8.8 cm SK C/32 naval gun

The 8.8 cm SK C/32^{[Note 1]} was a German naval gun that was used in World War II.

8.8 cm SK C/32
Type	Naval gun Anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	Germany
Service history
In service	1933—45
Used by	Nazi Germany Spain
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designed	1932–34
Variants	SKC/32in
Specifications
Mass	3,640 kilograms (8,020 lb)
Length	6.69 meters (21 ft 11 in)
Barrel length	6.341 meters (20 ft 9.6 in) (bore length)
Shell	Fixed
Shell weight	9–9.4 kilograms (20–21 lb)
Caliber	88 millimeters (3.5 in)
Breech	vertical sliding-block
Elevation	-10° to +80°
Traverse	360°
Rate of fire	15-20 RPM
Muzzle velocity	950 m/s (3,100 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	Horizontal: 17,200 metres (18,800 yd) at 45° Vertical: 12,400 metres (40,700 ft) at 80°[1]

Description

The 8.8 cm SK C/32 was a gun of modest performance with a shorter chamber which fired a shorter shell. The SK C/32 had a loose one-part barrel with vertical sliding-block breech design. It was designed to replace the older 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns on German light cruisers. The SK C/32in variant of the gun had a loose two-part barrel with vertical sliding-block and was carried on a modified twin 10.5 cm Dopp L C/37 mounting and was intended for the unbuilt M-class cruiser.^[2]

All three of the Königsberg-class cruisers and the light cruiser Leipzig had their single mount 8.8 cm SK L/45 replaced with the 8.8 cm SK C/32 mounted in C/32 twin mounts (German: Doppel Lafette or abbreviated Dopp. L). The light cruiser Nürnberg and the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer were equipped with this gun when being built.^[3] It was also original equipment on the Spanish cruiser Navarra.^[2]

Ammunition

Fixed type ammunition with and without tracer, which weighed 15.2 kilograms (34 lb) and was 93.2 centimetres (36.7 in) long. Ammunition Types Available:

• High Explosive (HE) - 9 kg (20 lb)
• Illumination (ILLUM) - 9.4 kg (21 lb)

See also

• List of naval guns

Footnotes

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

References

• Campbell, John (2002). Naval Weapons of World War Two. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
• Stehr, Werner F.G.; Breyer, Siegfried (1999). Leichte und mitlere Artillerie auf deutschen Kriegsschiffen. Marine-Arsenal (in German). Vol. Sonderheft band 18. Wölfersheim-Berstadt: Podzun Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0664-6.

Further reading

• 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.
• 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.