Granatenwerfer 16

 

 

 

 

German designation :

Granatwerfer Modell F 1916

Calibre :

=

Weight in action :

40 kg

Weight of the thrower :

24 kg

Weight of the platform :

16 kg

Barrel length :

152 mm

            Shell weight

 

Wurfgranate 1915 Typ A :

1.85 kg – charge : 225 g Trotyl and Ammonium nitrate

Wurfgranate 1916 Typ B :

2.5 kg – charge : 200 g Trotyl and Ammonium nitrate

Muzzle velocity :

 

Max. range :

50 m /500 m

Elevation :

+ 85° / + 45°

Traversing angle :

160°

Rate of fire :

 

Personell required :

2 men

Remarks :

The Granatenwerfer 16 was originally an Austro-Hungarian weapon, designed by an Hungarian priest, Fr. Vécer – giving it it’s Austro-Hungarian nickname “Priesterwerfer”. Made in an early period of the war, it was a remarkably light yet sophisticated design, filling a gap between the simple rifle grenades and the proper trench mortars. It soon proved to be a very handy and versatile weapon: it could be used in many places that the much heavier Minenwerfer had no access to, as it often got very difficult to move these rather heavy pieces over muddy or shot-up terrain.

In Germany a modified version was introduced in 1916 and was manufactured under licence by Stock & Co. in Berlin-Marienfelde. As a rule every infantry company should have two Granatenwerfer 16. The French claimed these weapons – that they named tourterelle, turtledove – wounded more than the light Minenwerfer. The reason was that, due to its low final velocity, the projectile hardly penetrated the ground before its sensitive fuze caused it to detonate on the surface, expending most fragments horizontally, instead of going into the ground in a crater, as many heavier grenades did.

The round it fired had a pre-fragmented head with about 400 g of explosives attached to a hollow tube with three or four fins at the end. Inside the tube a modified 7,92 mm blank cartridge was used as propellant and the Wurfgranate 15 used a very simple and sensitive impact fuze with a small detonator. The detonator had to be placed in the fuze before firing, then the grenade was placed on the spigot of the mortar. A striking pin was cocked and, using a pull-wire, the mortar was fired.

Detailed information taken from a German manual can be found at :

http://www.altearmee.de/werfer/index.html