Škoda 30.5 cm /45 K10

The 30.5 cm /45 was developed and built by Škoda at the Plzeň works beginning in 1908 as the primary armament for the last class of pre-dreadnought battleships produced for the Austro-Hungarian Navy known as the Radetzky-class. The three Radetzky-class ships were armed with one twin gun turret fore and aft. The later Škoda 30.5 cm /45 K10 were the primary armament for the last class of four dreadnought battleships produced for the Austro-Hungarian Navy known as the Tegetthoff-class. The Tegetthoff-class having two superfiring triple gun turrets fore and aft.{{Cite book|title=Naval weapons of World War One|last=Friedman|first=Norman|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Seaforth|isbn=9781848321007|oclc=786178793}} After World War I the SMS Tegetthoff, SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, SMS Radetzky and SMS Zrinyi were ceded to Italy as war reparations. The four ships being scrapped in Italy between 1920 and 1926. The guns salvaged by the Italians were known as Cannon 305/42.In Italian nomenclature the first number indicates the caliber expressed in millimeters, the second the length in calibers. This second value is 42 calibers because the Italians calculated the length of the barrel excluding the firing chamber.

A total of sixty-five guns were built by Škoda. The first thirteen were for the Radetzky-class, while the last fifty-two guns were for the Tegetthoff-class. Only the Tegetthoff-class carried the K10 guns. The K10 differing from the earlier guns by having a {{convert|5|cm|in|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}} longer firing chamber to accommodate a larger propellant charge. Otherwise weights, dimensions and ballistic performance for the two series of guns were very similar. Both guns used Krupp horizontal sliding breech blocks with separate loading metallic cased charges and projectiles.{{Cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNAust_12-45.php|title=Austria-Hungary 30.5 cm/45 (12") K10 Škoda - NavWeaps|last=DiGiulian|first=Tony|website=www.navweaps.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}} Unlike other large naval guns of the time which used separate loading bagged charges and ammunition, the 30.5 cm /45 used separate loading ammunition with charges inside of a brass cartridge case to provide obturation.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

{{Refimprove section|date=March 2017}}

Ammunition was of separate loading type with a cartridge case which weighed {{convert|69.6|kg|lb|sp=us|abbr=on}} and a bagged charge which weighed {{convert|138-140|kg|lb|sp=us|abbr=on}}.

Austro-Hungarian Ammunition:

• Armor Piercing - Length={{convert|104|cm|ftin|sp=us|abbr=on}}, Weight={{convert|450|kg|sp=us|abbr=on}}
• Common Pointed- Length={{convert|122|cm|ft|sp=us|abbr=on|sigfig=1}}, Weight={{convert|450|kg|sp=us|abbr=on}}

Italian-Ammunition:

• Armor Piercing - Length=unknown, Weight={{convert|452|kg|sp=us|abbr=on}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNAust_12-45.php|title=Austria-Hungary 30.5 cm/45 (12") K10 Škoda - NavWeaps|last=DiGiulian|first=Tony|website=www.navweaps.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}

File:Alloggio 305 .jpgIn the years following World War I a number of different destinations for the 305/42 guns were suggested. These included Trapani, Pantelleria, Tobruk, Ischia, Ponza, Leros and Capri. At the outbreak of World War II, only three guns on single mounts slated for Tobruk, were instead used to arm Battery Cattaneo near Taranto. These fortifications were still incomplete at the time of the Italian armistice in 1943. Another two guns were considered for the monitors GM191 and GM192.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/16191207/Batterie-Costiere-in-Italia-Volume-Di-Carlo-Alfredo-Clerici|title=Batterie Costiere in Italia. Volume Di Carlo Alfredo Clerici|website=Scribd|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}

305 mm /46 Model 1909 guns from the scrapped Dante Alighieri and the salvaged Leonardo da Vinci were also under consideration, but the 305/42 was considered to be less costly to build installations for. However a limited ammunition supply militated against widespread use of the 305/42.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/16191207/Batterie-Costiere-in-Italia-Volume-Di-Carlo-Alfredo-Clerici|title=Batterie Costiere in Italia. Volume Di Carlo Alfredo Clerici|website=Scribd|language=en|access-date=2017-03-18}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Richard M.|last2=Brescia|first2=Maurizio|last3=Del Prete|first3=Maurizio |year=1989 |title=Question 53/87 |journal=Warship International|volume=XXVI |issue=2 |pages=198–200 |issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|title=Naval Weapons of World War Two |author=Campbell, John |publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1985|isbn=0-87021-459-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory|publisher= Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84832-100-7 |author-link=Norman Friedman}}

• http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNAust_12-45.php
• https://www.scribd.com/doc/16191207/Batterie-Costiere-in-Italia-Volume-Di-Carlo-Alfredo-Clerici

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Category:Škoda naval guns

Category:305 mm artillery

Category:World War I naval weapons

Category:Naval guns of Austria-Hungary

Category:World War I artillery of Austria-Hungary

Category:World War II artillery of Italy

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