Antitank Hand grenades and incendiary devices.

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#15

Blendkorper 1 H

This munition consists of a tear-drop shaped flask, 6 inches long with a maximum diameter of 2-1/2 inches, sealed at the upper end by drawing out the flask. The sealed tip is protected by a cardboard sleeve, sealed with a plaster of Paris type material. The flask weighs 13.2 ounces with 10.6 ounces of amber-colored titanium tetrachloride, (FM).
The munition is used by throwing against a hard surface which breaks the flask. The titanium tetrachloride then vaporizes, forming a smoke cloud which varies greatly with the relative humidity, being dense at a high humidity and thin at a low humidity.
The grenades are individually packed in a hexagonal, three-ply, corrugated paper container 6-1/2 inches long, by 3 inches square, wrapped in a transparent cellulose material. The top of the box has a handle which when pulled, removes the cover and flask. A label on the box gives in German the following directions:
Smoke Grenade 1 H
(BK 1 H)
Directions for use.

  1. For carrying, leave the smoke grenade in the cardboard box.
  2. For throwing, remove the smoke grenade from the box; draw out the cover with the smoke grenade hanging in the band; take the smoke grenade in the throwing hand and remove the cover. 3. Throw the smoke grenade with force at the target, peephole, sights, etc.


Blendkorper 2 H
The grenade consists of a pear-shaped, glass outer flask, resembling a large electric light bulb, almost filled with a brown liquid. Inside is a long tube filled with a clear liquid; both are capped with a sulphur and plaster of Paris cement. The total weight is slightly over seven ounces.*
The outer flask is a pear-shaped glass bulb, 2-1/2 inches in diameter at the widest point, 3-15/16 inches in height to the neck, where it flares out 1/8 inch and forms a collar approximately 1 inch in height and 1-1/2 inch in diameter. This flask contains 8.75 ounces of titanium tetrachloride.
The inner glass tube is 3 7/8 inches long and 7/8 inch in diameter, resembling a test tube with the upper end sealed off; the weight is a little under an ounce. The upper end has a slight shoulder which rests on a rubber-like plastic washer; this washer in turn rests on the inside shoulder of the collar of the outer flask; thus, when the cementing material was poured, the inner tube was firmly sealed within the neck of the outer flask. The inner tube contains about 1.2 ounce of a 27 per cent solution of calcium chloride.
The smoke is produced by hydrolysis of titanium tetrachloride. The purpose of the inner tube of calcium chloride solution is to provide water to react with the titanium tetrachloride and produce an instantaneous smoke cloud in the desert or in cold areas, where the low humidity would cause a slow reaction. The calcium chloride is probably added to keep the water from freezing.
This grenade was received in a cardboard box, 6-1/4 inches high, 3-3/4 inches wide, and 12-1/2 inches long, with separate compartments for each grenade; capacity four grenades. A label on the front of the box gave in German the following directions for use:
4 Screening Devices - 2H
(BK 2H)
Useable and freeze-proof to -40°C**

  1. Carrying:
    Leave the Blendkörper in the closed carton.
  2. Taking Out:
    Tear where indicated around the top at 1. Lift up the top, and tear out the Blendkörper. Take Blendkörper 2, 3, and 4 in the same way. 3. Throwing:
    Grasp the Blendkörper in the hollow of the hand, the round part toward the index finger. Throw with force at the target.

*Apparently, this is the weight of the container. The total of all weights given is approximately 22 ounces.
**Equivalent to 40 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit - the only point at which the two scales coincide.

#16

Continue…

Source:

www.lonesentry.com

The purpose of the Blendkorper was not to destroy the tank, simply because it cannot achieve that, the purpose was to blind the tank crew allowing the panzerknackers to move close in and destroy the armored vehicle by explosive or kinetic energie weapons.

#17

So…would the molotov cocktail prove somewhat effective against the crew of a tank if the gasoline (or whichever fuel was being used) got into the tank through port holes, copulas, etc. and the flame traveled with it?

BTW Panzerknacker, very good photos :wink:

#18

Yes, surprinsingly it may appear it the right use ( like urban enviroment) a Molotov coktail could effective.

However the problem with this crude weapon is the same of all the hand-launched ones…his very short range.

It really never was a important weapon in the german arsenal, there was better ones.

#19

Thankyou. So I suppose this weapon would be similiar to the use of an AT rifle…

Not to destroy the tank, but to kill the crew…

#20

Or at list made the combat vehicle so hot and smoky that the crew had to abandon it.

A improvised incendiary bomb was also included in the field manual “Die panzerknacker”, it consist in a normal stick grenade attached to a jerry can fuel tank. Like a super molotov.

#21

Nice, Panzerknacker. This may be a little off-topic, but since we are on the subject of AT weapons, did the German Panzerfaust (Any MM) have a sling?

#22

Some had it… Do you want a Panzerfaust topic ?

No problemo.

#23

You can see the HHL-3 in this video at 0:05 and from 3:08 to 3:54. Shows how they used in just like decribed in those articles. Also if im not mistaken at around 4:02 you can see that stick grenade with abunch tied to it. i personally liked the video.

