 Secondary armament included eighteen 15 cm ( 5 @.@ 9 inch ) SK L / 40 guns ; four were emplaced in single turrets amidships and the rest were mounted in MPL casemates . These guns had a fired armor @-@ piercing shells at a rate of 4 – 5 per minute . The ships carried 120 shells per gun , for a total of 2 @,@ 160 rounds total . The guns could depress to − 7 degrees and elevate to 20 degrees , for a maximum range of 13 @,@ 700 m ( 14 @,@ 990 yd ) . They were manually elevated and trained . 
