40.6 cm SK C / 34

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40.6 cm SK C / 34


Atlantic wall in France, battery "Lindemann

General Information
Manufacturer country: German EmpireGerman Empire (Reichskriegsflagge) German Empire
Developer / Manufacturer: Friedrich Krupp AG
Number of pieces: 11
Weapon Category: Ship gun, coastal gun
Technical specifications
Pipe length: 21,130 mm
Caliber :

406 mm

Caliber length : 52

The 40.6 cm SK C / 34 was developed as a ship gun for the German Navy during World War II . The gun was intended as the main armament for the H-class battleships, which were laid down in 1939 and canceled in 1941 . The guns that were already in production were built and used with a new mount as a coastal gun. In this role, the gun was also known as the Adolf cannon .

history

A total of eleven guns were produced by the Krupp company from 1934 onwards . They were originally developed and manufactured for the H-class battleships designed in the Z-Plan . Since these were no longer built after the beginning of the war, the first three were installed in 1941 in the Schleswig-Holstein battery on the Hela peninsula to protect the Gdańsk Bay . After that, the guns were used for coastal batteries as part of the expansion of the Atlantic Wall from 1942. The three from Hela were set up on the French Channel in Sangatte , south of Calais , the so-called Battery Lindemann, eight were sent to Norway, one of which was lost during sea transport. Three cannons were set up in the south of the Vestfjord in Engeløya in the Dietl battery (MAA 4./516), four more in the Theo battery (MAA 5./511) in Trondenes. There, in 1942/43, special quays for loading cannons as well as extensive bunker systems with ammunition depot, supply facilities and living rooms for the 68-man crew were built on an existing military base. The plant was to cover the northern approaches to the ore port of Narvik . They were not used during the war.

Numerous Soviet prisoners of war were used in the construction of the facilities and were housed in their own camp. Around 800 of these prisoners perished in the course of the construction work. They were initially buried in a separate cemetery in Trondenes and after the war they were reburied in the Tjøtta military cemetery. A memorial for the victims still exists in Trondenes today.

After the end of the war, the facility with the four Adolf cannons was taken over by the Norwegian army , which also carried out target practice with two guns from 1951 to 1957. On September 1, 1958, there was an explosion in an ammunition dump that cost five lives. In 1961 the battery was demobilized. While the three guns from Engeløya had been scrapped in 1956, the four guns of the Trondenes battery were restored in 1978–1982. They are the only ones that have survived. One of them ( Barbara tower ) can be visited today, together with the bunker systems, in the summer months. In the Technik Museum Sinsheim a shell of the gun is issued.

description

Each of the four preserved cannons in Trondenes is located in an armored turret and can be pivoted on a concrete ring. The pipe length is 21.5 meters and the weight 158.664 tons. The life of a cannon has been estimated at 250 to 300 rounds. Standard grenades weighed 1,030 kg and had a range of 42 km. A lighter Adolf grenade weighing around 600 kg enabled a range of up to 56 km at a maximum height of 21,800 meters. Observation posts were set up on the surrounding mountains and islands to control the fire

Technical specifications

Mount

  • Description: 40.6 cm wire L. C / 34 f
  • Weight: 1,475 t
  • Caliber: 16 inches
  • Number of tubes: 2
  • Type of pipe: 3 layers and loose casing with a horizontal wedge lock.
  • Number of straightening axes: 2
  • Muzzle velocity: 810 m / s
  • largest elevation: 33 °
  • greatest depression: −5.5 °
  • longest firing range: 39,100 m
  • highest altitude: 7,600 m
  • Lifespan: 200 shots
  • Rate of fire: ~ 1.98 rounds per barrel and min.
  • Max. Swivel speed: 4 ° / s
  • Max. Elevation speed: 5 ° / s

ammunition

Bullets

  • Tank explosive shell with base fuse and ballistic hood - phi L / 4.4 m BDZ (. M hood) to 1030 kg
  • High explosive grenade with bottom fuse and ballistic hood - Spgr L / 4.6 m Bdz (with hood) to 1,030 kg
  • HE grenade with head detonator and ballistic hood - Spgr L / 4.8 KZ (with hood) to 1,030 kg

Propellant charge

  • Sleeve cartridge: 234 kg
  • Pre-cartridge: 148 kg

literature

  • (OV): Adolfkanonen - Brochure of the Kanonmuseum Trondenes , Harstad o. J. [1998].
  • Harald Isachsen: Adolf cannons . Vågsfjord krigshistorie, Harstad 2008, ISBN 978-82-303-1028-1 .
  • Ian V. Hogg : German Artillery of World War Two . Greenhill Books, London 2002, ISBN 1-85367-480-X .
  • Mike J. Whitley: German Capital Ships of World War Two. Arms & Armor Press, London 1989, ISBN 0-85368-970-9 .

Web links

Commons : 40.6 cm SK C / 34  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History. Retrieved February 2, 2020 .
  2. ↑ 40.6 cm guns Reused guns Atlantikwall, Armor and Armament | Bunkersite.com. Retrieved February 2, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Hel, Helska Galeria - battery 406mm Theo Trondenes - Norway, Harstad. Retrieved February 2, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Main information about the artillery on board for the handbook for Admiralstabsoffizier, status 1.1.1939
  5. ↑ M.Dv. No. 185.2 Dimensions, weights and space requirements of ammunition and their packing containers