These guns used Krupp horizontal sliding breech blocks with separate loading metallic cased charges and projectiles.
Unlike other large naval guns of the time which used separate loading bagged charges and ammunition, the 19 cm vz.
1904 used separate loading ammunition with charges inside of a brass cartridge case to provide obturation.
1904 was used as secondary armament on the Erzherzog Karl-class battleships and the armored cruiser SMS Sankt Georg.
The exact number of guns used for coastal defense during World War II is unknown.