A report on WWII German anticoncrete artillery shells, from Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 32, August 26, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

GERMAN ANTICONCRETE SHELLS -- 150- AND 210-MM CALIBERS Reference was made in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 18, p. 23, to the special German design of shells for the destruction of concrete. These designs are thought to be initiated recently. In the description which follows details are given about the weight and filling of the 150- (5.9 in) and 210-mm (8.3 in) calibers of this shell. The accompanying sketch shows the method of filling in each case. Both shells have a base fuzed piercing shell, the smaller shell fired by the 150-mm medium howitzer (15-cm s.F.H. 18*), and the larger by the 210-mm heavy (21-cm Mörser 18). A steel exploder container is fitted to these shells with a ballistic cap welded to the shell. a. Shell Filling for 150-MM Four pressed pellets comprise the shell filling. These are placed in a container with a wooden block at the nose. The complete charge is held in position in the shell by a cement lining. The filling consists of TNT around and in front of the exploder container, and of waxed TNT towards the nose. The gaine exploder container is of the C/98 type filled with picric acid. b. Shell Filling for 210-MM Ten pressed pellets comprise the shell filling. They are placed in a cardboard container which is held in position by a cement lining. The shell filling is interesting in that it has 3 flat disk pellets at the nose. The front one is pressed potassium chloride, and the two immediately to the rear are a mixture of TNT, wax, and potassium chloride. They are apparently intended to provide a deadened HE filling in the nose of the shell. Another feature of interest is that the straight TNT portion of the filling, which picks up a detonative impulse from the exploder, is completely surrounded by waxed TNT. Additional details for each shell follow: 150-MM Weight (filled)  . . . . .  95 lb 5 oz Weight (empty)  . . . . .  83 lb 8 oz No. of pellets  . . . . .  4 (total weight 7 lb 2 oz) Weight of Pellets, No. 1  . . . . .  2 lb 2 oz (TNT)     2  . . . . .  2 lb 6 1/2 oz (TNT)     3  . . . . .  1 lb 10 1/2 oz (TNT/wax 95/5)     4  . . . . .  15 oz (TNT/wax 90/10)     210-MM Weight (filled)  . . . . .  267 lb 12 oz Weight (empty)  . . . . .  237 lb 3 oz No. of pellets  . . . . .  10 (total weight 25 lb 8 3/4 oz) Weight of Pellets, No. 1  . . . . .  4 lb 2 oz (TNT/wax 94/6)     1a  . . . . .  8 oz (TNT)     2  . . . . .  4 lb 3/4 oz (TNT/wax 90/10)     2a  . . . . .  1 lb 5 1/2 oz (TNT)     3  . . . . .  5 lb 2 oz (TNT/wax 90/10)     4  . . . . .  5 lb 4 1/2 oz (TNT/wax 91/9)     5  . . . . .  4 lb 2 oz (TNT/wax 91/9)     6  . . . . .  6 oz (TNT 60.5, wax 5.4, potassium chloride 34.1)     7  . . . . .  5 oz (TNT 44.1, wax 5.6 potassium chloride 50.3)     8  . . . . .  5 oz (potassium chloride) *schwere Feldhaubitze--medium field howitzer.

Back to Articles by Subject | Intel Bulletin by Issue | T&TT by Issue | Home Page