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The Bombatorium
- Thread starter US-Subs
- Start date
Nice haul Jeff! What is the fuze and WP igniter used for?
Take care, Pat
Take care, Pat
Nice livens I picked one up in Belgium many years ago and could feel the liquid moving inside it moving around soon put it down again could have been why it was still laying under a electricity pole by the side of the road..... o happy days gone by........ Dave
Good to see you posting again Pat. The igniter and fuze were fairly standard for WWII firebombs. I've had the igniters for a while, though not so nice or as a display piece. The WP variant you see on occasion, the hard to find one is here on the left, which was marked for Sodium. Used for waterside targets such as port facilities, it gave ignition on contact with water. They can be pretty tough to find, in any condition.
The nicest part was that they were all donations to the collection. We are slowly starting to pursue non-profit status (a US tax thing, separates Gov approved operations from collections) and folks have (as always) been happy to support. One of the main chores for approval is public service - we have already been doing different aspects for years, teaching ordnance recognition etc. classes for Local/State and Federal officers, bomb squads and others.
You have some very nice items pictured. I really like the
3 fin Granatenwerfer 15. I have been on the lookout for this model for a long time with no success! Take care, Pat
A couple of new pieces.
I was very fortunate to find a 155mm M110, this one has a 1945 date. The M110 was a dual use projectile, it could be filled with either smoke or chemical (HD). As part of the chemical weapons treaty, recognizing the munition as dual use any empty projectiles that were not painted with CW markings could be considered as intended for smoke and are not classified as CW, unless identified as so by the declaring country.
Following that is the M20 canister (training). This was one of two canisters (M20, M21) which went into the M687 binary 155mm. The canisters would rupture during flight and their fill material would mix during flight and form GB-2 nerve agent. The training canister is slightly different from the real one to make it more robust for training, and contains only water.
Finally there is a typical railroad torpedo. While outdated by technology these are still around, but very hard to find inert - and not safe to try and make inert. Containing a friction/pressure sensitive pyrotechnic mixture they would be placed on a railroad track as a signal for rail engineers. The torpedo would explode loudly when run over, alerting the engineer to whatever danger was ahead (accident, rail problems, maintenance activity, etc.). Too often they were treated like simple fireworks and years ago we used to see frequent accidents with their misuse. There were numerous designs and they are still available in some places in Europe and elsewhere, but have always been hard to find empty. This one came from a damaged display board.
I was very fortunate to find a 155mm M110, this one has a 1945 date. The M110 was a dual use projectile, it could be filled with either smoke or chemical (HD). As part of the chemical weapons treaty, recognizing the munition as dual use any empty projectiles that were not painted with CW markings could be considered as intended for smoke and are not classified as CW, unless identified as so by the declaring country.
Following that is the M20 canister (training). This was one of two canisters (M20, M21) which went into the M687 binary 155mm. The canisters would rupture during flight and their fill material would mix during flight and form GB-2 nerve agent. The training canister is slightly different from the real one to make it more robust for training, and contains only water.
Finally there is a typical railroad torpedo. While outdated by technology these are still around, but very hard to find inert - and not safe to try and make inert. Containing a friction/pressure sensitive pyrotechnic mixture they would be placed on a railroad track as a signal for rail engineers. The torpedo would explode loudly when run over, alerting the engineer to whatever danger was ahead (accident, rail problems, maintenance activity, etc.). Too often they were treated like simple fireworks and years ago we used to see frequent accidents with their misuse. There were numerous designs and they are still available in some places in Europe and elsewhere, but have always been hard to find empty. This one came from a damaged display board.
Attachments
Just got back from a bullet hunt out of State, did very well. I'll post some pics now, more tomorrow. Picked up a nice 6pr drill, a 6pr sub-cal, a 40mm wooden drill, and a light-weight fake 18pr, which was pretty strange. I've never seen the 57mm in practice paint before, or this version/marking of a 105mm proof
Is this the prototype/precursor round for the U.S. 30 x 100mmB WECOM?
Looks very similar, dimension wise, to the one shown here: http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/91194-need-help-with-30mm-(-)-link-identification
The 18pr is a cocktail shaker and originally contained glasses for pouring the cocktail into.
D
Glad to have an answer on it, it seemed way to well done for a simple fake.
BDGreen, I agree, it looks very similar. All I got from the seller was that it was an early PA experimental.
No one has ID'd the 70mm yet? I've seen that style of base before, but it just is not clicking yet.
BDGreen, I agree, it looks very similar. All I got from the seller was that it was an early PA experimental.
No one has ID'd the 70mm yet? I've seen that style of base before, but it just is not clicking yet.
H
Hoeksel
Guest
As for the 70 mm, I do not recognize it. PEW is unknown to me, that would be a great hint. Based on the writing, especially HE, I would think British or US. Bases on the date 1915 not much is left based on my shell case knowledge. The 70 mm is rather limited, WW1 countries I know are Italy, Austria-Hungary, Netherlands, French (including export), Spain, Sweden. The only British 70 mm I know is the 2.75" 10-pounder (used a bag charge). Other than that no clue. Maybe dimensions and weight would help?
Although the following thread doesn't exactly answer the 70mm question it does give some potential pointers. http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/89261-120mm-projectile-ID
70 mm
Having looked at the thread Burney Davis mentions above, I did some searching and found a monogram of P.E.W. for the Canadian Company of Prescott Emery Wheel Co. of Prescott, Ontario, Canada. who are shown as manufacturing 4.5" shells.
There is also a file in the National Archives http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3267576 regarding the request for supply of specification of Russian, French and Italian shells for the information of Canadian firms.
Thus, there is the possibility that this shell is of Canadian manufacture to the design of one of the aforementioned countries.
TimG
Having looked at the thread Burney Davis mentions above, I did some searching and found a monogram of P.E.W. for the Canadian Company of Prescott Emery Wheel Co. of Prescott, Ontario, Canada. who are shown as manufacturing 4.5" shells.
There is also a file in the National Archives http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3267576 regarding the request for supply of specification of Russian, French and Italian shells for the information of Canadian firms.
Thus, there is the possibility that this shell is of Canadian manufacture to the design of one of the aforementioned countries.
TimG