Original Item. Only One Available. The 10.5 cm SK C/32 (SK - Schiffskanone (ship board cannon) C - Construktionsjahr (year of design), was a widely used German naval gun on a variety of Kriegsmarine ships during World War II. Originally designed as a surface weapon, it was used in a number of other roles such as anti-aircraft and coastal defence; wet-mounts were developed for U-boats. On the base of the round are the German Navy acceptance stamps, with the well-known Eagle M Kriegsmarine proof. Like all deactivated ordnance, this projectile is Not Available for Export.

This is a tremendous and scarce WWII German Kriegsmarine (Navy) 10.5 cm SK C/32 projectile with an original casing and what appears to be some sort of transit fuze. This type of projectile wasfitted to type 1 IX and X type U-boats, various minesweepers and capital ships in the German Navy. The gun was also used for coastal defence and as a anti aircraft gun. On the base of the round are the German Navy acceptance stamps, some of which have been crossed out. Some of the markings read:

P131 G
C/32
REV. RA 11 80 (CROSSED OUT)
(KM EAGLE OVER M II 15)
1940

There are no markings on the side of the projectile we could find. The transit fuze likewise has no markings we could find. The side and bottom of the casing has stenciled markings that appear to be from an American testing lab with a 1979 and 1981 date, good opportunity for research.

The projectile is painted yellow indicating a High Explosive round, but it may have been repainted later. It measures roughly 38½” tall with a roughly 3½” base diameter. 

A great example of a scarce round, ready for further research and display.

The 10.5 cm SK C/32 was a built-up gun, 45 calibers long, with a jacket and breech that weighed about 1.8 tons. The gun fired 10.5 centimeters (4.1 in) fixed ammunition, which was 1.51 m (5.0 ft) long, weighed 24.2 kg (53 lb) and had a 4.08-kilogram (9.0 lb) propellant charge. Useful life expectancy was 4,100 effective full charges (EFC) per barrel.

The 10.5 cm SK C/32 was widely deployed on three different types of single mounts. The high-angle MPLC/30 was a modified 8.8 cm mount. The low-angle MPLC/32 was used on Type 35 torpedo boats, Type 37 torpedo boats and Type 40 minesweepers. The high-angle MPLC/32 gE was used on the cruiser Emden, the battleship Schlesien, the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, Elbing class torpedo boats, Type 35 minesweepers and Type 43 minesweepers.

The 10.5 cm SK C/32 was the standard low-angle deck gun mounted forward of the conning tower in type I, type IX and type X U-boats. The Ubts LC/32 mounting used in type I and early type IX U-boats weighed about 5 tonnes. Later type IX and type XB U-boats used the lighter Ubts LC/36 mounting with a maximum elevation of +30° .[1] During the early war years, these guns were used to encourage surrender of independently routed merchant ships or to sink ships damaged by torpedoes.

Some of these guns were later removed from U-boats for mounting aboard type 40 minesweepers after unshielded deck guns proved impractical in action against Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships and escorted trade convoys.