Škoda 7 cm guns

The Škoda 7 cm guns were a family of naval guns and dual-purpose guns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that were developed and produced for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the years before and during World War I. These guns were actually 66 mm, but the classification system for artillery rounded up to the next highest centimeter.[1] Following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire the ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were divided among the victorious allies and some guns continued to be used until World War II.

Škoda 7 cm G. L/18
TypeLanding gun
Place of originAustria-Hungary
Service history
Used byAustria-Hungary
WarsWorld War I
World War II
Production history
DesignerŠkoda
ManufacturerŠkoda
Produced1895
Specifications
MassGun: 98 kg (216 lb)
Complete: 500 kg (1,100 lb)
Length1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) 18 caliber

Shell weight4 kg (8.8 lb)
Caliber66 mm (2.6 in)
BreechHorizontal sliding-wedge breech
Rate of fire20 rpm
Muzzle velocity320 m/s (1,000 ft/s)[1]
Škoda 7 cm G. L/26 K15 BAK
TypeDual-purpose gun
Place of originAustria-Hungary
Service history
Used byAustria-Hungary
WarsWorld War I
World War II
Production history
DesignerŠkoda
ManufacturerŠkoda
Produced1915
Specifications
MassGun: 220 kg (490 lb)
Length1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) 26 caliber

Shell weight5.3 kg (12 lb)
Caliber66 mm (2.6 in)
BreechHorizontal sliding wedge breech
Elevation-10° to +90°
Traverse360°
Rate of fire20 rpm
Muzzle velocity480 m/s (1,600 ft/s)[1]
Škoda 7 cm L/30 K09 BAG
TypeDual-purpose gun
Place of originAustria-Hungary
Service history
Used byAustria-Hungary
WarsWorld War I
World War II
Production history
DesignerŠkoda
ManufacturerŠkoda
Produced1910
Specifications
MassGun: 244 kg (538 lb)
TAG Complete: 654 kg (1,442 lb)
BAG Complete: 954 kg (2,103 lb)
Length1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) 30 caliber

Shell weight4 kg (8.8 lb)
Caliber66 mm (2.6 in)
BreechHorizontal sliding wedge breech
Elevation-10° to +90°
Traverse360°
Rate of fire20 rpm
Muzzle velocity550 m/s (1,800 ft/s)[1]
Škoda 7 cm SFK L/42
TypeDual-purpose gun
Place of originAustria-Hungary
Service history
Used byAustria-Hungary
WarsWorld War I
World War II
Production history
DesignerŠkoda
ManufacturerŠkoda
Produced1892
Specifications
MassGun: 630 kg (1,390 lb)
Complete: 1,488 kg (3,280 lb)
Length2.75 m (9 ft 0 in) 42 caliber
Barrel length2.12 m (6 ft 11 in)

Shell weight4 kg (8.8 lb)
Caliber66 mm (2.6 in)
BreechHorizontal sliding wedge breech
Elevation-10° to +20°
Traverse360°
Rate of fire20 rpm
Muzzle velocity700 m/s (2,300 ft/s)
Maximum firing range6 kilometres (3.7 mi)[1]
Škoda 7 cm SFK L/45
TypeNaval gun
Place of originAustria-Hungary
Service history
Used byAustria-Hungary
WarsWorld War I
World War II
Production history
DesignerŠkoda
ManufacturerŠkoda
Produced1900
Specifications
MassGun: 547 kg (1,206 lb)
Complete: 1,860 kg (4,100 lb)
Length2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) 45 caliber
Barrel length2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)

Shell weight5 kg (11 lb)
Caliber66 mm (2.6 in)
BreechHorizontal sliding wedge breech
Elevation-10° to +20°
Traverse360°
Rate of fire20 rpm
Muzzle velocity725 m/s (2,380 ft/s)
Maximum firing range6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi)[1]
Škoda 7 cm G. L/45 BAG
TypeDual-purpose gun
Coastal artillery
Place of originAustria-Hungary
Service history
Used byAustria-Hungary
WarsWorld War I
World War II
Production history
DesignerŠkoda
ManufacturerŠkoda
Produced1900
Specifications
MassGun: 520 kg (1,150 lb)
Length2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) 45 caliber
Barrel length2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)

