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13 pounder shrapnel AA?
- Thread starter Bigboom
- Start date
Darkman
Well-Known Member
Has the fuze been modified for AA use? The bottom percussion pellet assembly was removed and replaced with a wooden block. This was to prevent the shell exploding on impact with the ground (and possibly injuring friendly troops or civilians) if the time pellet and powder train function failed to detonate the shell in mid air. The attached picture shows a No. 80 fuze modified for this purpose, but on an 18 pdr HE shell with a No. 44 fuze and gaine. Is this configuration (for HE use) the No. 80 fuze was designated a "No. 80/44", but I am unsure if similarly modified fuzes used with shrapnel were given a different designation to signify their conversion for AA use. I have several modified fuzes that are only stamped with their original details.
Yea, I had come across the wooden block info while doing some research on what I might have so I had already checked for it. Here is a pic of the inside of the fuse, looks like the bottom cover is missing along with whatever was inside. Do you know of any other way to tell what this projectile was used for?
Darkman
Well-Known Member
Yes, the base plug and whatever was inserted in the percussion pellet recess of the fuze is no longer present, so this is inconclusive. Looks like a fairly standard mark V fuze.
However I should have noticed before that your shell has been fired, so it is most unlikely that the fuze currently attached is the original one fitted, therefore speculation about this fuze in relation to the original purpose/use of the shell is somewhat irrelevant.
Hogg & Thurston's book on WW1 artillery weapons indicates that the 13 pdr Mk 3 AA gun was introduced in Nov 1914, and the 13 pdr 9Cwt AA gun in Nov 1915, so it is possible your shell was used as AA. (The Mk 4 13pdr AA gun of 1915 was an Elswick Ordnance based design with a barrel of 24 grooves - yours is a standard 18 groove.) But in all likelihood it was a standard shrapnel round based on the larger number of those produced I believe. I am not aware of any other way of telling what the shell was used for.
Still, you have a very nice original 13 pdr there.
However I should have noticed before that your shell has been fired, so it is most unlikely that the fuze currently attached is the original one fitted, therefore speculation about this fuze in relation to the original purpose/use of the shell is somewhat irrelevant.
Hogg & Thurston's book on WW1 artillery weapons indicates that the 13 pdr Mk 3 AA gun was introduced in Nov 1914, and the 13 pdr 9Cwt AA gun in Nov 1915, so it is possible your shell was used as AA. (The Mk 4 13pdr AA gun of 1915 was an Elswick Ordnance based design with a barrel of 24 grooves - yours is a standard 18 groove.) But in all likelihood it was a standard shrapnel round based on the larger number of those produced I believe. I am not aware of any other way of telling what the shell was used for.
Still, you have a very nice original 13 pdr there.
Thank you for the info! I never would have though of counting the grooves on the driving band to make an ID and I assumed for whatever reason that the fuze "belonged" to the projectile. I counted them and there are 18 grooves, you must have seen these before! I have a lead on an AA casing for this projectile, they would go together nicely I think.