sink ships damaged by torpedoes.^[3] Some of these guns were later removed from U-boats for mounting aboard minesweepers and submarine chasers after unshielded deck guns proved impractical in action against Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships and escorted trade convoys.^[4]

The gun was also used by the Romanian-built submarines Rechinul and Marsuinul and the Democrația-class minesweepers.^[5][6]

See also

• List of naval guns

Footnotes

Notes

1. SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon); C - Construktionsjahr (year of design)

Citations

1. Campbell p.251
2. 35.htm The 8.8 cm/45 (3.46") SK C/35 at Naval Weapons.Com
3. Blair p.63
4. Lenton pp.126&127
5. Conway's all The World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, p. 361
6. Conway's All the World Fighting Ships 1947-1995, p. 326

References

• Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939-1942. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-58839-8.
• Campbell, John (2002). Naval Weapons of World War Two. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
• Gander, Terry; Chamberlain, Peter (1979). 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. ISBN 0-385-15090-3.
• Hogg, Ian V. (1997). German Artillery of World War Two (2nd corrected ed.). Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 1-85367-480-X.
• Lenton, H.T. (1976). German Warships of the Second World War. New York: Arco. ISBN 0-668-04037-8.
• Rolf, Rudi (1998). Der Atlantikwall: Bauten der deutschen Küstenbefestigungen 1940-1945. Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3-7648-2469-7.
• Rolf, Rudi (2004). A Dictionary on Modern Fortification: An Illustrated Lexicon on European Fortification in the Period 1800-1945. Middleburg, Netherlands: PRAK.

External links

• SK C/35 at Navweaps.com