Shell weight5 kg (11 lb)
Caliber66 mm (2.6 in)
BreechHorizontal sliding wedge breech
Elevation-10° to +90°
Traverse360°
Rate of fire20 rpm
Muzzle velocity725 m/s (2,380 ft/s)
Maximum firing range5 kilometres (3.1 mi)[1]

Construction

The Škoda 7 cm guns were developed and built at the Pilsen works between 1892 through 1918. The barrel was made of steel with a horizontal sliding-wedge breech, they used fixed quick fire ammunition and most ranged in length between 26 and 45 calibers. There was a single hydraulic recoil cylinder beneath the barrel and most were aimed by shoulder pads. The G. L/18 was a landing gun which could be taken ashore to provide support for a landing party. Initially these guns were deployed as anti-torpedo boat guns and had an elevation of -10° to +20°. Škoda engineers later developed anti-aircraft mounts which could elevate from -10° to +90°, but the ballistic performance for the guns remained the same.[1]

Acronyms associated with these guns include:

  • SFK = Schnell-Feuer Kanone or quick firing cannon.
  • TAG = Torpedoboot-Abwehr Geschütz or anti-torpedo boat gun.
  • BAG = Ballon-Abwehr Geschütz or anti-balloon gun.
  • BAK = Ballon-Abwehr Kanone or anti-balloon cannon.

History

The Škoda 7 cm were mounted aboard coastal defence ships, destroyers, minelayers, monitors, pre-dreadnought battleships, protected cruisers and submarines of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Coastal defense ships:

Destroyers:

  • Huszár-class - The fourteen ships of this class had a primary armament of one SFK L/45 gun on a low angle mount. Later all ships received five L/30 K09 BAG guns on dual-purpose mounts after 1912–1913 refits.[3] One of these ships Ulan was ceded to Greece after World War I and was renamed Smyrni.[4]
  • Tátra-class - The six ships of this class had a secondary armament of six SFK L/45 guns on low angle mounts. Two of these guns were replaced with dual-purpose G. L/45 BAG guns after 1916-18 refits.[5] Four ships of this class Tatra, Csepel, Orjen and Balaton were ceded to Italy after World War I where they were called the Fasana-class.[6]
  • SMS Warasdiner - This ship had a primary armament of two SFK L/45 guns on low angle mounts and four dual-purpose L/30 K09 BAG guns. Warasdiner was ceded to Italy after World War I.[7]

Minelayers:

  • MT.130-class - The eight ships of this class had a primary armament of one dual-purpose L/30 K09 BAG gun. After World War I three of the unfinished ships were ceded to Italy and called the Albona-class, while five unfinished ships were ceded to Yugoslavia and called the Malinska-class. After the defeat of Yugoslavia in World War II five ships were seized by Italy and called the Arbe-class.[8]

Monitors:

  • Enns-class - The two ships of this class had a tertiary armament of two G. L/26 K16 BAK guns.[9] SMS Inn was ceded to Romania after World War I and was renamed Besarabia.[10] SMS Enns was ceded Yugoslavia and renamed Drava.[11]
  • Sava-class - The two ships of this class had a tertiary armament of two G. L/26 K16 BAK guns.[12] Both ships were ceded to Yugoslavia after World War I and SMS Temes (II) was renamed Vardar,[13] while SMS Sava ceded to Romania and renamed Bucovina.[14]
  • Körös-class - The two ships of this class had a secondary armament of two SFK L/42 guns.[15] SMS Körös was ceded to Yugoslavia after World War I and renamed Morava.[16]
  • Leitha-class - One ship of this class the SMS Leitha received a SFK L/42 gun after a 1915 refit.[17]

Pre-dreadnought battleships:

  • Erzherzog Karl-class - The three ships of this class had twelve SFK L/45 guns for anti-torpedo boat defense. Each ship received two G. L/45 BAG guns for anti-aircraft defense after 1916 refits.[18]
  • Habsburg-class - The three ships of this class had ten SFK L/45 guns for anti-torpedo boat defense. Each ship received two G. L/45 BAG guns for anti-aircraft defense after 1916-17 refits.[19]

Protected cruisers:

Submarines:

