Soviet Kronshtadt class

1) The weight figure above was for early production weapons.  Later weapons were 661 lbs. (300 kg) lighter.

2) Siegfried guns built for coastal defense had a larger chamber volume of 22,072 in³ (361.7 dm³) and shorter rifling length of 620 in (15.748 m).

3) Many references claim that this was the fastest firing large caliber gun ever built.  The ROF figures listed above represent generally published data that would support that claim.  However, Krupp official documents cite the ROF as being 26 seconds at a four degree elevation, not notably faster than that of other nations' large-caliber weapons.  Note that at this elevation the range would be considerably less than 10,000 meters.  It is possible that well trained gun crews would reduce this time to the 20 seconds necessary to meet a ROF of 3 times per minute.  A May 1941 report by the German Artillerieversuchskommando - AVSK (Artillery Testing Command for Ships) stated that the turret ammunition hoists on Bismarck were capable of delivering between 23 and 25 rounds per minute (for all four turrets), the equivalent of 3 rounds per minute per gun.  However, this same report stated that design faults in the hoists led to two significant breakdowns during the evaluation, both of which caused long interruptions in the ammunition supply.  Finally, it should be noted that Bismarck fired a total of 91 rounds during her thirteen minutes of firing at the Denmark Strait battle, which is actually less than one round per gun per minute.

Special Coastal Artillery Projectiles
   Siegfried HE L/4,5 - 1,091 lbs. (495 kg)
   HE L/4,4 base and nose fuze - 1,124 lbs. (510 kg)

Others:  N/A

Siegfried HE L/4,5 - 67.3 in (171.0 cm)
HE L/4,4 base and nose fuze - 65.8 in (167.2 cm)

1) These guns, like most large caliber German guns, used a "fore charge" which was propellant in a silk bag, and a "main charge" which was propellant in a brass case.  The brass case helped to seal the breech of the gun.

2) With the lighter coastal artillery projectiles, barrel life increased to nearly 350 rounds.

3) This is the design figure and probably reflects only shell room storage.  "German Warships 1815-1945" says that the actual outfit ranged from 112 to 120 rounds while "German Capital Ships of World War Two" says the outfit was 130 rounds per gun.  These latter figures most likely include "ready rounds" stored in the handling rooms and gunhouses.

4) APC and HE ballistic caps had a radius of 10 calibers.

5) Fore and Main charges were rammed together.

6) Actual Projectile designations were as follows:
   APC L/4,4 - Psgr. L/4,4 (mhb)
   HE L/4,5 base fuze - Spr.gr. L/4,5 Bdz (mhb)
   HE L/4,6 nose fuze - Spr.gr. L/4,6 Kz (mhb)
   Siegfried HE L/4,5 - Si.gr. L/4,5 Bdz u. Kz (mhb)
   CA SAP L/4,4 - Spr.gr. L/4,4 Bdz u. Kz (mhb)

7) These ships did not carry WGr 4592 projectiles with shaped-charge warheads.

   Kronshtadt (3):  Drh LC/34

1) These turrets were electrically powered for main training, auxiliary training, auxiliary elevation, auxiliary hoists and reserve power for some of the loading gear, otherwise they were hydraulically powered by two electrically driven pumps in each turret.  Run out was pneumatic.  Emergency hand elevation equipment was provided.

2) As in all large German mountings, these turrets were supported by ball bearings, not the tapered rollers preferred by other nations.  Shell rooms were below the magazines.  All four turrets originally had 10.5 m (34 feet 5 inches) rangefinders, but the one on turret Anton was removed following water damage inflicted during the winter of 1940/1941.

3) Distance between gun axes was 108.3 in (275 cm).

4) Each gun was served by a shell cage driven by hydraulic cylinders with rack and pinion drive of a wire drum.  The shell cage picked up the charge cage on its way to the gunhouse.  The shell cage carried the main and fore charges end to end on a single tray.  The hoists came up between the guns and the shells were transferred to the loading tray by rammers.  As the shell was transferred, the charges were moved to a waiting cage.  After the shell was loaded, the waiting cage moved down to the level of the loading tray.  The space between them was bridged by a ramp and the charges were then rolled into the loading tray.  Both charges were rammed together.  The auxiliary hoists lifted shells and propellant one after the other in a vertical position and came up to the rear of each gun.  These were transferred to a tiltable cage and could be then loaded by the main rammer.  A manual rammer which required between ten to fourteen crewmen to operate was provided as a backup.

5) There were at least five and perhaps as many as ten ready rounds stored in the back of each turret.

6) RPC was fitted for elevation but not for training.  This elevation control was considered to be unsatisfactory in Bismarck.

7) Turret Anton had a unique rotary cartridge ejection system, an improvement over the simpler flap-cover used on previous ships and on Bismarck's other three turrets.  The flap-cover designs had proved inadequate on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, allowing water ingress into their bow turrets during their engagement in heavy seas with the British battlecruiser Renown on 9 April 1940.