15 cm SK C/28

This gun was designed as a smaller and lighter version of the 15 cm SK C/25 guns used as the main armament of the {{sclass|Königsberg|cruiser (1927)|5}}- and {{sclass|Leipzig|cruiser|2}}s. It shared the earlier gun's design with a loose barrel, jacket and breech-piece with a vertical sliding breech block.Campbell, p. 241

The Drh. LC/34 twin-gun mount was the most common mount for the gun in the Kriegsmarine. It was used as the secondary armament of the {{sclass|Bismarck|battleship|0}} and {{sclass|Scharnhorst|battleship|2}}s and was planned to equip the proposed H-class battleships. The mount weighed between {{convert|114|-|120|t|ton}}, depending on its armor thickness; the Scharnhorst's mounts had between {{convert|14|-|3|cm|in|abbr=on}} of armor while the Bismarck's had {{convert|10|-|2|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Maximum elevation was 40°, giving a range of {{convert|23000|m|yd}} and maximum depression was -10°, while maximum elevating speed was 8° per second. Each mount was designed for full 360° of traverse, but was limited to much less than that by the ship's superstructure. Speed in train was a maximum of 9° per second. The fastest firing cycle was 7.5 seconds, or 8 rounds per minute. Ammunition was supplied by twin hoists between the guns, at the rear of the mount. The {{sclass2|M|cruiser|1}} was intended to use a lighter version of this mount with thinner armor that only weighed approximately {{convert|102|t|ton}}. This may have designated as the Drh. LC/40, but development ceased when the ships were canceled in 1939.{{cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_59-55_skc28.htm |title=German 15 cm/55 (5.9") SK C/28 |date=20 November 2008 |access-date=2009-06-23 |author=Tony DiGiulian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726174328/http://navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_59-55_skc28.htm |archive-date=26 July 2009 |url-status=live }}

{{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} also carried four single MPL C/35 mounts that weighed {{convert|26.71|t|ton}} with armor between {{convert|6|-|2|cm|in|abbr=on}} thick. Each mount could depress -10° and elevate to 35°; this gave a maximum range of {{convert|22000|m|yd}}. The MPL C/28 mount used in the {{sclass|Deutschland|cruiser|2}}s was virtually identical to the newer mount except its gun shield was smaller so it weighed only {{convert|24.83|t|ton}}.

The {{sclass|Graf Zeppelin|aircraft carrier|2}}s were going to carry eight twin-gun Dopp MPL C/36 casemate mountings. These weighed {{convert|47.6|t|ton}} and had an armored shield {{convert|30|mm|in}} thick. The mount elevated at a speed of 6° per second and trained at a rate of 8° per second.

The Küsten-Marinepivotlafette (Küst. MPL C/36) was a highly successful mobile coast defense mount fitted with a gun shield. The gun traversed on a six-legged firing platform that allowed 360° of traverse. It could depress -7° and elevate to a maximum of 47° 30', which gave it a range of {{convert|23500|m|yd}}. The gun on its carriage weighed {{convert|19761|kg|lb}}. It was towed via two two-axle trailers, one at each end. For travel the four lateral legs of the platform folded vertically. It entered service in 1940.Gander and Chamberlain, p. 265

Production of carriages for the 21 cm Mörser 18 and the 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette exceeded the available number of barrels in 1941 and eight SK C/28 barrels were adapted for use on the carriages as the 15 cm Schiffskanone C/28 in Mörserlafette. They were converted to Heer-standard percussion firing. Most guns were replaced by {{convert|17|cm|in|adj=on}} barrels as they became available, but one battery retained them through the beginning of the Battle of Kursk in July 1943.Niehorster, Leo W. G. German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 5/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (4 July 1943), 2005, p. 41

