Küsten-Marinepivotlafette (Küst. MPL C/36)
Coast defense mountings
The Küsten-Marinepivotlafette (Küst. MPL C/36) was a highly successful mobile coast defense mount fitted with a gun shield. The gun traversed on a six-legged firing platform that allowed 360° of traverse. It could depress -7° and elevate to a maximum of 47° 30′, which gave it a range of 23,500 metres (25,700 yd). The gun on its carriage weighed 19,761 kilograms (43,566 lb). It was towed via two two-axle trailers, one at each end. For travel the four lateral legs of the platform folded vertically. It entered service in 1940.
Army mount
Production of carriages for the 21 cm Mörser 18 and the 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette exceeded the available number of barrels in 1941 and eight SK C/28 barrels were adapted for use on the carriages as the 15 cm Schiffskanone C/28 in Mörserlafette. They were converted to Heer-standard percussion firing. Most guns were replaced by 17 centimetres (6.7 in) barrels as they became available, but one battery retained them through the beginning of the Battle of Kursk in July 1943.
Ammunition
The SK C/28 used several different shells depending on its target. The 15 cm Sprgr L/4.6 KZ m Hb weighed 45.5 kg (100 lb) and had a muzzle velocity of 785 m/s (2,580 ft/s). It was a nose-fused HE shell with ballistic cap with two copper driving band and a lead ring behind them to act as a decoppering device by scraping away any copper residue from the driving band. The 15 cm Sprgr L/4.5 Bd Z m. Hb was a base-fused shell with a ballistic cap and weighed 44.8 kg (99 lb). It was roughly equivalent to the British “Common Pointed” and also used a lead decoppering ring. The armor-piercing 15 cm Pzgr L/3.8 m Hb shell had a ballistic cap and weighed 45.3 kg (100 lb). All shells used 14.1 kg (31 lb) of propellant in an artificial silk bag, housed in a brass cartridge case. An illumination shell was also available, although details are unknown.
