40.6 cm SK C/34 gun

Adolf Gun

Batterie "Lindemann" 1942
Type (Intended) Naval gun, (Actual) Coastal defence
Service history
In service 1942-1944?
Used by Nazi Germany
Wars World War II
Production history
Designer Krupp
Designed 1942
Specifications
Weight 1,475 metric tons (1,452 long tons; 1,626 short tons)
Barrel length 21.5 m (70 ft 6 in)
Shell L/4.2, L/4.8 and L/4.4
Shell weight 1,030 kg (2,270 lb) (L/4.8 and L/4.4)
600 kg (1,300 lb) (L/4.2)
Caliber 406 mm (16.0 in)
Elevation 52 degrees
Rate of fire 2 minutes per round
Muzzle velocity 1,000 m/s (3,300 ft/s)
(long range shell)
810 m/s (2,700 ft/s) (standard shell)
Effective firing range 56 km (35 mi)
(long range shell)
42 km (26 mi) (standard shell)

The 40.6 cm SK C/34,[Note 1] sometimes known as the Adolfkanone (Adolf gun), was a German naval gun, designed in 1934 by Krupp and originally intended for the early H-class battleships.

Description

Intended to be mounted in battleship turrets, the guns were produced in left and right-handed pairs. These pairs were split for individual mounting in the coastal defence role. The gun's barrel was approximately 20 metres (66 ft) long (sources state between 20,300 and 21,130 millimetres (799 and 832 in)). In a coastal defence emplacement the gun could be elevated to 52 degrees, giving it a range of 56 kilometres (35 mi) with the special 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) long range shell called the Adolf-shell. It used the standard German naval system of ammunition where the base charge was held in a metallic cartridge case and supplemented by another charge in a silk bag. In terms of construction the 406 millimetres (16.0 in) guns were identical to the 38 cm SK C/34 - only the calibre of the barrel was different. The rate of fire for the weapon was around 2 minutes per round as coastal artillery.[1]

Original naval specifications

Coastal Defense

Since the intended 56,000-ton H and J-class battleships were never completed, the guns that had been designed for them were used as coastal defense artillery during the Second World War. At least eleven of the guns were produced; eight were sited in Norway (one was sunk en route), and the other three were used in Poland near Danzig. Soon after their first training shots, the Polish guns were moved to France and sited near Sangatte and renamed battery Lindemann in honour of the fallen captain of the battleship Bismarck Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann.

Gun sites in Poland

The first three guns were situated at the Hel Fortified Area, Poland as Battery Schleswig-Holstein during 1940 to protect the Bay of Danzig. All three guns were fired during May and June 1941[2] and shortly after the guns were dismounted and transported to France for use as Battery Lindemann. From this new location near Sangatte in France, they were used to fire at Dover, in the county of Kent in England and shipping in the English Channel. There is a Museum of Coastal Defence located in the remains of the battery in Hel.[3]

Gun sites in Norway

Adolf Gun at Trondenes near Harstad, Norway (2007)

The seven guns that reached their destinations in Norway were split into two batteries:

After the end of the war the Trondenes guns were taken over by the Norwegian Army, along with 1,227 shells. The battery was last fired in 1957 and formally decommissioned in 1964. The three Engeløya guns were sold for scrap in 1956 but the four guns at Trondenes were spared and one is open as a museum. In the summer there are normally three or four guided tours per day.[4]

Gun sites in France

The Schleswig Holstein Battery from Hel, (German unit MKB 2 / MAA 119) in France, renamed Battery Lindemann (German unit MKB 6 / MAA 244), saw considerable service. The three guns were emplaced singly in turrets, protected by massive concrete encasements in places four metres thick. The battery fired 2,226 shells at Dover between 1940 and 1944. The guns were not put out of action by bombing despite being hit many times, thanks to the thick concrete. Only the Bruno turret was damaged, on 3 September 1944, when a shell from a British railway gun hit its elevating gear; the battery was captured shortly afterwards.

Naval Projectiles

Coastal Artillery Projectiles

600 kg "Adolf" shells with extended range; Harstad

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Footnotes

Notes
  1. ↑ SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon); C - Construktionsjahr (year of design)
Citations

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 40.6 cm SK C/34.

Coordinates: 68°50′02″N 16°34′59″E / 68.8339°N 16.5831°E / 68.8339; 16.5831

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