| 30.5 cm SK L/50 | |
|---|---|
 Close-up of SMS Kaiser's aft turrets | |
| Type | Naval gun Coast-defence gun |
| Place of origin | German Empire |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1911–45 |
| Used by | Kaiserliche Marine Kriegsmarine |
| Wars | World War I World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1908 |
| Manufacturer | Krupp |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 51.85 tonnes (51.03 long tons; 57.15 short tons) |
| Length | 15.25 metres (50 ft) |
| Barrel length | 14.481 metres (47 ft 6 in) (50 calibers) |
| Shell | 250–415 kg (551–915 lb) |
| Caliber | 30.5 centimetres (12 in) |
| Breech | horizontal sliding-block |
| Recoil | Hydro-pneumatic |
| Elevation | −8° to +13.5° (naval turrets) |
| Traverse | depends on the mount |
| Rate of fire | 2–3 rounds per minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 855–1,120 m/s (2,810–3,670 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 16,200 m (17,700 yd) at 13.5° elevation 41,300 m (45,200 yd) at 49.2° elevation |
The 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun[A 1] was a heavy German gun mounted on 16 of the 26 German capital ships built shortly before World War I.[1][2] Designed in 1908, it fired a shell 30.5 cm (12 in) in diameter and entered service in 1911 when the four Helgoland-class battleships carrying it were commissioned into the High Seas Fleet.
It was also fitted on the subsequent five Kaiser and four König-class battleships and the three Derfflinger-class battlecruisers. The guns were used to great effect at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, when the two Derfflinger-class ships, Derfflinger and Lützow, used them to destroy the British battlecruisers Queen Mary and Invincible.[3] The gun was eventually superseded in German naval use by the much larger and more powerful 38 cm SK L/45.
Before World War I, 30.5 cm SK L/50 guns were emplaced on the islands of Helgoland and Wangerooge to defend Germany's North Sea coast. One battery was emplaced during the war to defend the port of Zeebrugge in Occupied Flanders. The guns on Helgoland were destroyed by the victorious Allies at the end of the war, but the battery at Wangerooge survived intact. Three of its guns were transferred to Helgoland after the island was remilitarized in 1935. During the Second World War, the other three guns were transferred to France and employed in coastal defense positions along the English Channel.
Cite error: There are <ref group=A> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=A}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Gröner, pp. 23–30.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 54–9.
- ^ Brown, David K. (1999). The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906-1922. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 167. ISBN 1-55750-315-X.