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.
These guns were built from hoops and used 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.
All German 28 cm guns had an actual bore diameter of 28.3 cm (11.1").
| Designation | 28 cm/40 (11") MRK L/40 |
|---|---|
| Ship Class Used On | Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm class |
| Date Of Design | 1890 |
| Date In Service | 1893 |
| Gun Weight | 97,000 lbs. (44,000 kg) including BM |
| Gun Length oa | 440.9 in (11.200 m) |
| Bore Length | 409.5 in (10.401 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 |
| Type | Bag |
|---|---|
| Projectile Types and Weights 1 | AP L/2,6 2 : 530.7 lbs. (240.7 kg) HE L/2,9 base fuze: 529 lbs. (240 kg) |
| Bursting Charge | N/A |
| Projectile Length | AP L/2,6: 29.0 in (73.6 cm) HE L/2,9 base fuze: 32.3 in (82.1 cm) |
| Propellant Charge 4 | World War I: About 161 lbs. (73 kg) RPC 12 |
| Muzzle Velocity | 2,690 fps (820 mps) |
| Working Pressure | N/A |
| Approximate Barrel Life | N/A |
| Ammunition stowage per gun | Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm: 60 rounds |
- ^
Actual designations for Projectiles AP L/2,6 28 cm Psgr. L/2,6 HE L/2,9 base fuze 28 cm Spgr. L/2,9 Bdz - ^The AP L/2,6 was about 2crh.
- For a sketch of the AP L/2,6, please see the 28 cm SK L/40 datapage.
- ^As originally introduced, these guns used brown powder.
| Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|
| 25 degrees (Max elevation of turret) |
17,400 yards (15,900 m) |
"Die Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie" says that the effective range of this gun when introduced was 12,030 yards (11,000 m).
| Range | Side Armor | Deck Armor |
|---|---|---|
| 13,120 yards (12,000 m) | 6.3 in (160 mm) | --- |
Data from "Die Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie."
"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 Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie" by Paul Schmalenbach
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"Munitionsvorschriften für die Kriegsmarine - Panzersprenggranaten (Psgr)" M.Dv. Nr. 190,1A2 by Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine
21 November 2012 - New datapage
15 December 2013 - Added photograph of Weissenburg
23 February 2019 - Converted to HTML 5 format, reorganized notes and added data from M.Dv. Nr. 190,1A2
01 April 2021 - Added another photograph of Weissenburg