20.3 cm/60 SK C/34 (203 mm)

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Admiral Hipper
• Prinz Eugen

General info

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Available ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		1,000 m	2,500 m	5,000 m	7,500 m	10,000 m	15,000 m
L/4.7 Kz HE	HE	61	61	61	61	61	61
L/4.4 (m.Hb) APBC	APCBC	421	378	316	266	226	170
L/4.7 Bdz (m.Hb) SAP	SAPBC	242	218	182	153	130	98

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (s)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
L/4.7 Kz HE	HE	925	122	0	0.1	8.88	79°	80°	81°
L/4.4 (m.Hb) APBC	APCBC	925	122	0.035	9	2.65	48°	63°	71°
L/4.7 Bdz (m.Hb) SAP	SAPBC	925	122	0.035	9	5.35	48°	63°	71°

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

Having lost World War I, Germany was given harsh restrictions under the Treaty of Versailles for their navy, with the intention of keeping it as a coastal defense force. However, in 1935, the Anglo-German Naval Treaty was negotiated, allowing Germany more room to produce ships with the only restriction being that it had to be 35% of the size of the Royal Navy. With the ability to construct 5 heavy cruisers (restricted to 10,000 tons and 8-inch guns by the Washington and London Naval Treaties) for the newly rechristened Kriegsmarine, work began on the Admiral Hipper-class. The 20.3 cm/60 SK C/34 was the 8-inch gun for this class of heavy cruisers. It was powerful gun with long range, constructed of loose barrel, an inner and outer jacket, a breech end-piece screwed hot on to the outer jacket and a breech block supporting piece pushed into the breech end-piece and held by a threaded ring. The loose barrel was removable from the rear and would fit any gun. The breech block was a horizontal sliding type and was hydraulically operated. Only 3 of the five Hipper-class ships were completed, the Admiral Hipper herself, the Blücher, and Prinz Eugen. The last is particularly notable for setting a boat deck fire on HMS Hood during the Battle of the Denmark Strait which led to the Hood's sinking. The last two planned ships of the class, were not completed. The 'Seydiltz' was changed during construction to be an aircraft carrier as the Kriegsmarine attempted to play catch-up with the Allies and two turrets were mounted on Ile De Groix, France as part of the Atlantic Wall defenses with the other planned for service on Ile de Ré for the same purpose. The final cruiser, the Lützow, was sold to the Soviets for 150 million Reichsmarks with only the first two turrets completed. It was renamed the Petropavelosk and served in the Siege of Leningrad during World War II. The remaining eight guns, already completed for the ship, were repurposed as railway guns designated 20.3 cm Kanone E (Eisenbahnlafette (Railway mount)) which served in coastal defense in France and Belgium.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.