Description

A low-powered gun originally developed as secondary armament for large coastal warships and river gunboats at the end of the 19th century and later used for older torpedo boats and U-boats during World War I. Interesting in that the U-boat mounting could be collapsed to allow it to be lowered into the boat. During World War I some guns were used in AA mountings.

Some U-boats had this gun replaced by the more-powerful 10.5 cm/45 (4.1") Utof in 1917 - 1918.

Gun Characteristics

Designation 8.8 cm/30 (3.46") SK L/30
8.8 cm/30 (3.46") Ubts L/30
Ship Class Used On Coastal Battleships: Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, Kaiser Friedrich III and Wittelsbach classes
Cruisers: Kaiserin Augusta, Victoria Louise, Fürst Bismarck and Prinz Heinrich classes

U-boats
   As built: UB30-47, UB48, UC16, UC80 classes
   As re-armed: UB18, UB21-25

Date Of Design about 1890
Date In Service 1892
Gun Weight 8.8 cm SK L/30: 1,420 lbs. (644 kg) including BM

8.8 cm Tbts KL/30: 0.490 tons (0.498 mt) including BM
8.8 cm Ubts KL/30: 0.492 tons (0.500 mt) including BM
8.8 cm Ubts + Tbts Flak L/30: 0.634 tons (0.644 mt) including BM
Gun Length oa 102.7 in (2.610 m)
Bore length 93.7 in (2.381 m)
Rifling Length 77.8 in (1.977 m)
Grooves (32) 0.202 in W x 0.36 in D (5.6 mm x 0.9 mm)
Lands 0.118 in (3.0 mm)
Twist Krupp: RH increasing 1/45 to 1/25
Erhardt: RH uniform N/A
Chamber Volume N/A
Rate Of Fire 15 rounds per minute (?)

Ammunition

Type Fixed
Complete Round Weight 30.4 lbs. (13.8 kg)
Projectile Types and Weights Common L/2.60 C/83: 14.7 lbs. (6.68kg)
Common L/2.60 C/83/88: 15.0 lbs. (6.81 kg)
SAP L/2.80 C/01: 21.6 lbs. (7.04 kg)
HE L/3.80 C/07: 21.6 lbs. (9.80 kg)
HE L/3.70 C/07: 21.3 lbs. (9.65 kg)
SAP L/3.70 C/07: 22.0 lbs. (9.98 kg)
Bursting Charge All except HE C/07: N/A
HE C/07: 3.1 lbs. (1.42 kg)
Projectile Length N/A
Complete C/07 round was 26.0 in (66.1 cm)
Propellant Charge N/A
Muzzle Velocity Old gunboats with C/83 to C/01 shells: 2,021 fps (616 mps)
Other ships with C/07 shells: 1,936 fps (590 mps)
Working Pressure N/A
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm: 250 - 290 rounds
Kaiser Friedrich III: 170 - 250 rounds
Wittelsbach: 150 rounds
Kaiserin Augusta, Victoria Louise and Prinz Heinrich: 200 rounds
Fürst Bismarck: 250 rounds
Iltis: 281 rounds
Tsingtau: 100 rounds
UB30-47: 116 rounds
UB48: 160 - 192 rounds
UC16: 100 - 133 rounds
UC80: 230 rounds

Range

Range with 15.4 lbs. (7.04 kg) HE C/01
Elevation Muzzle Velocity Distance
2,021 fps (616 mps) 7,530 yards (6,890 m)
2,198 fps (670 mps) 8,000 yards (7,300 m)
Range with 21.6 lbs. (9.80 kg) HE C/07 1
Elevation Distance
20 degrees
(max of MPL C/89 mounting)
7,980 yards (7,300 m)
30 degrees
(max of Ubts.L mounting)
11,480 yards (10,500 m)
45 degrees 12,900 yards (11,800 m)
  • ^At a firing angle of 30 degrees, the projectile reaches a maximum height of 6,400 feet (1,950 m) at a distance of 6,010 yards (5,500 m) from the muzzle.

Mount / Turret Data

Designation Coastal Battleships
   Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm (8), Kaiser Friedrich III (12 - later 14) and Wittelsbach (12): MPL C/89

Cruisers
   Kaiserin Augusta (8), Victoria Louise (10 - later 11) 1a, Fürst Bismarck (10) and Prinz Heinrich (10): MPL C/89

Gunboats
   Iltis (4) and Tsingtau (1): MPL C/89

U-boats
   All (1): Ubts.L (15?) 2a

Weight MPL C/89: N/A
Ubts.L: 3,617 lbs. (1,640 kg)
Elevation MPL C/89: -10 / +20 degrees
Ubts.L: -10 / +30 degrees
Elevation Rate Manual operation, only
Train N/A
Train Rate Manual operation, only
Gun recoil N/A
  • ^Some of the Victoria Louise class had these guns replaced by the 8.8 cm/35 SK L/35.
  • ^The Ubts.L mounting had a 3X left-mounted gunsight with a 12 degree viewing angle. The recticle was illuminated by a battery.

Sources

"Weapons of World War One" by Norman Friedman
"Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1922" by Randal Gray and Robert Gardiner (Editor)
"German Warships 1815-1945" by Erich Gröner
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Special help from Peter Lienau

External Resources

Page History

22 March 2007 - Benchmark
05 February 20 - Added information on additional 8.8 cm/30 gun types
19 November 2012 - Added gun details
24 August 2024 - Converted to HTML 5 format