Description

Used on Austria-Hungary pre-dreadnoughts and armored cruisers of the early 1900s.

Some of these ships were ceded after World War I to Italy, where they were scrapped and the guns then used as coastal artillery and on pontoon GM269.

Nomenclature note: The lengths of these guns were identical, the differences as noted in their designations was strictly the result of the way that each nation measured barrel length. See "Definitions and Information about Naval Guns" for further details.

The data that follows is for these guns while in Austria-Hungary service unless otherwise noted.

In 1918 there was also a planned 19 cm/35 (7.48") gun for a new cruiser and two 1,240 mt (1,220 ton) river monitors which had been laid down in 1917. Guns would have been mounted in twin turrets.

Gun Characteristics

Designation Austria-Hungary: 19 cm/42 (7.48") Škoda

Italy: 190 mm/39 (7.48") Škoda

Ship Class Used On Austria-Hungary: Erzherzog Karl and Sankt Georg Classes, rearmed Maria Theresa

Italy: Pontoon GM269 and coastal artillery

Date Of Design 1903
Date In Service 1905
Gun Weight 12.5 tons (12.7 mt) with breech
Breech: 992 lbs. (450 kg)
Gun Length oa about 315 in (8.000 m)
Bore Length about 292 in (7.410 m)
Rifling Length 201.3 in (5.112 m)
Grooves (50) 0.118 D x 0.282 (3 mm D x 7.16 mm W)
Lands 0.134 in (3.5 mm)
Twist RH increasing 1 in 36 to 1 in 22
Chamber Volume N/A
Rate Of Fire 4 rounds per minute

Ammunition

Type Separate
Projectile Types and Weights 1 APC L/3,2 - 214 lbs. (97 kg)
SAPC L/3,5 - 198 lbs. (90 kg)
Shrapnel L/2,8 - 108.6 lbs. (49.25 kg)
Bursting Charge APC - 4.4 lbs. (2.0 kg)
SAPC - 13.4 lbs. (6.07 kg)
Shrapnel - 2.0 lbs. (0.90 kg)
Projectile Length APC - 23.9 in (60.8 cm)
SAPC - 26.2 in (66.5 cm)
Shrapnel - 20.9 in (53.2 cm)
Propellant Charge 58.0 lbs. (26.3 kg) 19/480 mm M97
Cartridge - 103.6 lbs. (47 kg)
Muzzle Velocity for AP Austria-Hungary - 2,700 fps (825 mps)
Italy - 2,625 fps (800 mps)
Working Pressure N/A
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun 120 rounds 2
  • ^A Note on Sources: Although these projectiles are described in "Naval Weapons of World War One" as having AP Caps ("APC" and "CPC"), this is possibly incorrect. Austro-Hungarian projectiles of this time period had neither AP nor ballistic caps. It was not until about 1910 that the Navy purchased licenses from the British firm of Firth and Sons, Limited, for making such items and it was not 1912-13 that the Navy started refitting existing projectiles with AP caps and ballistic caps. So it would seem unlikely that this gun, introduced into service in 1905, would have had such caps until at least 1912.
  • ^Outfit for Sankt Georg was 30 APC, 80 SAPC and 10 shrapnel rounds per gun.

Range

Range with 214 lbs. (97 kg) APC Shell
Elevation Distance
12.85 degrees (max APC range table) 13,120 yards (12,000 m)

Armor Penetration

Penetration of Vertical Plate with 214 lbs. (97 kg) AP Shell
Range Wrought Iron Krupp Cemented
6,560 yards (6,000 m) 11.9 in (30.1 cm) ---
10,940 yards (10,000 m) 7.0 in (17.9 cm) ---
11,810 yards (10,800 m) --- 3.5 in (9 cm)
13,120 yards (12,000 m) 5.9 in (15.1 cm) ---
14,330 yards (13,000 m) --- 3.1 in (8 cm)

Data from "Naval Weapons of World War One."

Mount/Turret Data

Designation Erzherzog Karl (8) and Sankt Georg (4) - Single Casemates
Erzherzog Karl (4) and Sankt Georg (1) - Single Turrets
Weight N/A
Elevation -5 / +15 degrees
Elevation Rate N/A
Train about +150 / -150 degrees
Train Rate Casemates: 7 degrees per second
Turrets: 5 degrees per second
Gun recoil 17.3 in (44 cm) maximum
Loading Angle Any

Sources

"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
"Naval Weapons of World War One" by Norman Friedman
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Special help by Cliff McMullen

Page History

30 September 2005 - Benchmark
27 May 2012 - Updated to latest template
19 October 2013 - Added ammunition information
11 October 2022 - Converted to HTML 5
16 February 2024 - Minor updates