15 cm SK L/45

• Name — 15 cm SK L/45 • Origin — German Empire • Type — Naval gun Railroad gun Coastal artillery • Is Explosive — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Service — 1908—45 • Used By — German Empire Nazi Germany Ottoman Empire • Wars — World War I World War II • Designer — Krupp • Design Date — 1906 • Manufacturer — Krupp • Production Date — 1908 • Weight — 5730 kg • Length — 6.71 m • Part Length — 6.32 mL/45 • Cartridge — separate loading quick fire • Caliber — 149.1 mm • Rate — 5-7 rpm • Velocity — 840 m/s • Max Range — See table • Breech — horizontal sliding-wedge • Recoil — Hydro-spring • Elevation — See table • Traverse — −150° to +150°

The 15 cm SK L/45 was a widely used naval gun on many classes of World War I dreadnoughts and cruisers in both casemates and turrets. It was constructed of an A tube and two layers of hoops with a Krupp horizontal sliding-wedge breech block. During World War I a few pre-war cruisers that were armed with 10.5 cm guns were rearmed with these weapons. In World War II the 15 cm SK L/45 was widely used as coastal artillery and as primary armament on German auxiliary cruisers. Ship classes that carried the 15 cm SK L/45 include: 15 cm SK L/45 mounts • Type of mount — Designation — Weight — Elevation — Range (during World War I) — Ship classes • Single pedestal mounts in casemates — MPL C/06 — 15770 kg — −7° to +20° — 14.9 km at 20° —, and es, Von der Tann, Blücher • |MPL C/06.11 — 16533 kg — −10° to +19° — 13.5 km at +19 — battleship, Seydlitz, Lützow • |MPL C/13 — 17950 kg — −8.5° to +19 — 13.5 km at +19 —, Hindenburg, • |MPL C/13 mod — 18350 kg — −8.5° to +22 — 15.8 km at +22 — Wartime modification to MPL C/13 • Single pedestal mounts in open half-shields — MPL C/14 — 16185 kg — −10° to +22° — 15.8 km at +22 —, • |MPL C/16 — 17116 kg — −10° to +27° — 16.8 km at +27 — cruiser, Emden • |MPL C/16 mod — −10° to +30 — 17.6 km at +30 — wartime modification to MPL C/16

Ammunition was of separate loading quick fire type. The projectiles were 61 cm long with a single bagged charge which weighed 13-14 kg. The gun was able to fire: • Armor piercing 45.3 kg • High explosive base fuzed 45.3 kg • High explosive nose fuzed 45.3 kg • Common shell 45.3 kg

• Illustration — 15 cm SK L/45 coastal artillery gun at Nord-Arnøya, Gildeskål Municipality, Norway • Illustration — Rear view of the above pictured gun The same gun was used for coast defense duties in concrete emplacements after World War I. One example was 3./Marine-Artillerie Abteilung 604 ("3rd Battery of Naval Artillery Battalion 604") in Jersey. They show it using 44 kg shells with a range of 18000 m

It was also used as a railroad gun during World War I.

• BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun British equivalent