8,8cm SK L/30-35 Cartridge Casing
8,8cm cartridge casing for the Krupp SK L/30-35 Kanone (SK: Schnelladekanone = quick loading cannon).

The 8,8cm SK L/30 and 8,8cm SK L/35 were Krupp Marine cannons that armed the Kaiserliche-Marine (Imperial German Navy) pre-dreadnoughts and and most cruisers at the turn of the century. Both cannons used the same fixed 8,8cm ammunition.

To illustrate the size, the casing is photographed with an original Kaiserliche-Marine Mutze from SMS Hannover.

8,8cm SK L/30-35 Cartridge Casing Data:
  • Height - 390mm (15.35 inches)
  • Actual Calibre - 88mm (3.46 inches)
  • Base Diameter - 112mm (4.40 inches)
  • Weight - 2.2 kg (4.8 lbs.)
  • Manufacturer - Patronenfabrik Karlsruhe
  • Date - March 1907
A close-up of the head stamping on the base. Marked: PATRONENFABRIK (cartridge factory) KARLSRUHE manufactured "III 1907" with the standard twin flaming bombs for this manufacturer. Marine cartridge casings used Roman numerals for the month, while the Army used an abbreviation of the month. The "III" in this case stands for March. The crowned M is the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) arsenal's acceptance stamp. "350" is the lot number of that batch of cases which were made during 1911. The dates and dots at the top indicate reloads for 1907 (?), 1914 and finally 1918. Note that unfortunately the primer has been removed to make the casing inert to meet some idiotic bureaucratic regulation.
 
A close up of the tiny but perfect, crisp crowned M = Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) arsenal's acceptance stamp.
A close up of the reload dates; dots are the number of times in that year.

The "III X" (not a clue).

The "14" and a dot, reloaded once in 1914 (the circle means?) and the "18" plus a dot indicates the casing was reloaded once in 1918 and used by the Kaiserliche-Marine, probably on a coastal battery.
8,8cm SK L/35
The 8,8cm SK L/35 were Krupp Marine cannons that armed the Kaiserliche-Marine pre-dreadnoughts in the SMS Braunschweig and Deutschland classes, as well as cruisers in the SMS Prinz Adalbert and Scharnhorst classes. This photo is of a 8,8cm SK L/35 Mittel Pivot Lafette (pintle mount) C/1901 on one of the Deutschland-Klasse battleships. These "five sisters", SMS Deutschland, Pommern, Hannover, Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein were the final flowering of the pre-dreadnought Imperial Navy. With two turrets mounting twin 28cm SK L/40 cannons and powered by coal-fired boilers feeding reciprocating engines, the five ships of the Deutschland-Klasse were rendered obsolete with the British launching of the HMS Dreadnought on 01 Oct 1906. Nevertheless, the five Deutschland-Klasse battleships served well throughout the Great War and gave good account of themselves at the battle of Jutland (Skagerak) in 1916. Tragically, the SMS Pommern was lost during the night action of 01 June 1916.

On each Deutschland-Klasse there were eighteen 8,8cm SK L/35 cannons for close-in defense. Four were housed in the sponsons on each side of the bow, two were housed in the sponsons at the stern, and twelve were on the boat deck on the Aufbau (superstructure).

8,8cm SK L/35 Cannon Data:
  • Range - 8.79 km (5.46 miles)
  • Manufacturer - Krupp
  • Barrel Length - 3.08 meters (10 feet 2 inches)
  • Projectile - 7 kg (15.4 lbs) High Explosive
8,8cm SK L/30

Photo courtesy Peter Lienau
The 8,8cm SK L/30 were Krupp Marine cannons that armed the Kaiserliche-Marine (Imperial German Navy) pre-dreadnoughts in the SMS Brandenburg, Kaiser Friedrich III, and Wittelsbach classes, as well as most light cruisers in the 1890s. The 8,8cm SK L/30 used the same fixed ammunition as the later model 8,8cm SK L/35. This excellent photo is of a 8,8cm SK L/30 on the Armored Cruiser SMS Vineta.