Granatenwerfer 16
| Granatwerfer 16 | |
|---|---|
 A Granatwerfer 16 at the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung, Koblenz, Germany | |
| Type | Infantry mortar Grenade launcher |
| Place of origin | German Empire |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1916-18 |
| Used by | German Empire |
| Wars | World War I |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 590 kg (1,300 lb)[1] |
| Barrel length | 1.26 m (4 ft 2 in) |
| Shell | Separate loading charge and 100 kg (220 lb) projectile |
| Caliber | 24 cm (9.4 in) |
| Recoil | None |
| Carriage | Two wheeled |
| Elevation | +50 to +75° |
| Traverse | 60° |
| Muzzle velocity | 150 m/s/ft/s (97,000 ft/s/m/min) |
| Effective firing range | 1.5 km (0.93 mi)[2] |
The Granatwerfer 16 or Grenade Thrower Model 1916 was an infantry mortar used by the Central Powers during the First World War. It was designed by a Hungarian priest named Vécer and was first used by the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1915. In 1916 Germany began producing a modified version under license for the Imperial German Army.
Background
The majority of military planners before the First World War were wedded to the concept of fighting an offensive war of rapid maneuver which before mechanization meant a focus on cavalry and light horse artillery firing shrapnel shells at formations of troops in the open. The problem facing the combatants was that their light field guns were designed for direct fire and only had limited angles of elevation and weren't capable of providing the high-angle indirect fire needed to deal with enemy troops in dug-in positions.[2]
The simple expedient was to elevate the guns by having them fire from pits but the size and weight of the guns were excessive and pack animals couldn't move the guns in the trenches or across the shell-pocked quagmire of no man's land. What the theorists hadn't foreseen was that land mines, trenches, barbed wire, and machine guns would rob them of mobility and as the Western Front stagnated into trench warfare the light field guns that the combatants went to war with began to show their limitations.[2]
Often defenders would wait out a preparatory artillery bombardment in reinforced dugouts and once the bombardment had lifted they would man their trenches and machine-gun nests in anticipation of an enemy attack across no man's land. Barbed wire was often used to channel attackers away from vulnerable areas of the defender's trenches and funnel attackers into predefined kill zones where overlapping fields of machine-gun fire could be brought to bear. The machine-gun nests could be constructed of sandbags, timber, corrugated metal, and concrete with overhead protection. For infantry advancing across no man's land, all they may see is a small horizontal opening at waist level, with just the top of the machine-gun's gun shield showing. Rows of barbed wire could also be used to delay attackers allowing the defenders time to man their trenches and to hold attackers at a safe distance to call in defensive artillery fire. Attacking infantry would have to close on these positions while under fire and destroy them with rifle fire, grenades, and flamethrowers.[3]
The problem for the attacker was they lacked light, portable, simple, and inexpensive firepower that could be brought with them to overcome enemy machine gun nests by low-angle direct fire and partially exposed troops in trenches by high-angle indirect fire. Early on the combatants experimented with crossbows, catapults, and slingshots to propel hand grenades with limited success. Eventually, most settled on hand grenades, rifle grenades, and trench mortars. However, there was still a niche to be filled between grenades and trench mortars which the Granatwerfer 16 filled.[4]
Design
The Granatwerfer 16 was a type of spigot mortar. Rather than being a muzzle loaded weapon like a Stokes or Brandt mortar where the projectile slides down the tube until it hits a firing pin to launch the projectile. The Granatwerfer had a short hollow metal spigot that was attached to a base that was adjustable for traverse and elevation. The projectile was similar in size and construction to a hand grenade with a hollow center tube and tail fins that slid over the spigot. The Granatwerfer had a two-man crew consisting of a gunner and a loader. To fire, the gunner would adjust the angle of the spigot for the desired range and direction, cock the firing mechanism, then rotate the safety lever to the “safe” position. The loader would then insert a contact fuse into the nose of the grenade, slide the grenade onto the launcher, remove the safety pin, and the gunner would fire by pulling on a lanyard.
See also
Gallery
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References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Hogg, Ian (2000). Twentieth-century Artillery. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 0-7607-1994-2. OCLC 44779672.
- ^ Reviel, Netz (2004). Barbed Wire: An Ecology of Modernity. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. pp. 108–127. ISBN 0-8195-6719-1. OCLC 728243601.
- ^ Batchelor, J. H. (1979). Land Power. New York: Exeter Books. pp. 33–34. ISBN 0-89673-010-7. OCLC 5718938.