Description

Used on pre-dreadnoughts of the Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm class. The mixture of both L/35 and L/40 guns on these ships shows how centralized fire control was not yet available for these ships, even though they had a "uniform" main battery.

Guns were built from hoops and had a horizontal wedge breech mechanism.

These mountings used hydraulic power with steam pumps as prime movers. The breech mechanisms were hand-worked as was the ramming.

When these battleships were disarmed, four of their 28 cm/35 guns were to have been used to protect the Dardanelles, but these fortifications were not completed at the time of the Armistice.

All German 28 cm guns had an actual bore diameter of 28.3 cm (11.1").

Gun Characteristics

Designation 28 cm/35 (11") SK L/35
Ship Class Used On Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm class
Date Of Design 1890
Date In Service 1893
Gun Weight 96,790 lbs. (43,900 kg) including BM
Gun Length oa 386 in (9.800 m)
Bore Length 349 in (8.876 m)
Rifling Length N/A
Grooves N/A
Lands N/A
Twist N/A
Chamber Volume 8,723 in3 (142.9 dm3)
Rate Of Fire about 0.5 rounds per minute

Ammunition

Type Bag
Projectile Types and Weights 1 AP L/2,6 2: 529 lbs. (240 kg)
HE L/2,8 base fuze: 529 lbs. (240 kg)
Bursting Charge N/A
Projectile Length AP L/2,6: 29.0 in (73.6 cm)
HE L/2,8 base fuze: 32.3 in (82.1 cm)
Propellant Charge 3 124.8 lbs. (56.6 kg) RP C/12
Muzzle Velocity 2,247 fps (685 mps)
Working Pressure N/A
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun 60 rounds
  • ^
    Actual designations for Projectiles
    AP L/2,6 Psgr. L/2,6
    HE L/2,8 base fuze Spr.gr. L/2,8 Bdz
  • ^The AP L/2,6 was about 2crh.
  • ^As originally introduced, these guns used brown powder.

Range

Range with 529 lbs. (240 kg) shell (type not known)
Elevation Distance
25 degrees
(Max elevation of turret)		 15,800 yards (14,400 m)

"Die Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie" says that the effective range of this gun when introduced was 12,030 yards (11,000 m).

Armor Penetration

Armor Penetration with 529 lbs. (240 kg) AP L2,6
Range Side Armor Deck Armor
13,120 yards (12,000 m) 6.3 in (160 mm) ---

Data from "Die Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie."

Mount / Turret Data

Designation Two-gun turrets
   Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm (1) 1a : Drh.L. C/92
Weight N/A
Elevation Drh.L. C/92: -5 / +25 degrees
Elevation Rate N/A
Train about +150 / -150 degrees
Train Rate N/A
Gun recoil N/A
Loading Angle N/A 2a
  • ^This mounting was only used amidships. Bow and stern mountings used 28 cm/40 SK L/40 guns.
  • ^Turret may have been required to train to 0 degrees in order to load.

Sources

"Naval Weapons of World War One" by Norman Friedman
"Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1922" by Randal Gray and Robert Gardiner (Editor)
"German Warships 1815-1945" by Erich Gröner
"The Big Gun: Battleship Main Armament 1860-1945" by Peter Hodges
"Die deutsche Flotte, Zweibrücken 1901" by Ernst Graf Reventlow
"Die Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie" by Paul Schmalenbach
"German Warships of World War I" by John C. Taylor
---
Special help from Rainer Troendle

Page History

05 February 2011 - New datapage
21 November 2012 - Added turret sketch and gun details
31 January 2021 - Converted to HTML 5 format