  • U3-class - One ship of this class U-4 received one G. L/26 K15 BAK gun after a 1917 refit.[21]
  • U20-class - Four ships of this class U-20, U-21, U-22 and U-23 received one G. L/26 K15 BAK gun.[22]

Torpedo boats:

  • T-group - The eight ships of this group had a primary armament of two SFK L/45 or two L/30 K09 BAG guns.[23] Four were ceded to Romania and renamed Sborul, Vartejul, Viforul and Vijelia.[24] Four were ceded to Yugoslavia after World War I where they were named T1, T2, T3 and T4.[25] Following the defeat of Yugoslavia in World War II these ships were seized by Germany and Italy[26]
  • F-group - The sixteen ships of this group had a primary armament two L/30 K09 BAG guns.[27] These were ceded to Greece, Portugal, Romania and Yugoslavia after World War I. Greece received Panormos, Pergamos and Proussa.[28] Portugal received Zêzere, Ave, Cávado, Sado, Liz and Mondego.[29] Romania received Năluca, Smeul and Fulgerul.[30] Yugoslavia received T5, T6, T7 and T8.
  • M-group - The three ships of this group had a primary armament two L/30 K09 BAG guns.[31] The ships of this group were ceded to Greece and renamed Kydonia, Kios and Kyzikos.

Torpedo cruisers:

  • Zara-class - The three ships of this class were armed with two SFK L/45 guns after 1917 refits.[32]

Ammunition

Ammunition was of fixed QF type. A complete round measured 66 x 575R[33] and the projectile weighed between 4–5.3 kg (8.8–11.7 lb).

Ammunition types:

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Users

Notes

  1. Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval weapons of World War One. S. Yorkshire: Seaforth Pub. ISBN 978-1848321007. OCLC 751804655.
  2. Friedman, p. 294
  3. "HUSZÁR destroyers (1905-1909) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  4. "Smyrni destroyer (1906/1919) - Hellenic Navy (Greece)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  5. "TÁTRA destroyers (1913-1914) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  6. "Fasana (1913 - 1914 / 1920) and Grado (1917 - 1918 / 1920) destroyers - Regia Marina (Italy)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  7. "WARASDINER destroyer (1914) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  8. "Malinska minelayers-minesweepers (1931) - Yugoslavian Navy (Yugoslavia)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  9. "ENNS river monitors (1914-1915) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  10. "Basarabia river monitor (1915/1920) - Romanian Navy (Romania)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  11. "Drava river monitor (1914/1918) - Yugoslavian Navy (Yugoslavia)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  12. "SAVA river monitors (1915) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  13. "Soca river monitors (1915/1918-1919) - Yugoslavian Navy (Yugoslavia)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  14. "Bucovina river monitor (1915/1920) - Romanian Navy (Romania)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  15. "KÖRÖS river monitors (1892) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  16. "Morava river monitor (1892/1918) - Yugoslavian Navy (Yugoslavia)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  17. "LEITHA river monitors (1871) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  18. "ERZHERZOG KARL battleships (1906-1907) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  19. "HABSBURG battleships (1902-1904) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  20. "PANTHER protected cruisers (1885-1886) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  21. "U3 submarines (1909) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  22. "U20 submarines (1916-1917) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  23. "TB 74T torpedo boats (1914) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  24. "Viforul torpedo boats (1914/1920) - Romanian Navy (Romania)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  25. "T1 torpedo boats (1914/1919) - Yugoslavian Navy (Yugoslavia)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  26. "T1 (1914 / 1941) and T5 (1915 - 1916 / 1941) torpedo boats - Regia Marina (Italy)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  27. "TB 82F torpedo boats (1915-1916) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  28. "Panormos torpedo boats (1916/1920) - Hellenic Navy (Greece)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  29. "Zezere torpedo boats (19143-1915/1920) - Portuguese Navy (Portugal)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  30. "Naluca torpedo boats (1916/1920) - Romanian Navy (Romania)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  31. "TB 98M torpedo boats (1915-1916) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  32. "ZARA torpedo ships (1880-1881) - K-u-K Marine (Austro-Hungarian Navy) (Austria-Hungary)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  33. "48-57 MM CALIBRE CARTRIDGES". www.quarryhs.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-22.

References

  • Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations: An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
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