Description

One of the largest guns ever constructed, this was probably an experimental weapon. Ordered in 1938, the prototype gun and cradle were apparently fired a few times although the proof mounting was not completed. It seems unlikely that this weapon was ever intended to be used as an actual naval gun as even the gigantic H-44 battleship was to be armed with "only" 50.8 cm (20") guns.

Construction was of built up design consisting of four layers; a shrunk liner, A tube and two outer tube layers. Used a horizontal sliding breech block, similar to other Krupp designs.

Actual bore diameter was 53.34 cm (21.0").

This projectile is modeled in Nathan Okun's Facehard programs.

Gun Characteristics

Designation 53 cm/52 (21") Gerät 36
Ship Class Used On Experimental
Date Of Design 1938
Date In Service 1941 (?)
Gun Weight Including breech mechanism: 329.8 tons (335.1 mt)
Gun Length oa 1,090.55 in. (27.700 m)
Bore Length 1,025.2 in. (26.040 m)
Rifling Length 843.2 in. (21.417 m)
Number Of Grooves (110) 0.236 in deep x 0.323 in (6.0 mm x 8.2 mm)
Lands 0.277 in (7.03 mm)
Twist Increasing RH 1 in 35.9 to 1 in 29.9
Chamber Volume 76,280 in3 (1,250 dm3)
Rate Of Fire Probably less than 1 round per minute

Ammunition

Type Cartridge - Bag - Bag
Projectile Types and Weights 1 APC L/4,9: 4,850 lbs. (2,200 kg)
HE L/4,9 nose fuze: 4,850 lbs. (2,200 kg)
Bursting Charge APC L/4,9: 100.2 lbs. (45.45 kg)
HE L/4,69 nose fuze: 485 lbs. (220 kg)
Projectile Length APC L/4,9: 103.2 in (262.1 cm)
HE L/4,9 nose fuze: 103.8 in (264.6 cm)
Propellant Charge 2 Fore: 551 lbs. (250 kg) Gu RP 3
Middle: 551 lbs. (250 kg) Gu RP
Main: 661 lbs. (300 kg) Gu RP
Brass case for main charge: 346 lbs. (157 kg)
Muzzle Velocity 2,690 fps (820 mps)
Working Pressure 19.0 tons/in2 (3,000 kg/cm2)
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun N/A
  • ^
    Actual German designations
    APC L/4,9 53.3 cm Psgr. L/4,9 (m.Hb)
    HE L/4,9 nose fuze 53.3 cm Spgr. L/4,9 Kz (m.Hb)
  • ^These guns used a three part charge with the fore and middle charges being identical. The rear or main charge was in a brass cartridge case, similar to those used for other German naval guns.
  • ^Gu RP was a nitroguanidine propellant in hollow tubular form.

Range

Range with 4,850 lbs. (2,200 kg) AP
Elevation Distance
50 degrees about 51,950 yards (47,500 m)

Sources

"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
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Special help by Zhu Shipeng

Page History

21 March 2007 - Benchmark
19 May 2012 - Updated to latest template
26 December 2023 - Converted to HTML 5 format and added sketch of APC
16 August 2024 - Minor changes