Description

An interim weapon used to arm coastal battleships and cruisers of the late 1890s and early 1900s. Replaced by the more powerful 8.8 cm/45 (3.46") SK L/45 on new construction.

Gun Characteristics

Designation 8.8 cm/35 (3.46") SK L/35
Ship Class Used On Pre-dreadnoughts: Braunschweig and Deutschland classes
Cruisers: Prinz Adalbert and Scharnhorst classes

Torpedo Boats: S-138 class
Victoria Louise class as rearmed
Date Of Design about 1900
Date In Service 1904
Gun Weight N/A
Gun Length oa about 121 in (3.080 m)
Bore length N/A
Rifling Length N/A
Grooves N/A
Lands N/A
Twist N/A
Chamber Volume N/A
Rate Of Fire 12 rounds per minute (?)

Ammunition

Type Fixed
Complete Round Weight N/A
Projectile Types and Weights 1 HE L/2,6: 15.5 lbs. (7.0 kg)
HE L/2,8: 15.5 lbs. (7.0 kg)
Bursting Charge 2 HE L/2,6: 0.83 lbs. (0.377 kg) TNT
HE L/2,8: 0.75 lbs. (0.341 kg) TNT
Projectile Length HE L/2,6: 9.56 in (24.28 cm)
HE L/2,8: 9.60 in (24.39 cm
Propellant Charge 3.13 lbs. (1.42 kg) RP C/06
Muzzle Velocity about 2,300 fps (690 mps)
Working Pressure N/A
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun Braunschweig, Prinz Adalbert and Scharnhorst: 150 rounds
Deutschland: 140 rounds
Victoria Louise: 250 rounds
S-138: 100 rounds
  • ^
    Actual designations
    HE L/2,6 8,8 cm Spgr. L/2,6 Kz.
    HE L/2,8 8,8 cm Spgr. L/2,8 Iz
  • ^Burster weights (reiner Sprengstoff) from "Diagrams of Great War."

Range

Range with 15.4 lbs. (7.0 kg) HE
Elevation Distance
25 degrees 9,610 yards (8,790 m)

Mount / Turret Data

Designation Braunschweig (18), Deutschland (20), Prinz Adalbert (12), Scharnhorst (18), Victoria Louise (3) and S-138 (1): N/A
Weight N/A
Elevation -5 (?) / +25 degrees
Elevation Rate Manual operation, only
Train N/A
Train Rate Manual operation, only
Gun recoil N/A

Additional Pictures

Sources

"Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1922" by Randal Gray and Robert Gardiner (Editor)
"German Warships 1815-1945" by Erich Gröner
---
"Diagrams of Great War - German Naval Guns; Shells & Explosives; Fuses & Exploders" by The Royal Laboratory Woolwich 1921-22
---
Special help from Peter Lienau and Enrique Mas

Page History

29 October 200 - Benchmark
05 February 2011 - Additional projectile and range information
25 August 2024 - Converted to HTML 5 format and added projectile sketches