SOME OTHER FUSES AND ACCESSORIES
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Russian fuse Brass and aluminium russian fuse, graduated from 0 to 30 seconds with 0,2s steps. Cyrillic markings 'yD' and 'K'; caracteristic upper hat with its 'Chinese hat', where the percussion system rod pierced with a hole for the safety pin was hidden.
My understanding of the drawings I have (with explanations in... cyrillic russian !) let me think that this top hole was also designed as a emission hole for the combustion gasses emitted by the percussion igniting system. Time and percussion fuse with classic parts, designed in France. The pyrotechnic percussion igniter mechanism, with starter-bearer inertia rod, was hitting the fixed needle at the shot departure. The flame was then communicated to a two-discs time fusing system, then to the main charge located in the fuse tail. That latter charge could also be ignited at the shot arrival by a classical percussion inertia system located in the tail. The lower cone mounted below one of the items showned at left lets me suppose that this fuse equipped a shell whose caliber was higher than 95 mm. I do not know the list of the projectiles calibers that used that fuse. One of the displayed items was mounted as souvenir inker, inner mechanism removed, and with the addition of an opening device and a marmor base. Return at the top of the page |
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Austro-Hungarian fuse M99 The field Howitzer M 1899 (10cm Feldhaubitze M/99), caliber 104 mm was similar to the German 105 mm Field Howitzer. It was the main Austrian Fieald Artillery howitzer at the beginning of the war. As most of this nation guns at the beginning of the war, its tube was in bronze. It fired both rear-charge shrapnell shells and high-explosive shells. Both these projectiles were armed with the bronze-made Time and Percussion Fuse for 10cm schrapnell shells (10cm S.D.Z. 99) pictured here. The mobile disc was engraved with the following markings to give the choice of different functions :
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Austro-Hungarian fuse M99 M5 The 8dm Me 1905 field gun (8cm FeldKanone M5 et M5/8) was the main classical gun of the Austrian Field artillery at the beginning of the war. That weapon (with a bronze tube 76.2 mm caliber) fired both high-explosive and schrapnell shells. It is worth noting that the Austrian Schrapnell shells often contained minium, in order to give a red color to the smoke cloud at explosion, well visible on snowy white battlefields. The schrapnell shells M1905 and M1908 were usually equipped with the time and percussion fuze for schrapnell shell M 1905 (S.D.Z.M.5). The mobile disc of this bronze fuze was engraved with the following markings to give the choice of different functions :
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Austro-Hungarian fuse M99 M8 The schrapnell shells M1905 and M1908 of the Austrian 8cm Field Gun (8cm FeldKanone M5 and M5/8) were also equipped with the time and percussion fuze for schrapnell shell M 1908 (S.D.Z.M.8). The mobile disc of this bronze fuze was engraved with the following markings to give the choice of different functions :
There was two other versions of that fuse, appeared afetr the beginning of the war and replacing some bronze parts with steel. Return at the top of the page |
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Turkish fuse Thanks to its alliance with Germany, the Turkish army was equipped with modern Krupp guns and ammunitions, and particularly the 75mm field gun Mle 1903. They also had some French Schneider mountain guns... That fuse is most probably a German design of time and percussion fuse for 75 mm field gun. It is entirely made of brass, and wears arabic characters markings that I cannot decode. This reminds us that that period of Turkish history happened before Mustapha Kemal took the power and took several modernizing initiatives, including the adoption of the roman characters. I suppose that fuse had a German counterpart used by the Kaiser Army, but could not find it. I have no idea of the list of guns that used that fuse. Thread diameter 50 mm. Return at the top of the page |
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This is valid for some artillery equipments, and in particular for fuses.
However a lot of new fuse models were developped, most of the time using the principles of their ancestors of the Great War, before the arrival of moderne electronic fuses.
This selection shows some examples.
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US time fuses WW2 The next three fuses have been observed in the Vosges area, in france, where fight occured in both WW1 and WW2 conflicts
The first fuse is most probably a TSQ M54 fuse. It was a superquick or time action (to 25 seconds) type fuse. Its time system was a classical two-discs pyrotechnic type, and its superquick impact system was a very simple inertia mechanism located at the very top of the cone. The second fuse is most probably a TSQ M55 fuse. It was a special version of the first M54 fuse, but having its booster integrated. The third fuse looks like a M43A3 mechanical time fuse. Mechanical fuses replaced the classic pyrotechnic time fusing system by a clock mechanism, set to count time before explosion. That fuse has no impact element, and is therefore specially well suited for anti-aircraft use.
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Time and percussion Czech fuse This fuse has been sought in the 'Musée des Abris' in Albert, in the area of the Somme.
It shows several stunning characteristics :
Two different identification hypothesis have been made on specialised forums : an english time fuse modified for intantaneous percussion mode, or a Czech WW2 fuse for 105mm shells. Return at the top of the page
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Therefore, plugs of different shapes and material were used during the shell transportation in order to keep its inner charge safe from humidity.
Here are some examples.
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Transportation plug That plug type has been seen in some museums mounted on German heavy caliber shells. It is a steel piece, with a hole for the introduction of a transportation hook. The thread diameter is 59 mm Return at the top of the page |
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Transportation plug That plug type is often observed in some museums mounted on German minenwerfer shells. Its material is zamac, a poor alloy of Zinc with Magnesium, Aluminium, and Copper. The thread diameter is 55 mm. Return at the top of the page |
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Transportation plug That plug type is often observed in some museums mounted on German minenwerfer shells. Its material is a light and poorly resistant synthetic black material, explaining the bad condition those plugs are often found nowadays. The thread diameter is 55 mm. Return at the top of the page |
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Transportation plug I suppose that plug is German just because its shape has important analogies with typical German fuses such as GrZ96, 04 ou 14. Its made with zamac, a poor alloy of Zinc with Magnesium, Aluminium, and copper (this is another clue to its probable German origin). The thread diameter is 57 mm. Return at the top of the page |
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Transportation plug That plug type is often observed on some old pictures mounted on English heavy caliber shells. It is made of steel, and integrates a transportation hook. The thread diameter is 50 mm. Return at the top of the page |
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Transportation plug For a long time I thought these pieces were some kind of rear fuses. But it is in fact very unharmful English plugs. Their shape is made to take the place of the fuse tail and the detonateor in the shell charge. there are several varieties of that plug, with different head markings and shapes. The thread diameter is 50 mm. Return at the top of the page |
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Transportation plug Some english fuses (particularly the fuse nr 44) had a narrower thread than the shell hole. Therefore, an adaptator had to be used to receive the fuse thread, and then be screwed into the shell larger hole. An aluminium piece could replace the fuse during transport, so that the adaptator temporarly became a plug. The thread diameter is 50 mm. Return at the top of the page |
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