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German 8.8 CM

jvollenberg

Well-Known Member
Ordnance approved
I am looking for some information on a German 8.8-CM Star Shell.

What is the nomenclature of this round, and did it even exist?

Joe
 
They existed. The formal name was 8,8 cm Leucht Granate (LG) L 4;4. Mostly used for naval purposes, can be found in M.dv 170 series, 14-15-16. These manuals can be found at Lexpev's site.
 
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There was also an 8,8 cm star shell for the Flak 18. The shell body was somewhat longer than the HE shell. It contained a HE bursting charge in a central tube to destroy the empty shell body after the parachute and star had been expelled. Official nomenclature is not known to me.

In the picture below you can see the difference in length between a HE shell (yellow) and the Flak star shell.
 

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Hallo,
I just looked up the 3 M.Dv.'s. A pity that only the /16 is of a good quality. The 3 manuals, for many different 8,8cm naval and coastal guns. Each manual has 1 Lg. The names are : 8,8cm Lg Patr 25 L/4,5 and 8,8cm Lg Patr 30 L/4,4 and 8,8cm Lg Patr 35 L/4,4 The last mentioned was made with 2 types of shell and 3 different powder compositions, with different weights. Oh, I forgot to translate : 8,8cm Lg(Leuchtgeschoss=Illuminating round) Patr (Patrone=Cartridge = fixed round) 25,30,35 L/4,4 and 4,5 model / type No.s of rounds.
Regards,
Bellifortis.
 

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Thanks everyone ... this was just what I needed.

Was the FLAK shell the same as the Naval Rounds nomenclature wise?

Joe
 
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Hi Joe,
I'm no expert on this subject, but as I explained before, the nomenclature depends on the type of gunbarrel the shell is fired through. I do not know which manual describes the 8,8cm Flak 18 and 36 Leuchtgeschoss round. I assume that the nomenclature would be : 8,8cm Lg Patr L/4,5
regards,
Bellifortis.
Thanks everyone ... this was just what I needed.

Was the FLAK shell the same as the Naval Rounds nomenclature wise?

Joe
 
In theWaffen-Revue Nr. 31 (Pawlas) there is a listing of ammunition for the 8,8 cm Flak 18, 36 and 37. In that listing 3 cartridges with a star shell are mentioned.
-Leuchtgranatpatrone Flak (R) (gr), (mit Leuchtsatz 83 sek. und Rauchsatz 3 sek. grau)
-Leuchtgranatpatrone Flak (R) (gb), (mit Leuchtsatz 83 sek. und Rauchsatz 3 sek. gelb)
-Leuchtgranatpatrone Flak (R) (w), (mit Leuchtsatz 83 sek. und Rauchsatz 3 sek. weiss).

{ mit Leuchtsatz 83 sek. und Rauchsatz 3 sek.= with a star compostion of 83 seconds and a smoke composition of 3 seconds} { grau, gelb, weiss = grey, yellow, white}

Perhaps the Flak star shell on my photo is one of them. It is marked in white paint with Gr. (Gr. = Grau ?)
 
Hallo Greif,
the shells you mention are signalling rounds not Illuminating, so their nomenclature should be different. I do not know these and would myself be interested in additional info.
Regards,
Bellifortis.
 
Greif,

Did you ever find documentation on your star shell? I was looking back on this thread and just can not figure out how that round works, or why they would even do it.

Joe
 
Joe,
Many years ago Pzgr40 has made a very nice sectionned model of this shell with an explanation how it functions.
Perhaps he is willing to post that on this forum. I will ask him.
Greif
 
WW1 8.8.jpg
This one for information; 8,8 cm Leuchtgeschoss Artillery Naval Marine , same typical shell as 10.5cm Artillery Naval Marine used by French Marine after WW1
 
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