#24

Sound good, but the link to the vid is not visible :rolleyes:

#25

wow im not retarded forgot to post the video sorry here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fWI0uTj9rM&mode=related&search=

#26

yeah, the movie STALINGRAD (D, 1992). not the badest movie at all, but it has some lenghts, what is difficult to tell when you see these scenes. the battle with the tanks seen here and the fighting in the factory-plant are pretty good, the rest is a bit boring sometimes. :roll:

btw: someone recognized my sig.? :slight_smile:

I watched it in the cinema in 1992 with my grandfather who werved on the eastern front. he was quite impressed with that motion picture.

jens

#27

Nice video ¡¡

I recognice your signature just seconds after your fisrt post my dear incendiary friend :rolleyes:

The daisyflower looking grenade is the Geballte ladung:

Handgranate
Handgrenades are often used against tanks, usually not due to any special AT capability of these weapons but because of their availability. Although a regular handgrenade could not kill a healthy full-grown tank it might damage it esp. immobilize it with a lucky explosion in the track. But there were also special AT handgrenades dedicated to fight armor.

The most famous german hand grenade is probably the Stielhandgranate 24 (“stick hand grenade”), often referred to as the stick grenade or the potato masher by allied soldiers. The grenade’s time fuse was activated by unscrewing the bottom and pulling the Abreisszünder (“rip detonator”) safety cord (see picture at right). It weighed 480g, had an overall length of 35.6cm and had a warhead with a length of 7.5 cm and a diameter of 6cm that contained 165g of explosives (different explosives were used over the course of the war).

The cylindrical warhead was also available as a hand grenade without the stick under the designation Handgranate 43. This cylindrical warhead could be used for other purposes:
combined with a pressure-activated trigger they served as mines.
Several Handgranate 43 warheads could also be combined with a Stielhandgranate to make a large explosive grenade bundle.

This combination of one Stielhandgranate 24 with 6 of the same warheads without the stick was very popular and often referred to as the “Geballte Ladung” (“forceful/big charge”)

by the troops although this designation is rather colloquial and was actually semi-officially in use for an engineer weapon. The complete weapon combination looked like a flower with the grenade stick of the central Stielhandgranate as the stalk and the Hd.Gr.43 warheads surrounding it like petals (see sketch at right). It was often used as an improvised makeshift AT weapon.

#28

once i realized i forgot to post the video, it took me forever to find it again. i didnt know what it was called. I always wanted to watch the movie stalingrad, its always rented in the local rogers video.

#29

This combination of one Stielhandgranate 24 with 6 of the same warheads without the stick was very popular and often referred to as the “Geballte Ladung” (“forceful/big charge”)

Would this be the set that was used in the '97 Stalingrad during the Winter Tank scene?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-DWX8NgiYs

#30

Your link dont work, but yes I think it was the grenade.

Actually I ve found that the Geballte ladung is a very old weapon, it was used first in…1918 :shock: against the British Tanks in WW1.

However a well placed GL could put out of action most of the russian tank tracks and also is told that exploding in contact with armor was enough to break 20-25 mm steel and stun the crew inside.

Waffen SS soldier arming a geballte ladung grenade.

Off course dont try to stop a Pershing or JS- 2 with this because you probably will die.

#31

The finnish army had also its his own variant of the “Geballte ladung.”

[INDENT][LEFT]In 1936, Captain Kaarlo Tuurna, serving in the Pioneer battalion, developed the Finnish kasapanos. In tests it was noticed that 0.5 kg of TNT could break 12 mm of armor if pressed tightly against the armor plate. Thus it was concluded that a kasapanos with 0.8 kg of TNT was sufficient. This was of course an insufficient explosive charge for WW 2 tanks, but at least the basic design and requirements of the weapon were set.[/LEFT]

Although the industrial production of satchel charges had been started before the war, the design was developed further during the war. The factory produced satchel charges (see examples left and right), were made in 2 kg, 3 kg and 4 kg versions. The explosives were in a box covered by sheet metal, while the wooden handle and fuse were those of the stick hand grenade (German m/32 hand grenade, the “potato smasher”).

[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The early models of the factory produced satchel charges had both of the larger sides coated by special glue in order to decrease the chance that the satchel charge would fall off from top of the rear deck of the tank. The glued sides were protected by plywood, which was removed only moments before the throw. The glued satchel charge wasn’t a success, as the glue clung easily to the clothes (gloves etc.) of the user. If the glue was touched by snow or dirt, the effectiveness of the glue was reduced considerably.

The late production satchel charges had small hooks on each side of the explosives container box, on the “upper” edge (if holding the satchel charge in hand, see example on the left). The hooks were intended to clung the charge on the tank (if lucky), e.g. to the wiring net covering the engine ventilation. A more often used method to increase the chance of getting the satchel charge to stay on top of a tank was to attach barbed wire around the explosives, which clung on more easily.

[/INDENT]http://www.winterwar.com/Weapons/FinAT/FINantitank2.htm#kasap

#32

didn’t they use stick grenades but attach like 10 heads of other nades?

#33

The Geballte ladung used 7 stick grenade heads as you might see in the page 2 of this topic.

#34

By the way, a correction to my earlier post, the Geballte ladung was not introduced in ww2, that device was already used in 1917 by strafing aeroplanes and stosstruppen.

Already in that conflict the sextuple grenade saw use against tanks.

Geballte Ladung for Halberstadt CL-II