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Tail ID
- Thread starter Lefa.
- Start date
Very interesting photograph. Not an Italian nor a German bomb, but what exactly?.. It has a superficial similarity with the tails of the Italian 3kg Anti-personel and the 12.6kg "fumogena" sea marker , but this is not one of them. I'll try to check in my doc as this looks somehow "familiar", may be indeed an air dropped marker.
Where have you found this photograph?
Where have you found this photograph?
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Thanks for your help, much appreciated.
This is the back section of a German/Italian underwater charge meant to be fastened on a ship's bilge keel.
I'm pretty sure it was adapted from another ordnance as I can't see any functional underwater use for that aerial layout of the tail, what do you reckon? fins, the round armor and the hole in the middle are useless down there.
[edit]
The ruler is in Inches because it was captured
This is the back section of a German/Italian underwater charge meant to be fastened on a ship's bilge keel.
I'm pretty sure it was adapted from another ordnance as I can't see any functional underwater use for that aerial layout of the tail, what do you reckon? fins, the round armor and the hole in the middle are useless down there.
[edit]
The ruler is in Inches because it was captured
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For comparison this is a drawing of the Italian 12.6kg fumogena sea marker. The diameter is compatible (5.3 in / 135mm) and the general look is similar BUT the reinforcing fin annular strut is absent (an of a type unknown on Italian bombs, were wider and stronger annular fin reinforcements were used) and the fins end before the "exhaust" part.
Funnily enough, the general look is more similar to the tail part of some Swedish and Finnish bombs introduced in the 1939/40 period.
Funnily enough, the general look is more similar to the tail part of some Swedish and Finnish bombs introduced in the 1939/40 period.
Thank you both for your kind help.
I won't rule out any country, there was some intense trade between Italy and Sweeden during the war, they bought planes, destroyers, naval ordnances of any kind and so on. The third floor of the Historical Naval Museum at Venice, one of the two managed by the Italian Navy, is dedicated to this relationship. Does this tail looks something "aerial" to you?
The charge had to be towed by a swimmer a few meters behind him, positive buoyancy, I see no advantage to designing such a structured tail, if the charge rolled or stayed on the same axis it would have no impact on the swimmer's drag. I always thought it belonged to some aerial ordnance, I could be wrong of course.
I won't rule out any country, there was some intense trade between Italy and Sweeden during the war, they bought planes, destroyers, naval ordnances of any kind and so on. The third floor of the Historical Naval Museum at Venice, one of the two managed by the Italian Navy, is dedicated to this relationship. Does this tail looks something "aerial" to you?
The charge had to be towed by a swimmer a few meters behind him, positive buoyancy, I see no advantage to designing such a structured tail, if the charge rolled or stayed on the same axis it would have no impact on the swimmer's drag. I always thought it belonged to some aerial ordnance, I could be wrong of course.