Kriegsmarine 21 cm Shell Case

[Frans H.]

I have the oppurtunity to buy a Kriegsmarine 21 cm brass shell case. The shell case is in good condition and is marked on the bottom with the Navy eagle. What should I offer? What is such a shell case worth?

I know you don't see them to often. Any help is welcome here.

Thanks and best wishes,

Frans

[Frans H.]

Anyone?

[Simon O.]

What 21cm model gun did the KM use?

[Frans H.]

I just found out that the official calibre is 20,3 cm. I hope that helps.

Greetings,

Frans

[Wilhem2ss]

203 MM = 8" (the last God of War)

203 mm is an 8 inch round. The US Army had the old M-110A2 guns until the early 1990s, I worked on those. We fired bagged powder. It appears the Germans had cannisters. It's a good chance this can was used by a cruiser or a shore battery.

The German 203 mm round was used on their heavy cruisers, like Prinz Eugen, Hipper, Blucher, and a few other ships. (pardon me for miss-spellings on the ships).

The 230 mm round is an 11" round. That was used on the Panzerschiffe ships of Lutzow, Graf Spee, and Admiral Scheer. The two light battleships, Guesenau & Scharnhorst used the 11" round (once again, sorry about the spellings). The world standard was at least 14" at this time. Why did the Germans use 230 mm? The short answer is the 230 mm round was used by three pre-dreadnoughts class battleships in the post-WWI German Navy and the pocket battleships really had no other options for a heavy caliber. Also, when Hitler first came to power the two light battleships of the Scharnhorst class could have been given 380 mm (15") but he was worried about alarming France or Britian. Note, the Scharnhorst class with 15" guns would have been faster and had better armor than any British battlecruiser.

The 380 mm rounds were fired by Bismarck and Tirpitz. Their career came to really nothing.

If the price is right the cannister sounds good.

[Gary Cain]

Please do take into consideration that the potential target for the German Cruisers was commerce. They were not being designed for fleet actions. Thus the use of the 11" was deemed more appropriate because they could carry more ammunition for the extended periods of time away, as well as the most likely opponents being 8" armed cruisers and the 11" makes sense.

Dangerous Dave used to have those shells for sale for 200 bucks. This was 10 to 15 years ago.


Gary

203 mm is an 8 inch round. The US Army had the old M-110A2 guns until the early 1990s, I worked on those. We fired bagged powder. It appears the Germans had cannisters. It's a good chance this can was used by a cruiser or a shore battery.

The German 203 mm round was used on their heavy cruisers, like Prinz Eugen, Hipper, Blucher, and a few other ships. (pardon me for miss-spellings on the ships).

The 230 mm round is an 11" round. That was used on the Panzerschiffe ships of Lutzow, Graf Spee, and Admiral Scheer. The two light battleships, Guesenau & Scharnhorst used the 11" round (once again, sorry about the spellings). The world standard was at least 14" at this time. Why did the Germans use 230 mm? The short answer is the 230 mm round was used by three pre-dreadnoughts class battleships in the post-WWI German Navy and the pocket battleships really had no other options for a heavy caliber. Also, when Hitler first came to power the two light battleships of the Scharnhorst class could have been given 380 mm (15") but he was worried about alarming France or Britian. Note, the Scharnhorst class with 15" guns would have been faster and had better armor than any British battlecruiser.

The 380 mm rounds were fired by Bismarck and Tirpitz. Their career came to really nothing.

If the price is right the cannister sounds good.

[Frans H.]

Thanks Wilhem and Gary for your comments. I really appreciate this.

Well.. I did some search myself and I found out that this shell was taken home in a Holliday from France (Normandy). This was about 15 years ago.

I also found out that on the Isle Ille de Groix, for Lorient, a coastal Batterie was stationed with 4 pieces of 20,3 cm guns. Maybe the shell case was used there? I know this is only guessing.

The price for this shell is about $700 US dollars. This is quiet a sum for a shell case. But on the other hand I never saw a 20,3 cm shell case before. This is the only one! So, I guess one can say these buggers are rare. Am I right?

Frans

[Zünder]

700 $ is a reasonable price, i would buy immediately.
Make sure to check it's length: should be 825 mm high.

20,3 cm SK C/34 guns were not only placed on Ile de Groix, but on Ile de Ré, all were fitted in armoured twin towers and all originally came from the Cruiser Seydlitz.

[Frans H.]

Thanks Zünder for your comment and very usefull information. When I get the shell case I let you know. Maybe a stupid question, but is it difficult to obtain the shell for this shell case?

Frans

[Zünder]

@Frans: Yes it is, but not impossible.

I almost got one a few months ago, but the seller backed out for some reason.
Price will probably be higher then the case though..

Good luck !