Anyone for a "French threesome"???

[Dronic69]

Hi All,

Now that I have successfully "grabbed" your attention :eviltongue:, I would like to share my latest three WW1 French Beehive fuses which recently arrived....They are the "A 24/31mm Mle 1918" type fuses, which were mostly used on the 65, 75, 90, 105, 120 and 155 mm guns (HE shells)

The "A" denotes Allonge' ('Elongated') by the addition of an additional spire (6 spires instead of 5), graduated from 0 to 31 seconds. This extra time was required due to the increase range of the shell. A Robin-type percussion system was located in the tail.

They will clean up quite nicely - the middle pic shows where I brushed my special acid mix over and Bingo - almost as good as new!!!:wink:

The last pic shows a comparison with an "22/31mm Mod 1897/1916" time and percussion fuse, used famously on the 75mm shrapnel shell.

{Note that the time was set for 13 seconds.........it's the square hole punched on the spiral}

Enjoy!
Cheers
Drew

 

[Yodamaster]

Hi Dronic,
why give you her the nickname "Beehive" ?
Her official nickname is "Bouchon de Champagne" !

Yoda

 

[spotter]

we use the unofficial name "beehive" because they look like the old style beehives see picture below

 

[Grenademan2005]

That it is a non discussion reason. :willy: Nice three fuzes. Any reason for being constructed that way? With so many holes I mean.

 

[US-Subs]

You would use a sharp tool to punch a hole, which allowed the flame from firing to enter and ignite the delay at that point. The flame would then burn down the spiral to ignite the charge. The higher the hole, the longer the burn time.

 

[Dronic69]

You would use a sharp tool to punch a hole, which allowed the flame from firing to enter and ignite the delay at that point. The flame would then burn down the spiral to ignite the charge. The higher the hole, the longer the burn time.

Yes absolutely correct! From my understanding, the tool used produced a "square" punched hole - and if you look closely on the third pic, on the 22/31mm Mod 1897/1916 fuse (on top of the adaptor) mid-way, there is a "square" punched hole on the 13 seconds mark.

I'm curious as to what this tool looked like? Does anyone have one or a photo of it? I thought it would be a simple punch type tool until I read this description from the "Passion and Compassion 1914-1918" website, they state:

"the time before the explosion was set by piercing the graduated hat with a specific apparatus called 'dbouchoir double' ('double time-setter'), needing the presence of a stud on the fuse cone base"

So I assume the tool also required the presence of the small square stud on the base of the fuse in order to work (see pics)....just can't picture how this worked?



Yoda,

...and as for the "Beehive" reference - this is a very commonly used term for them - if you check, most online auctions etc have this in their English description - this was how I actually found them! (not sure if I can pronounced the correct name anyway! :tinysmile_cry_t

Cheers
Drew

 

[silent knight]

Hi

this is a Dbouchoir double for 75mm shells
this particular model was used in the 75mm turrets of the "Serr de Rivires" forts

Pascal

 

[Dronic69]

HI Pascal,

Wow, I guess the "Dbouchoir double" is a little more complicated than just a simple square punch tool!

OK, this is now making more sense to me - I gather that the apparatus must align up with the fuze's base square stud as a reference point, then by turning the dial to the required range would correspond to the correct time setting on the fuse and then the machine would punch a hole through at this position!

This is obviously very bulky and as you stated, used for fortifications, was there a smaller device for field artillery?

Thank you for pics - great stuff!!!!
Cheers
Drew

 

[dano1917]

Beautiful beehives Drew. I especially like the one mounted in the 75mm nose cone as it gives it a quie stately look. Good shag...Dano

 

[Dronic69]

Hi Dan,

Yes I agree the mounted ones do indeed stand out! (come complete with their very own unique "stand" LOL)

Interesting enough, there seems to be lots of the 75mm fuses exactly like this...and from memory I thought I spotted one in your WW1 fuse collection??? (or was it the Dopp96 .....)

Cheers
Drew

 

[dano1917]

Hi Drew, I had 4 different French WW1 "beehives", one on a 75mm shrapnel nose cone. I really liked them all but traded them off when I decided to go total German with my WW1 collection a few years back. There are many different ones to be had. Pictured are 2 French WW1 beehive fuzes I used to have......Dano

 

[silent knight]

HI Pascal,

was there a smaller device for field artillery?

a similar device was used for the field artillery

pic from http://lagrandeguerre.cultureforum.net/t25784-l-obus-de-75mm

Pascal

 

[Mrfuze]

Simplified fuze setter Mle. 1918

Hello you guys,
here is one of the fuze setters for the " Beehive" fuze , this particular one is also used and marked by the Germans during WW II for use for captured French fuzes.
Enjoy the images!
Mrfuze, USA

 

[Grenademan2005]

Great item, seems even with the transport box. Congratulations.