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K5 (E) Ammunitions -The Original |
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 Manual Cover |
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Charges
and Projectiles : (Extracted from the book : Leopold by Jan Coen WIjnstok / ISBN-83-920254-5-8) Ammunition for K5 was of the separate loading type. The complete round consisted of : the Projectile with fuse, three separate charges in cloth bags and the main charge in a brass cartridge cade with a primer in the base. This was the maximum charge; fewer bags would be used for shorter ranges.  All of these
charges were made up of a core that ignited the next charge, surrounded by
rods of propellant. Apart from the main charge, they were capped and then
contained in white cloth bags. These charges are called Vorkartusche
(pre-charge) The large ones, 1. and 2. Vorkartusche, contained 50 kg
of propellant. The small one, 3. contained just 21kg. In the drawings the
cloth bag look shaped to show the contours of the charge inside. In
reality they were straight tubes with stiff top and bottom. The main
charge of 60kg, in its cloth bag, was loaded into the cartridge and then
capped to secure it. This is the Hauptkartusche.Stenciled lettering appeared only on the cloth bags, including that of the main charge. The lettering runs across in the drawings, but in period photographs, it runs lengthwise, both practices may have been in use. The cartridge case may have had stenciled codes on the base, but none can be seen in period photographs. They would have been reused, only the percussion primer had to be replaced. May be only this item carried code. Codes for checking were on the cloth bag of the main charge. K5 fired several types of ammunition, partly dictated by the different types of barrel, but also because special types were used for practice and calibration. Barrels with deep Rifling (T10,T7) used projectiles with rotating ribs. The height of these ribs was either 10 or 7mm; they were made of cast iron. The last projectile to be developed was the 31cm Spreng-granate 4861. painting and color of Projectiles : Per original drawings, the projectiles were painted Feldgrau (Field gray) with white lettering for type of fuse, type of projectile and weight of projectile. In period photographs some of the lettering is shown black and some white. Lettering between the ribs is white; the rest seems to be black; aprt from large numbers 15 or 16 on the cone of the projectile. The cones appear very shiny sometimes. so they may have been painted gross. The copper rotating bands on the projectile would remain unpainted. |
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The Documents,
data, Charts : |
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The Projectiles
details :
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The Projectile
Charges :
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The Tools : |
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Summary - physical data :
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| Projectiles | |||
| Code | Fuse | weight | Description |
28cm Gr 35 |
Hbgr Z 35K | 255.50kg (563.38 lb.) |
This was the standard shell and was fitted externally with 12 soft-metal ribs, curved at 5° inclination to match the rifling. At the rear of these ribs was a soft copper sealing band of thin section, and a deep groove into which an asbestos and graphite sealing ring ( Dichtungsring ) was tamped before firing. The shell had a ballistic cap with a light alloy tip and the nose fuze was beneath this cap. the original design had the base fuze Bd Z 35K fitted in addition to the nose fuze, but this was later omitted and the base fuze cavity closed with a sealing plug. Time and percussion fuze Dopp Z 45K, which had a running time of 125sec, could be fitted as an alternative to the percussion fuze. The bursting charge was 30.50kg (67.25 lb.) of high explosive. |
| 28cm Gr 35 (Ei) | Hbgr Z 35K | 255.50kg (563.38 lb.) |
This was the ranging shell ( Einschiessgeschoss ) used in conjunction with the Gr 35. It was of similar appearance and ballistic performance but had a special filling of 9.50 kg ( 20.95 lb. ) of high explosive together with an additional composition that gave a thick column of black smoke for observation at long-range |
| 28cm Gr 42 | Hbgr Z 35K | 255.50kg (563.38 lb.) |
This was a standard projectile for the multi-groove barrel K 5 Vz. It was of the same general construction and appearance as the Gr 35 but instead of the external splines it was fitted with a large soft-iron driving band. |
| 28cm Gr 42 (Ei) | Hbgr Z 35K | 255.50kg (563.38 lb.) |
The ranging shell for the K 5 Vz gun, similar to the Gr 35 (Ei) but conventionally banded. |
