Germany
10.5 cm/45 (4.1") SK C/32
Updated 20 May 2012
This weapon was used to arm almost all Torpedo Boats built between 1936 and 1945 as well as on many smaller vessels.  Originally designed as a surface-only weapon, later mounts provided a higher maximum elevation for anti-aircraft defense.  A wet-mount version was developed for U-Boats.  Also exported to Spain during the 1940s.

Earlier guns were monobloc types with barrel, jacket and breech-end piece.  Later guns had a lighter, two-piece loose-liner barrel.

Many of the older, World War I-era, 10.5 cm SK L/45 weapons were modified during the 1930s and 1940s to use the same ammunition as the SK C/32 and these guns then had similar performance.

Some of these guns were still in service in Norwegian coastal defense batteries as late as 2002.
WNGER_41-45_skc32_Type23_24_pic.jpg

A type T23/T24 class Torpedo Boat
WNGER_41-45_skc32_Type_IX_pic.jpg

10.5 cm/45 SK C/32 on an unidentified Type IX U-boat
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Gun Characteristics
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Designation 10.5 cm/45 (4.1") SK C/32
Ship Class Used On German
   T1 and T22 Torpedo Boat classes (Type 35 and Type 37)
   Also used on F-boats and some M261 (Type 40) minesweepers
   Wet-mount used on Type I, Type IX and Type X U-Boats
   Schlesien class replaced their four 8.8 cm/45 guns with six of these guns in 1944
   Emden replaced her three 8.8 cm/45 guns with three of these guns in 1944

Spain
   Almirante Cervera, Eolo class minesweepers and gunboat Canalejas
Date Of Design 1932
Date In Service 1934
Gun Weight 3,494 lbs. (1,585 kg)
Gun Length oa 186.6 in (4.740 m)
Bore Length 173.2 in (4.400 m)
Rifling Length 145.43 in (3.694 m)
Grooves (32) 0.049 in deep x 0.268 in (1.25 mm x 6.8 mm)
Lands 0.138 in (3.5 mm)
Twist Increasing RH 1 in 45 to 1 in 30
Chamber Volume 328 in3 (5.380 dm3)
Rate Of Fire 15 rounds per minute
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Ammunition
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Type Fixed
Complete Round Weight AP - N/A
HE - 53.35 lbs. (24.2 kg)
Projectiles and Weight AP - N/A
HE - 33.3 lbs. (15.1 kg)
Bursting Charge AP - N/A
HE - 8.4 lbs. (3.8 kg)
Projectile Length 18.1 in (45.9 cm)
Complete round was 41.4 in (105.2 cm)
Propellant Charge 9.0 lbs. (4.08 kg) RPC/40N (4.4/1.7)
Cartridge Case Size and Empty Weight 105 x 459 mm, 10.1 lbs. (4.6 kg)
Muzzle Velocity 2,559 fps (780 mps)
Working Pressure 18.0 tons/in2 (2,850 kg/cm2)
Approximate Barrel Life 4,100 rounds
Ammunition stowage per gun T1, T22 and M261:  120 rounds
Type I U-boat:  120 rounds
Type IX U-boat:  110 rounds
Notes:

1) Outfits for torpedo-boats, F-boats and minesweepers included HE incendiary and AP.

2) Nammo Raufoss produced an anti-ship projectile (ASP M85) for the Norwegian Coastal Defense batteries between 1986 and 1988.  This projectile had the same interior and external ballistics as did the earlier German rounds.  Complete round weighs 53.8 lbs. (24.42 kg) and the projectile 33.3 lbs. (15.1 kg) with a bursting charge of 3.6 lbs. (1.63 kg).
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Range
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Elevation With 33.3 lbs. (15.1 kg) HE Shell
Range @ 44.4 degrees 16,595 yards (15,175 m)
AA Range @ 80 degrees 33,800 feet (10,300 m)
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Mount / Turret Data
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Designation Single mounts
   Schlesien (6):  MPL C/32ge
   Torpedo Boats (1):  MPL C/32 or MPL C/32ge
   Type I and early Type IX U-Boats (1):  Ubts LC/32
   Later Type IX and Type X U-Boats (1):  Ubts LC/36
   Smaller boats:  MPLC/30 (originally built for 8.8 cm guns)

   Emden as rearmed in 1944 (3):  MPL C/32ge
Weight  MPL C/32:  14,297 lbs. (6,485 kg)
MPL C/32ge:  14,771 lbs. (6,750 kg)
Ubts LC/32:  10,957 lbs. (4,970 kg)
Ubts LC/36:  10,141 lbs. (4,600 kg)
MPLC/30:  15,234 lbs. (6,910 kg)
Elevation MPL C/32:  -10 / +50 degrees
MPL C/32ge:  -10 / +70 degrees
Ubts LC/32:  -10 / +35 degrees
Ubts LC/36:  -10 / +30 degrees
MPLC/30:  -9 / +80 degrees
Elevation Rate Hand operated, only
Train 360 degrees
Train Rate Hand operated, only
Gun recoil N/A
Notes:

1) Most Type IX and Type X U-boats had these guns removed after 1942 in order to mount additional light AA guns.  Guns were then reused on Type 40 minesweepers.

2) I lack information on the mountings used on Spanish warships.  Almirante Cervera carried four of these guns after being refitted during World War II.
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Data from
"German Navy at War 1935-1945:  The U Boat" by Siegfried Breyer and Gerhard Koop
"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
"Jane's Ammunition Handbook:  Ninth Edition 2000-2001" edited by Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw
"German Warships 1815-1945" by Erich Gröner
"German Destroyers of World War Two" (2nd Edition) and "German Capital Ships of World War Two" both by M.J. Whitley
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Special help from Jamal Hannah
Page History

09 April 2008 - Benchmark
20 May 2012 - Updated to latest template