The SK C/28 used several different shells depending on its target. The 15 cm Sprgr L/4.6 KZ m Hb weighed {{convert|45.5|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and had a muzzle velocity of {{convert|785|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}. It was a nose-fused HE shell with ballistic cap with two copper driving band and a lead ring behind them to act as a decoppering device by scraping away any copper residue from the driving band. The 15 cm Sprgr L/4.5 Bd Z m. Hb was a base-fused shell with a ballistic cap and weighed {{convert|44.8|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. It was roughly equivalent to the British "Common Pointed" and also used a lead decoppering ring. The armor-piercing 15 cm Pzgr L/3.8 m Hb shell had a ballistic cap and weighed {{convert|45.3|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. All shells used {{convert|14.1|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of propellant in an artificial silk bag, housed in a brass cartridge case.Hogg, p. 228 An illumination shell was also available, although details are unknown.

Surplus naval mountings were used to reinforce German coast defenses from Norway to the French Atlantic coast. These included guns from incomplete or disarmed ships like the aircraft carrier {{ship|German aircraft carrier|Graf Zeppelin||2}} or the battleship {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}}. For example, three or four of the Graf Zeppelin{{'}}s Dopp MPL C/36 mounts equipped both batteries of Naval Artillery Battalion (Marine-Artillerie-Abteilung) 517 at Cap Romanov near Petsamo, Finland{{cite web|url=http://www.nuav.net/coastgr9.html#finland |title=Festung Norwegen Artillery Group 9 |last=Monsen |first=Kurt |year=2000 |access-date=2009-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511233644/http://www.nuav.net/coastgr9.html |archive-date=11 May 2008 |url-status=live }}Rolf, p. 267 while two of the Gneisenau{{'}}s Drh. LC/34 mounts were emplaced on the west coast of Denmark at Esbjerg where they equipped Batterie Gneisenau of Naval Artillery Battalion 518.Rolf, p. 296 All told, a total of 111 SK C/28 guns were employed on coast defense duties in a variety of mounts, 28 in Norway, 12 in Denmark, 24 in the German Bight, 8 in the Netherlands, and 39 in Belgium and the Atlantic coast of France.Rolf, p. 387

Surviving guns in Norway and Denmark were used throughout the Cold War by both countries.

• List of naval guns

• BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval gun: approximate British equivalent
• 6"/47 caliber Mark 16 gun: approximate US equivalent

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

• {{cite book|last=Campbell|first=John|title=Naval Weapons of World War Two|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|year=2002|isbn=0-87021-459-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Gander|first=Terry|author2=Chamberlain, Peter|title=Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939–1945|publisher=Doubleday|location=New York|year=1979|isbn=0-385-15090-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Hogg|first=Ian V.|title=German Artillery of World War Two|publisher=Stackpole Books|location=Mechanicsville, PA|year=1997|edition=2nd corrected|isbn=1-85367-480-X}}
• {{cite book| last = Rolf| first = Rudi| title = Der Atlantikwall: Bauten der deutschen Küstenbefestigungen 1940-1945| publisher = Biblio| year = 1998| location = Osnabrück| isbn = 3-7648-2469-7}}
• {{cite book| last = Rolf| first = Rudi | title = A Dictionary on Modern Fortification: An Illustrated Lexicon on European Fortification in the Period 1800-1945| publisher = PRAK| year = 2004| location = Middleburg, Netherlands}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_59-55_skc28.htm SK C/28 on navweaps.com]
• [http://www.langelandsfortet.dk/150mm_kanon_uk.htm history of the guns at Langesland fortress, Denmark] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719125559/http://www.langelandsfortet.dk/150mm_kanon_uk.htm |date=19 July 2011 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090605133001/http://www.fortress-scandinavia.dk/Stevns/Ramme_Stevns_fort_eng.htm history of the guns at Stevnsfort, Denmark]

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:15 cm 5th cat SK C/28}}

{{WWIIGermanGuns}}

Category:150 mm artillery

Category:World War II artillery of Germany

Category:Naval guns of Germany

Category:World War II naval weapons

Category:Coastal artillery

Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1930s