British Ordnance Collectors Network
Join over 14,000 collectors of inert military ordnance. Get expert identification help for shells, fuzes, grenades, and more — plus access our classifieds marketplace and decades of archived knowledge. Free to register, takes seconds.
ww2 Magnetic Mine switch
- Thread starter butterfly
- Start date
ille27
Active Member
Hello!
Here you are pics of another magnetic compass fuze switch.
It is for a German WW2 air dropped LMB Mine. Complete with cardanic mount that fits into the bottom ring of the mine. After the mine has been dropped from plane into the sea it sunk on the ground. There it armed itself by starting a delay clock thru water pressure. After the clockwork had reached the end the mine was armed. Now this compass unit began to work when a large iron object came near. There is the reason for the cardanic mount: Regardless of the position the mine was laying on the ground, the compass unit stayed in hozizontal position and was fairly relialble in detecting ships on the surface. Another evil gimmick made this fuze quite effective: There was a counter that counted the number of ships coming across the mine and at a preset number the counter gave his "OK" to let the mine detonate. This was made to make sure that not one of the dummy ships that where sent in front of the convoi to clear mines, caused the detonation, but a ship in the middle of the convoi. All parts a movable and in pretty nice condition. No dangerous items inside, only electric and mechanic devices. Checked by EOD personnel. Extremly rare item. Diameter is about 30cm, lenght about 26cm. Weight approx 11 kg.
I offer this within classifieds, pls look there for more pics if interested!
Cheers
ille
Here you are pics of another magnetic compass fuze switch.
It is for a German WW2 air dropped LMB Mine. Complete with cardanic mount that fits into the bottom ring of the mine. After the mine has been dropped from plane into the sea it sunk on the ground. There it armed itself by starting a delay clock thru water pressure. After the clockwork had reached the end the mine was armed. Now this compass unit began to work when a large iron object came near. There is the reason for the cardanic mount: Regardless of the position the mine was laying on the ground, the compass unit stayed in hozizontal position and was fairly relialble in detecting ships on the surface. Another evil gimmick made this fuze quite effective: There was a counter that counted the number of ships coming across the mine and at a preset number the counter gave his "OK" to let the mine detonate. This was made to make sure that not one of the dummy ships that where sent in front of the convoi to clear mines, caused the detonation, but a ship in the middle of the convoi. All parts a movable and in pretty nice condition. No dangerous items inside, only electric and mechanic devices. Checked by EOD personnel. Extremly rare item. Diameter is about 30cm, lenght about 26cm. Weight approx 11 kg.
I offer this within classifieds, pls look there for more pics if interested!
Cheers
ille
Attachments
Does anyone have a pdf-copy of this document in complete version (and even more interesting: The OP 1673B, german torpedoes)...?
Is it the complete book, not the 54-page version floating around the net..? If so, I'd very much like to get a copy if possible (I am sure I can offer you something interesting in return...).
No surprise - it seems noone has been able to get it from the USN archives :-|
The Book is 281 pages long and original, if you want to borrow it send me a email,,,,,,, Dave