1/700 German Kriegsmarine 28cm (11") SK C/34 (Scharnhorst 1942)

1/700 German Kriegsmarine 28cm (11") SK C/34 x3 (Scharnhorst) as seen from 1942 after the removal of Anton’s Rangefinder before operation Cerberus. These are the most detailed and accurate 28cm SK C/34 Guns available anywhere and have been created using plans and many reference photographs (yes, even the rivets have been counted!). These turrets are slightly larger than the Graf Spee turrets due to the extra thickness of armour on all gunhouse and rangefinder faces.

• 3x Highly detailed turrets, Anton (no Rangefinder) Bruno and Caesar with 10.5m Rangefinders
• Anton, Bruno & Caesar Turrets are unique: Anton (no Rangefinder, 2x Cylindrical Storage Lockers on Barbette wings and no Awning Mounting points on turret face roof), Bruno (No awning mounting points and 2x Storage Lockers on rear turret roof) and Caesar (Rangefinders, Awning Mounting points on side and turret face roof and 2x Cylindrical Storage Lockers on Barbette wings). All Turrets are clearly labelled on Base)
  
• Details include: Rivets, Periscope and Open Sighting Hatches
• Accurate underside detail including shell ejection ports and hatches
• Barrels are printed separately and can be elevated as desired.
  

HISTORICAL DATA
This weapon was used for the small battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and was an improved version of the 28 cm SK C/28 gun used for the Deutschland class Panzerschiffes. The high muzzle velocity of this weapon gave its relatively light-weight projectiles long range and good penetration power against belt armor, at a cost of relatively poor performance against deck armor.

Scharnhorst made one of the longest hits ever scored by a naval gun on an enemy ship when she struck the British carrier HMS Glorious at approximately 26,465 yards (24,200 m). See the Technical Board essay Longest Gunfire Hit for further details on this action.

It had been originally planned to regun the Scharnhorst class with 38 cm guns and then use the surplus 28 cm turrets to arm the first three of a new generation of Panzerschiffes, the “Kreuzer P” class. Additional guns and mountings were to be built to arm additional units of this class. However, all these plans were abandoned at the start of the war.

When Gneisenau was badly damaged during a bombing raid, her guns were then used for coastal artillery emplacements. Turret Caesar still remains as a museum exhibit at Austrat (Batterie Oerlandat) which is near Trondheim in Norway. Turret Bruno was used at Fledt, near Bergen. Individual guns from Turret Anton were used in Denmark and the Netherlands.

“This 28 cm gun had the same kind of projectiles, more-or-less, as did the guns on the Bismarck and Hipper; the Psgr.m.K. L/4,4 AP rounds, scaled to the 28.3 cm size from the 38 cm and 20.3 cm size, respectively. The 28 cm SAP round was similar to the 38 cm round, but the 28 cm size did not have the light AP cap used with the 38 cm projectile. This was perhaps because the Germans knew that the French were using KC armor for their new BB and BC turret roofs, so the Germans designed their 38 cm SAP projectile to defeat this armor at long range, reserving the 38 cm AP projectile for closer ranges where penetration of the main side armor was possible. A 28 cm SAP design of this kind would be too small to penetrate this kind of armor.” -- Nathan Okun.

Constructed of A tube, loose liner, two-part shrunk-on jacket, a breech end piece was screwed on hot to the jacket, and a breech block supporting piece was screwed into the breech end-piece. The breech block was a horizontal sliding type.

The Netherlands Navy planned to use a very similar 28 cm gun for their never-built “Design 1047” Battlecruisers.

All German 28 cm guns had an actual bore diameter of 28.3 cm (11.1”). 

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