17 cm SK L/40 gun

17 cm SK L/40
Guns in turret (upper) and casemate (lower) on SMS Hessen
Type	Naval gun Railway gun Coast-defence gun
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	1906—45
Used by	German Empire  Nazi Germany
Wars	World War I World War II
Production history
Designed	1904—06
Specifications
Weight	10.7 metric tons (10.5 long tons; 11.8 short tons)
Length	6.904 meters (22 ft 7.8 in)
Shell	separate-loading, case charge
Shell weight	about 62.8 kg (138 lb)
Caliber	172.6 millimeters (6.80 in)
Breech	horizontal sliding-wedge
Muzzle velocity	875 m/s (2,870 ft/s)

The 17 cm SK L/40^{[Note 1]} was a German naval gun that was used in the two World Wars. Originally a naval gun, it was adapted for land service during World War I.

Description

The 17 cm SK L/40 gun weighed 10.7 metric tons (10.5 long tons; 11.8 short tons), had an overall length of 6.904 meters (22 ft 7.8 in). Although designated as 17 centimeters (6.7 in), its actual caliber was 17.26 centimeters (6.80 in). It used the Krupp horizontal sliding block, or "wedge", as it is sometimes referred to, in a breech loading design, rather than the interrupted screw commonly used in the heavy guns of other nations. This required that the propellant charge be loaded in a metal, (usually brass), case which provides obduration, i.e. seals the breech to prevent escape of the expanding propellant gas.

Used in Atlantic Wall

World War I

A number of guns were used as towed artillery and railway guns during World War I.

World War II

Six guns dismounted from obsolete battleships were used as railway guns from 1938 onwards.

See also

• List of naval guns

Footnotes

Notes

Citations

References

• Reichs-Marine-Amt, ed. (1908). Bedienungsvorschrift für die 17 cm Schnellade-Kanone L/40 in Drehscheibenlafette C/1901. Berlin: E. S. Mittler. OCLC 252061823. 
• Reichs-Marine-Amt, ed. (1908). Bedienungsvorschrift für die 17 cm Schnellade-Kanone L/40 in Mittel-Pivot-Lafette C/1902 bzw. C/1902/04. Berlin: E. S. Mittler. OCLC 252061640. 
• Campbell, John (2002). Naval Weapons of World War Two. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4. 
• François, Guy (2006). Eisenbahnartillerie: Histoire de l'artillerie lourd sur voie ferrée allemande des origines à 1945. Paris: Editions Histoire et Fortifications. 
• Gander, Terry; Chamberlain, Peter (1979). Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939–1945. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-15090-3. 
• Hogg, Ian V. (1997). German Artillery of World War Two (2nd corrected ed.). Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 1-85367-480-X. 
• Rolf, Rudi (1998). Der Atlantikwall: Bauten der deutschen Küstenbefestigungen 1940-1945. Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3-7648-2469-7. 
• Rolf, Rudi (2004). A Dictionary on Modern Fortification: An Illustrated Lexicon on European Fortification in the Period 1800-1945. Middleburg, Netherlands: PRAK. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 17 cm SK L/40 gun.

• SK L/40 at Navweaps.com