Description

Škoda guns built at the Pilsen works. Used as secondary weapons on the Tegetthoff class battleships.

During planning for new capital ships in 1917-1918 there was great interest in anti-aircraft defense. It was proposed that these new ships be given special semi-turrets which mounted a single 15 cm L/50 (5.9") BAG (anti-airship) gun capable of high elevations. Like the new capital ships, none of these BAG guns were actually built.

The battleship Tegetthoff was ceded after World War I to Italy, where she was scrapped and her guns then used as coastal artillery.

Nomenclature note: The lengths of these guns were identical, the differences as noted in their designations was strictly the result of the way that each nation measured barrel length. See "Definitions and Information about Naval Guns" for further details.

Actual bore diameter was 14.91 cm (5.87"), similar to German guns of this caliber.

Gun Characteristics

Designation 15 cm (5.9") G. L/50 K10 Škoda
15 cm (5.9") G. L/50 BAG (for AA Mountings)
Ship Class Used On Austria-Hungary: Viribus Unitis class
Italy: Coastal Artillery
Date Of Design 1910
Date In Service 1912
Gun Weight 13,415 lbs. (6,085 kg) without breech
Gun Length oa 295 in (7.500 m)
Bore Length N/A
Rifling Length N/A
Grooves N/A
Lands N/A
Twist N/A
Chamber Volume N/A
Rate Of Fire 6 rounds per minute

Ammunition

Type Separate
Projectile Types and Weights HE: 100 lbs. (45.5 kg)
AP: 100 lbs. (45.5 kg)
Bursting Charge 6.6 lbs. (3.0 kg) TNT
Projectile Length N/A
Propellant Charge 37 lbs. (16.85 kg)
Muzzle Velocity 2,887 fps (880 mps)
Working Pressure 17.4 tons/in2 (2,745 kg/cm2)
Approximate Barrel Life N/A
Ammunition stowage per gun 180 rounds

Range

Range with 100 lbs. (45.5 kg) Shell
Elevation Distance
15 degrees about 16,400 yards (15,000 m)

Armor Penetration

Armor Penetration with 100 lbs. (45.5 kg) AP Shell
Range KC Side Armor Striking Velocity
1,100 yards (1,000 m) 5.7"(145 mm) N/A

This data is from "A Szent István Csatahajó" (The battleship Szent István).

Mount/Turret Data

Designation Single casemate Mounts: Viribus Unitis (12) 1

AA Mounting: Project IV (4), Project V (4) and Project VI (4) 2
Weight N/A
Elevation Casemate: -6 / +15 degrees
AA: -? / +85 degrees
Elevation Rate Manual operation, only
Train Casemate: about +60 / -60 degrees
AA: N/A, but drawings of the proposed ships show good arcs of fire
Train Rate Manual operation, only
Gun recoil N/A
  • ^
    The casemate mounts on these battleships were poorly designed, as they lacked adequate ventilation. If smoke penetrated into them, the guncrews could not function.
  • ^
    BAG turrets were to be protected by 3.9" (10 cm) of armor.

Additional Pictures

Sources

"Naval Weapons of World War Two" by John Campbell
"Naval Weapons of World War One" by Norman Friedman
"Großkampschiffs - Projekte des MTK aus der Zeit des Ersten Weltkrieges" (Capital ship projects of the MTK from the time of the First World War) by Erwin Sieche as published in "Marine - Gestern, Heute: Nachrichten aus dem Marinewesen" (Navy - Yesterday and Today: News from the Navy) December 1981 Issue
"The Viribus Unitis Class" article in "Warship Volume II" and "A's and A's" comments in "Warship Volume III" both by Friedrich Prasky
"A Szent István Csatahajó" (The battleship Szent István) by Balogh Tamás and Csepregi Oszkár
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Original research by Mihály Krámli, author of "A Használhatatlan Lövegtornony Mítosza: Legenda Vagy Valóság?" [The Myth of the Useless Turret: Legend or Reality?] and "Az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Csatahajói: 1904-1914" [Austro-Hungarian Battleships and Battleship Designs: 1904-1914] {Link - Hungarian to complete book in pdf form and Link - English}.
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Special help from Daniel Papp
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Tony DiGiulian's personal data files

Page History

26 September 2007 - Benchmark
05 September 2010 - Added pictures of Batterie Madonna gun
16 April 2021 - Updated to HTML 5 format
09 February 2024 - Added minor details
27 May 2025 - Added data on planned AA mounting