| 28cm Sprgr L / 5.2 m Hb | unknown | 190.00kg (418.95 lb.) |
A new design of long -range shell was under development in 1944 by Krupp, It had a hollow tail section to give additional stabilization by drag and a high-efficiency driving band for use with the K 5 Vz gun. It was to contain 27.00 kg ( 59.54 lb.) of high explosive, and was to be fitted with a nose fuze beneath a ballistic cap. A number of experimental models were fired in trials but the design was not completed before the war ended. |
28cm R Gr 4331  |
AZ 4331 | 248.00kg (546.84 lb.) |
 This
was a splined shell of similar appearance to Gr 35. It was fitted with a
time fuze in the nose to initiate the rocket motor and two special internal graze fuzes to
detonate the high explosive filling. The blast pipe exit in the base was sealed by a heavy
plug the prevented the propellant flash igniting the rocket prematurely; the plug was
blown clear by the rocket blast after ignition, landing about 13-15 km ( 8-9.5 miles) in
front of the gun. The time fuze was always set to give ignition after 19 sec of flight, at
which time the shell was almost at the vertex of its trajectory. The shell contained 19.50
kg (43.00 lb.) of rocket propellant and 14.00kg (30.87 lb.) of high explosive. Its
accuracy was such that at the maximum range 50% of the shots fired fell into a
longitudinal rectangle 3400m x 200m (3718 yd x 218 yd) |
| Zeit Z S/30 | |||
| 28cm R Gr 4341 | AZ 4331 | 248.00kg (546.84 lb.) |
This was the rocket-assisted shell for the K 5 Vz gun. It was constructed exactly as the R Gr 4331 except that it was conventionally banded instead of splined, with the addition of two narrow centering bands at the shoulder; its operation was exactly the same. |
| Zeit Z S/30 | |||
| 28cm Gr 39/42 28cm Gr 39/44 (Ei) |
? |
? |
References to these shells have been seen but no confirmed details are known. It is believed that they were conversions of Gr 39 bodies to conventional banding by removing the splines. |
31cm Sprgr 4861 |
AZ 41 | 136.00kg (299.88 lb.) |
 This
was the Peenumünde arrow shell - Peenemünder Pfeilgeschoss or
Flugstabilisierte treibringgeschoss. It was of 12cm caliber and 1911mm (75.23 in) long,
with a 31cm diameter three-piece discarding ring sabot at the waist and four fins at the
rear. ( some early model had six fins ) On firing, from the K 5 Glatt
smoothbore gun, the ring was discarded and fell about 2km ( 1.25 miles ) in front of the
gun, leaving the fin-stabilized projectile to fly to the target. development began in
February 1940 and the long-range trials, fired at the Rugenwalde range,gave a maximum
range of 151 km ( 93.83 miles ). The high explosive content was 25.00kg ( 55.13 lb. ). |
| Bd Z 5121 | |||
about the German Ammunition at Hillersleben
Proving Ground |
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The
Propelling charge was of four separate units that could be combined to give two charge,
the Kleine und Grosse ladungen :
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Charge composition was as follows : Kleine Ladung : Hauptkart plus Vorkart 1 and 2 , total of 153.00 kg ( 336.6 lb. ) Grosse Ladung : Hauptkart plus all three vorkart, a total of 174.00 kg (382.8 lb.) The Hauptkart was carried in the cartridge case, the Vorkarten being separately supplied and loaded ahead of the case. These charges were used with the splined and conventional barrels. The smoothbore K 5 Glatt, less highly stressed than the rifled guns owing to the absence of resistance that was due to the rifling, fired a heavier charge - four parts adding up to a total weight of 250.00 kg (551.25 lb.) Examples of marking : Dgl R P 12.5 (400 5, 5 / 2, 5) : A Tubular diglycol powder containing 12.5% flash reducing salts, each tube being 400mm long with an external diameter of 5.5mm and an internal diameter of 2.5mm Primer : The percussion primer C/12 nA was used with case identification number of 6309 ( Drawn brass ) |
| Abbreviations ( Abkürzungen) | ||
| Abbr. | German | English equivalent |
| Dopp Z | Doppelzünder | Time and Percussion Fuze |
| S | Sekunden | second |
| K | Klappensicherung kanone Kurz |
Graze
percussion canon short |
| Hbgr | Haubgranaten | Shell with ballistic cap |
| Hbgr Z | Haubgranaten zünder | Fuze for use beneath ballistic cap |
| E | Eisenbahn | Railway |
| Bd Z | Boden(zünder) | Base Percussion (Fuze) |
| AZ | Aufschlagzünder | Nose Percussion Fuze |
| Kl | Kleine | small |
| Sprgr | Sprenggranate | High explosive shell |
| Gr | Granate | Shell |
| Ei | Einschiessgeschoss | Adjustment round |
| R | Raketen | Rocket |
| BZ | Brennzünder | Combustion time-fuze |
| FEW | Führungweicheisen | Soft-iron driving band |
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©
one35th - Last updated on :
Sunday, April 27, 2008 |
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