Northumbrian Gunner: Audinghen

Krupp 28-cm-Kanone 5 (E)

The K5 was the result of a crash program launched in the 1930s to develop a force of railway guns to support the Wehrmacht by 1939. K5 development began in 1934 with first testing following in 1936 at the Firing Test Range Rügenwalde-Bad (German: Schießplatz Rügenwalde-Bad) in Farther Pomerania at the South coast of the Baltic Sea. Initial tests were done with a 150 mm barrel under the designation K5M.

Manufactured by Krupp the K5 mounted a 21.5 metres (71 ft) long gun barrel in a fixed mounting with only vertical elevation of the weapon. This gondola was mounted on a pair of 12-wheel bogies designed to be operated on commercial and military rails. This mounting permitted only two degrees of horizontal traverse. The carriage had to be aligned on the rails first, with only minimal fine leveling capable once halted.

Three guns were installed on the English Channel coast to target British shipping in the Channel, and proved successful at this task.