7.58 cm Minenwerfer

7.58 cm Minenwerfer a.A.
A 7.58 cm Minenwerfer at the Brussels Army Museum
TypeLight mortar
Place of originGerman Empire
Service history
Used byGerman Empire
WarsWorld War I
Production history
DesignerRheinmetall
Designed1909
ManufacturerRheinmetall
Variantsn.A.
Specifications
Mass147 kg (324 lb)
Barrel length23.5 cm (9.3 in) L/3.1
Crew5-6
Shell4.6 kg (10 lb 2 oz)
Caliber75.8 mm (2.98 in)
Recoilhydro-spring
Carriageplatform
Elevation+ 45 to + 78 degrees
Traverse7°
Rate of fireup to 45 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity90 m/s (259 ft/s)
Effective firing range300 m (330 yd) minimum
Maximum firing range1,300 m (1,400 yd)

The 7.58 cm Minenwerfer a.A. (alter Art or "old model"), also 7.58 cm Leichter Minenwerfer (7.58 cm leMW, sometimes also LMW; "light mine launcher"), was a German First World War mortar.

History

German infantrymen towing the minenwerfer in 1918
German troops using the minenwerfer as an anti-tank gun in October 1918

The Russo-Japanese War of 1905 had shown the value of mortars against modern fieldworks and fortifications and the Germans were in the process of fielding a whole series of mortars before the beginning of World War I. Their term for them was Minenwerfer, literally mine-thrower; they were initially assigned to engineer units in their siege warfare role. By the Winter of 1916–17, they were transferred to infantry units where the leMW's light weight permitted them to accompany the foot-soldiers in the advance.

A diagram of a 7.58 cm tear gas (chloromethyl chloroformate) shell

In common with Rheinmetall's other Minenwerfer designs, the leMW was a rifled muzzle-loader that had hydraulic cylinders on each side of the tube to absorb the recoil forces and spring recuperators to return the tube to the firing position. It had a rectangular firing platform with limited traverse and elevation. Wheels could be added to ease transportation or it could be carried by at least six men.

In 1916, a new model, designated as the n.A. or neuer Art ("new version"), was fielded[1] that included a circular firing platform, giving a turntable effect, which permitted a full 360 degree traverse. It also had a longer 16 inches (410 mm) barrel and could be used for direct fire between 0° and 27° elevation if the new 90 kg (200 lb) trail was fitted to absorb the recoil forces. A carriage change allowed the Minenwerfer to be pressed into service as an anti-tank gun. Later a flat-track carriage was created that allowed the mortar to be used both as a high-angle and flat trajectory launcher, performing some of the same tasks as field artillery.[2]

After World War I ended, the 7.58 cm Minenwerfer continued to be used in the Interwar Period by Germany and was used by Belgium into the 1930s.[1][2]

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

References

  1. ^ a b P Kempf. Charlie Clelland (ed.). "7.58cm leichter Minenwerfer (lMW) n.A." www.landships.info. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b Tillmann Reibert. Die Entwicklung des Granatwerfers im Ersten Weltkrieg | Die Entstehung eines neuartigen Waffentyps als Reaktion auf die Bedingungen des Stellungskrieges [The development of the grenade launcher in the First World War | The emergence of a new type of weapon as a reaction to the conditions of trench warfare] (PDF) (PhD thesis) (in German). University of Hamburg.
  • Jäger, Herbert (2001). German Artillery of World War One. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-403-8.
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