Hafthohlladung

An example of the Hafthohlladung 3.5 on display in a museum

The Hafthohlladung, also known as the "Panzerknacker" ("Tank breaker", German connotation "Safe cracker") was a shaped charge anti-tank grenade used by German forces in World War II. The device is sometimes described as a mine, but as it is manually placed this is not correct terminology.

Details

The Hafthohlladung (lit. adhesive hollow charge) was primarily used by Wehrmacht tank killer squads. Designed with three magnets at the base, each with a pair of poles creating a strong magnetic field across their gap, infantryman could attach it to an enemy's tank no matter the angle of the surface. As the blast axis should be flush to the armour at the point of placement, and armed by pulling the igniter on the rear of the mine, the degree of a tank's sloped armour would be irrelevant for the device's penetration. However this required direct placement made use of the device very dangerous, as that infantryman would be highly vulnerable to enemy fire.

The Hafthohlladung device was very effective against armour, able to penetrate 140 mm of Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA). The H3 (3 kilogram) and H3.5 (3.5 kilogram) models are easily distinguishable; the H3 is bottle-shaped and H3.5 is conical.

Specifications

Weight: 3 kg (H3 version) or 3.5kg (H3.5 version)
First issued: November 1942
Penetration: At 0°, 140mm of RHA or 508 mm (20") of concrete
Fuse: Friction ignited, 4.5 second delay, later 7.5 seconds in May 1943
Number Produced: 553,900
Declared obsolete in May 1944 in favour of the Panzerfaust, but remaining stockpiles used until exhausted

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hafthohlladungen.

German Hand and Rifle Grenades

German firearms and light weapons of World War II

Side arms (Pistolen)	Mauser C96 Luger Walther P38 Walther PP and PPK Sauer 38H Mauser HSc Sturmpistole Dreyse M1907 Pistol Volkspistole

Rifles and carbines (Gewehre und Karabiner)	Karabiner 98k G 24(t) G 33/40(t) G 98/40 Gewehr 41 Gewehr 43/Karabiner 43 MP 43/MP 44/StG 44 FG 42 M30 Luftwaffe drilling StG 45(M) VG 1-5

Submachine guns (Maschinenpistolen)	MP 18/MP 28 MP 34 MP35 MP 38/MP 40 MP 41 MP 3008 Erma EMP EMP 44

Machine guns and other larger weapons	MG 08 Schwarzlose MG M.07/12 MG 13 MG 15 MG 26 MG 30 MG 34 MG 42 MG 45 MG 131 IMG 28 MG 35/36A Faustpatrone Raketen-Panzerbüchse 43 Panzerfaust Panzerschreck Fliegerfaust/Luftfaust Flammenwerfer 35 Flammenwerfer 41 Einstossflammenwerfer 46 Panzerbüchse 39 Solothurn S-18/1000

Mortars (Granatwerfer)	5 cm leGrW 36 8 cm GrW 34 kz 8 cm GrW 42 12 cm GrW 42

Grenades (Granaten)	Model 24 Stielhandgranate Model 43 Stielhandgranate Model 39 Eihandgranate Splitterring Panzerwurfmine Hafthohlladung

Notable foreign-made infantry weapons	Browning Hi-Power as P640(b) Radom wz. 35 Vis as P645(p) ZB vz. 24 as G24(t) ZB vz. 33 as G33/40(t) ZB vz. 26 as MG26(t) Kb ppanc wz.35 as Panzerbüchse 35(p)

German-made cartridges used by the Wehrmacht	7.63×25mm Mauser 7.65×21mm Parabellum 7.92×33mm Kurz 7.92×57mm Mauser 7.92×94mm 9×19mm Parabellum 13.2×92mmSR 20×138mmB

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.