Minenwerfer ("mine launcher" or "mine thrower") is theGerman name for a class of short rangemine shell launchingmortars used extensively during theFirst World War by theImperial German Army. The weapons were intended to be used by engineers to clear obstacles, including bunkers and barbed wire, that longer range artillery would not be able to target accurately.
The Germans studied theSiege of Port Arthur, where heavy artillery had been unable to destroy defensive structures like barbed wire and bunkers. The German MilitaryIngenieurkomitee ("Engineer committee") began working withRheinmetall to study the problem in 1907. The solution they developed was a short-barrelled rifled muzzle-loading mortar formine shell ammunition, built in three sizes. In 1910, the largest of these was introduced as the25 cm schwerer Minenwerfer (abbreviated "sMW"; English: "25 cm (9.8 in) heavy mine launcher"). Despite weighing only 955 kg (2,105 lb), it had the same effect on targets as the 28 cm (11 in) and 30.5 cm (12.0 in) mortars, which weighed ten times as much.
At the outbreak of theFirst World War, the German army had a total of 160minenwerfers.[2] They were used successfully inBelgium atLiège andNamur, and against the French fortress ofMaubeuge. After a few months whentrench warfare started, the German infantry began calling for short-range weapons, and theminenwerfer entered the battle. Before long Allied forces were demanding similar devices. A capturedminenwerfer was taken to theRoyal Artillery Woolwich establishment inLondon in November 1914 and 100 copies rushed to the front byChristmas.[3] By mid-1916 there were 281 heavy, 640 medium, and 763 lightminenwerfers in service, with 4,300 new weapons being produced every month.[4]
With this powerful armory of short-range artillery, the German forces were able to reach acrossNo Man's Land and bring a punishing fire to bear on any target which presented itself. Whenchemical warfare arrived, theminenwerfer was a highly convenient method of delivering gas. The first German use of gas was in 1915 during theBattle of Bolimów inPoland onJanuary 31. The German army shelled the Russian positions withxylyl bromide, the attack was relatively unsuccessful due to low temperature which prevented the gas from vaporizing and spreading.[5]
The medium version, the17 cm mittlerer Minenwerfer (mMW; "17 cm (6.7 in) mid-sized mine launcher"), was introduced in 1913. The model remained in reserve service until 1939-40.[6] The light version of the weapon, the7.58 cmLeichter Minenwerfer (LMW; "light mine launcher"), was still at the prototype stage when the war started, but rapidly entered production. The weapon was far more efficient than its artillery counterpart: in comparison, the 7.7 cm (3.0 in) FK 96 n/A needed to be towed by a team of six horses, compared with a single horse for the LMW; additionally, the LMW could be moved around the battlefield by four men. Theminenwerfer was cheaper, costing only one-seventh as much as the artillery gun, as did its ammunition.
Since the muzzle velocity, and thus firing shock, ofminenwerfers was low, a variety of explosives that would usually be unsuitable for use in artillery was used to fill the shells. In any case,TNT explosive was reserved for use in artillery shells. Typically, the explosives used inminenwerfer shells wereammonium nitrate-carbon explosives. However, the sensitivity of the explosives occasionally made them detonate in the tube. There were a large number of these incidents, one of which claimed the life of Karl Völler, head designer of Rheinmetall, in 1916. These problems, however, were eventually overcome.
Recognizing the numerous advantages of theminenwerfer in trench warfare, production was stepped up and, by 1918, the numbers had increased dramatically to 1,234 heavy, 2,361 medium and 12,329 lightminenwerfer. A 38 cm (15 in) calibresehr schwerer Minenwerfer (ssMW; English: "very heavy mine launcher") was also developed.
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