unidentified WW 1 Fuze

[Bellifortis]

Hallo,
I can't identify this WW 1 fuze. The only markings are a "V"(Verzoegerung) for delay and a "0" for I reckon direct action. Because of this it has to come from a german-speaking country. From it's general shape it looks similar to a "Gr.Z.04". Any ideas ?
regards,
Bellifortis.

 

[Alpini]

it's a dutch Schokbuis No. 16 (made by Krupp). "V" means "Vertraging" in this case, but it just the same word in dutch language.

 

[Bellifortis]

Hallo Alpini,
I now found a drawing of this fuze. In the drawing a kind of cup-shaped cap, with attached string is closing the central striker channel from the top. A second drawing shows the fuze with the cap removed and a long pin inserted in the central hole. The pin is sticking out of the top for quite a few cm. In my fotos you see rests of some brass-sheetmetal sticking out of the central channel. What use did this have ?
regards,
Bellifortis.

 

[Alpini]

with the small stick inserted it becomes a superquick fuze - same as in german E.K.Z. or E.H.Z fuzes ;-)

 

[Bellifortis]

Hallo Alpini,
i just had another look at the drawing of the fuze. It has 2 springs ("Repulsionsfeder"; I like this very old german word very much, because it is so precise), one around the firingpin-holder and one inside,around the firingpin. In the drawing a strop is attached to the inversed cup, closing the firingpin-central-channel. For "Super-Quick" action the cup is removed by its strop and the long pin inserted. For "Direct Action" I would expect that the cup would be removed so that when the projectile strikes, target-material could enter the central channel and force the firing-pin, against the force of the 2 "Repulsionsfedern" into the percussion-cap. In the above pictured sample the fuze seems to have been fired with the cup left on, closing the central channel. This way only a very strong setback-force on the firingpin-holder would be strong enough to force the firing-pin into the cap against the force of the 2 springs. I would expect this to work only on hard targets like rock, concrete and iron. Then this fuze could be set for 1 of 4 different actions: Super-Quick (rod inserted and set on 0), DA (cup removed and set on 0), "very short delay"(cup removed and set on 0) and "long delay" (set on V). When set on V one could fire it with and without cup, so there would be 2 long delay settings and so you could get 5 different actions with this one fuze. Am I reading this right ?

with the small stick inserted it becomes a superquick fuze - same as in german E.K.Z. or E.H.Z fuzes ;-)

 

[orpheus72]

Hi Bellifortis,

I don't know which drawing you have but here are some from an old Dutch manual showing the No.16 and it's successor, the No.16 NM (New model)
They were used withDutch “Brisantgranaten” 15 hw.l.17 (High Explosive grenade) and “Oefeningsspringbrisantgranaten”15 hw.l.17 (High Explosive practice grenade)
Unfortunately, no no explanation of how the fuzes functionned...

 

[Alpini]

target-material could enter the central channel and force the firing-pin

it could but it must not because it will also work through impact inertia. I am not sure if firing without the pin was allowed that would require reading some manual about.

When looking a second time at your fuze, I am not longer sure if it is a dutch No.16 because these have the stamp "ZV" and not only "V". Yours could be also a model which was intended for export into an other country. The dutch ones I know are made completely of brass, other Krupp models I know have zinc parts like yours.