German 88-mm submarine gun ?

[RodB]

There is a naval gun in Ward Park, Bangor, Northern Ireland - photos below. It's either a very heavy 88-mm or very light 105-mm gun judging by the breech markings. Is supposed to have come from the German World War I submarine U-19. The only WWI 88-mm or 105-mm German naval guns I've seen have horizontal block breeches, this has a vertical block which looks very similar to German WWII designs. And the recoil system looks far more substantial than photos of 88-mm naval AA guns of the period, which did have vertical blocks. Anybody know what this is ? My guess is 88-mm SK L/45 on a heavy-duty LA mounting.

[ander11]

Hello Rodb, try this link and look for U-151 - Kreuzer its fitted with 2, 88mm guns , half down the page for a picture.

http://www.steelnavy.com/HPww1UBoats.htm

I hope you find this useful

regards

Ian

[RodB]

Hello Rodb, try this link and look for U-151 - Kreuzer its fitted with 2, 88mm guns , half down the page for a picture.

http://www.steelnavy.com/HPww1UBoats.htm

I hope you find this useful

regards

Ian

That picture of U-151 shows a very large gun - according to the text this could be a 15 cm gun, and it looks about that size compared to the man in the photo. certainly bigger than 88-mm. uboat.net states U-151 carried 2 105-mm deck guns. ??

Rod

[rksimpson]

HI

That site does say this-

The U-19 Class

This class of four boats represents the first significant change in technology and performance since the U-2. Launched between October 10, 1912 and March 6, 1913, there was another jump in size to 210-feet and 650 tons but the real changes and improvements came in two areas, armament and propulsion. Torpedo tubes were increased to 20-inch over the previous 18-inch tubes of earlier boats. Still mounted with two in the bow and two in the stern, the larger size torpedo came with an increased range and of course lethality. Another improvement in armament was the incorporation of the first significant deck gun. Although some older boats had a 37mm, the U-19 Class jumped the size to 3.4-inches (88mm). Now the U-Boat had another weapon that could sink a ship. However, the greatest advance came with the adoption of the diesel engine. This class shaped the future development of all submarines for the next 40 years. The German designed diesel engine was the perfect surface propulsion system to provide safety and range.

So it confirms it as an 88

regards

Robert