8.8 cm SK L/30 naval gun

The 8.8 cm SK L/30 (SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon) L - Länge (with a 30-caliber barrel) was a German naval gun that was used in World War I on a variety of mounts.

Description
The 8.8 cm SK L/30 gun weighed 644 kg and had an overall length of about 2.64 m. It used the Krupp horizontal sliding block, or "wedge", as it is sometimes referred to, breech design. In addition to mounts for surface ships there was also a submarine version which was on either a retractable or fixed pivot mount. The Krupp mount retracted vertically through a hatch, while the Erhardt version folded down onto the ship's deck.

Naval service
The 8.8 cm SK L/30 was a widely used naval gun on World War I pre-dreadnoughts, cruisers, coastal defence ships, avisos, submarines and torpedo boats in both casemates and turrets. Its primary use on pre-dreadnoughts, cruisers and coastal defence ships was as an anti-torpedo boat gun, while on avisos, submarines and torpedo boats it was their secondary armament.

Ship classes that carried the 8.8 cm SK L/30 include: • A-class torpedo boat

• Blitz-class aviso

• Brandenburg-class battleship

• Iltis-class gunboat

• Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship

• Meteor-class aviso

• Odin-class coastal defense ship

• Preussen-class ironclad

• Siegfried-class coastal defense ship

• Type U 139 submarine

• Type U 151 submarine

• Type U 66 submarine

• Type U 93 submarine

• Type UB II submarine

• Type UB III submarine

• Type UC II submarine

• Type UC III submarine

• Type UE I submarine

• Victoria Louise-class cruiser

• Wacht-class aviso

• Wittelsbach-class battleship