| Adolf Gun | |
|---|---|
Batterie "Lindemann" 1942 |
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| Type | Naval Gun |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1942 |
| Used by | Nazi Germany |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Krupp |
| Designed | 1942 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 1,475 metric tons |
| Barrel length | 21.5 m (70 ft 6 in) |
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|
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| Shell | L/4.2, L/4.8 and L/4.4 |
| Shell weight | 1,030 kg (2,300 lb) (L/4.8 and L/4.4) 600 kg (1,300 lb) (L/4.2) |
| Caliber | 406 mm (16.0 in) |
| Elevation | 52 degrees |
| Rate of fire | 2 minutes per round |
| Muzzle velocity | 1,000 m/s (3,300 ft/s) (long range shell) 810 m/s (2,700 ft/s) (standard shell) |
| Effective range | 56 km (35 mi) (long range shell) 42 km (26 mi) (standard shell) |
The 40.6 cm Schnelladekanone C/34 (Fast-loading cannon C/34), sometimes known as the Adolfkanone (Adolf gun), was a German naval gun, designed in 1934 by Krupp and originally intended for the early H-class battleships.
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Intended to be mounted in battleship turrets, the guns were produced in left and right-handed pairs. These pairs were split for individual mounting in the coastal defence role. The gun's barrel was approximately 20 metres (66 ft) long (sources state between 20,300 and 21,130 millimetres (800 and 832 in). In a coastal defence emplacement the gun could be elevated to 52 degrees, giving it a range of 56 kilometres (35 mi) with the special 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) long range shell called the Adolf-shell. In terms of construction the 40.6 centimetres (16.0 in) guns were identical to the 38 cm SK C/34 - only the calibre of the barrel was different. The rate of fire for the weapon was around 2 minutes per round as coastal artillery.
Since the intended 56,000 ton H and J Class battleships were never completed, the guns that had been designed for them were used as coastal defense artillery during the Second World War. At least eleven of the guns were produced; eight were sited in Norway (one was sunk enroute), and the other three were used in Poland near Danzig. Soon after their first training shots, the Polish guns were moved to France and sited near Sangatte and renamed battery Lindemann in honour of the fallen captain of the battleship Bismarck Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann.
The first three guns were situated at the Hel Fortified Area, Poland as Battery Schleswig-Holstein during 1940 to protect the Bay of Danzig. All three guns were fired during May and June 1941[1] and shortly after the guns were dismounted and transported to France for use as Battery Lindemann. From this new location near Sangatte in France they were used to fire at Dover, in the county of Kent in England and shipping in the English Channel. There is a Museum of Coastal Defence located in the remains of the battery in Hel.[2]
The seven guns that reached their destinations in Norway were split into two batteries:
After the end of the war the Trondenes guns were taken over by the Norwegian Army, along with 1,227 shells. The battery was last fired in 1957 and formally decommissioned in 1964. The three Engeløya guns were sold for scrap in 1956 but the four guns at Trondenes were spared and one is open as a museum. In the summer there are normally three or four guided tours per day.[3]
The Schleswig Holstein Battery from Hel, (German unit MKB 2 / MAA 119) in France recalled as Battery Lindemann (German unit MKB 6 / MAA 244) saw considerable service, with the three guns emplaced singly in turrets, protected by massive concrete encasements in places four metres thick. The guns fired 2,226 shells at Dover between 1940 and 1944. The guns were not put out of action by bombing despite being hit many times, due to the thick concrete. Only the Bruno turret was damaged on 3 September 1944, when a shell from a British Railway Gun hit its elevating gear shortly before the battery was captured.