THE MYSTERY OF THE KÖNIGSBERG GUNS
IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
by Chris Dale, Bob Wagner and Oliver Eicke


Photo © Toppazz on Panoramio
The Mystery of the Mombasa Gun

On display outside Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya is one of the 10.5cm SMS Königsberg's Guns. It has a flanged barrel and an unreadable serial number. The gun is displayed with a Krupp gun carriage although it is missing some parts (such as an elevation system and essential parts of the recoil system) and has the left wheel on the wrong way around. It was long believed and reported by authors such as Kevin Patience (in his excellent "Königsberg- An East African Raider") that this gun was captured at Bagamoyo in August 1916.

We have proven that this is not the gun captured at Bagamoyo as that gun went to London, England. One of the key mysteries of this project is therefore finding out the true origins of the gun at Mombasa.

To be continued...

 

  


INTRODUCTION
Mystery of the Ten Guns
SMS Königsberg & WWI in East Africa
10.5cm SK L/40 Naval Guns

HISTORIES OF THE TEN GUNS
Kahe Railway Gun
'Big Bertha' at Kondoa-Irangi
Mwanza-Uganda Gun
Bagamoyo-London Gun
Mkuyuni-Ruvu River Gun
SS Goetzen Gun
Kigoma Elephant's Foot Gun
Apel's Kibata Gun
Wenig's Gun at Mahiwa
Last Gun at Masasi
 and the
Two 8.8cm Guns
CONCLUSION
The Mystery of the Mombasa Gun
The Mystery of the Pretoria Gun
Last of the SMS Königsberg
WEBSITE
Credits, Sources and Links
On-Going Research Forum at AHF
Contact
 German Colonial Uniforms

 

 
 

PHOTO GALLERY


10.5cm SMS Königsberg Gun at Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya 2012
This photograph shows the Königsberg gun on display in Mombasa and clearly shows a barrel flange. Note the straight Krupp gun carriage with widened Krupp wheels (the left one of which has been put on the wrong way around). The carriage is missing a screw twist mechanism below the axle that was probably used either to control the wheels brakes or the gun's elavation.
Photo by Kiselev D at WikiCommons


10.5cm SMS Königsberg Gun at Fort Jesus
This photograph very clearly shows the straight Krupp gun carriage and how the trunions of the gun cradle were attached directly to the carriage. The gun lies back in the cradle in a partially recoiled position. The sighting post can be seen on the gun's left side.
 Photo © Kevin Patience


Breech of the 10.5cm SMS Königsberg Gun at Fort Jesus, 2010
The left recoil spring is hanging out of its cylinder, the right spring is missing. This explains the gun's recoiled position. Note also the zig-zagged positioning of rivets on the Krupp carriage with alternate rivets to the left and right of a seam. The base of the aiming post can be seen on the left of the photograph attached to the carriage.
 Photo © Holger Kotthaus


10.5cm SMS Königsberg Gun at Fort Jesus, 2010
Another view of the gun at Mombasa. In this photograph we see again the straight Krupp gun carriage. Note the plate across the centre of the carriage, the aiming post on the left and below it the gunner's platform, all being standard for Krupp carriages.
Photo © Holger Kotthaus


The Baseplate of the 10.5cm SMS Königsberg Gun at Fort Jesus, 2010
Note the large oval hole for attaching to a gun limber. Note also that permanent joints of the gun carriage are riveted whereas the parts assembled from kit form in Dar Es Salaam are bolted.
 Photo © Holger Kotthaus


Breech of the 10.5cm SMS Königsberg Gun at Fort Jesus
The breech block can be seen to be missing and many layers of paint have obscured the serial number.
 Photo © Kevin Patience


4 Inch Gun from HMS Pegasus at Mombasa
This gun was salvaged from the HMS Pegasus for use on land. The HMS Pegasus had been sunk by the SMS Königsberg at Zanzibar in September 1914. This particular Pegasus gun saw no action in the campaign in East Africa and was sent straight to Mombasa where it now stands side by side with the Königsberg gun. Other HMS Pegasus 4 inch guns did see action on land during the East African campaign. At the Battle of Kondoa-Irangi they saw action from May-June 1916, once again duelling with a gun from the SMS Königsberg as they had done at sea.
Photo by Zahra Abdulmajid on WikiCommons

Sources
"Königsberg- A German East African Raider" by Kevin Patience, Zanzibar Publications, Bahrain 1997)
Axis History Forum Discussion on the SMS Königsberg Guns in English
Panzer Archiv Forum Discussion on the SMS Königsberg Guns in German

 

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