Utof
Utof was the abbreviation for anti-submarine and torpedo-boat anti-aircraft gun used in the German Navy from the First to the Second World War . However, it did not refer to the cannon as such, but to its mount , which could be mounted on the decks of submarines and early torpedo boats and other small boats (e.g. minesweepers ) due to its narrow shape and, above all, lighter design .
history
During the First World War , a number of submarines and also the coastal torpedo boats of the A-III class were armed with an 8.8 cm Utof SK L / 30 . For this purpose, the 8.8 cm L / 30 quick-loading cannon , which has been used in the Imperial Navy as a torpedo boat anti-tank gun on ships of the line and cruisers since the 1890s, was placed on a narrower mount, which also allowed a greater height direction of up to 80 ° and thus also for air defense was good. In addition to the 10.5 cm SK L / 45 (up to 50 ° elevation) which was installed as a Utof version on submarines and torpedo boats, z. B. for the very large submarines of Projects 42 ( SM U 135 ) and 45 U-Mine cruisers ( SM U 117 ) as well as the U-cruisers of Project 46 ( SM U 139 ) and the torpedo boats type 1916 ( SMS S 113 ) Sea target weapons in caliber 15 cm developed (15-cm Utof L / 45 C16).
In World War II the 10.5-cm-Utof SK-L / 45 C / 32 on the two was Navy -U-boats of the type I and about 200 boats of the older series of type IX used. Likewise, the remaining copies of the 10.5 cm SK L / 45 from the time of the First World War were modified so that they could use the same ammunition as the C / 32. The later type IX boats and the eight type X boats received the 10.5 cm Utof SK L / 45 C / 36. From 1942 these guns were removed from the boats due to uselessness, which were instead equipped with 2 cm or 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns because of the greatly increased danger from enemy aircraft; the removed guns were used on the 1940 type minesweepers .
literature
- Erich Gröner: All German warships from 1815-1936. JF Lehmanns, Munich / Berlin 1937, pp. 19, 59ff.
- Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop: The German Navy 1935-1945. Volume 3, Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, 1992, ISBN 3-7909-0320-5 .
- Werner FG Stehr, Siegfried Breyer: Light and medium artillery on German warships. (Naval Arsenal Volume 18). Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-7909-0664-6 .