The Washington herald., 1914-12-01
GERMANS Using
SMALL GRENADE
"Minenwurfer" Travels Slow
ly. but Has Power to Break
Great Defenses.
IS PRODUCT OF KRUPPS
Does Much Havoc in Trench Fighting.
Its Charge Travels Only 230
Feet Each Second.
IS PRODUCT OF KRUPPS
By ROBERT TEMPLE.

London, Nov. S0-Scarcely a week goes
by that the Germans or the allies do
not produce and try in battle some new
weapon of destruction. Many Of these
prove failures and others have not been
described in print because they are still
kept secret as to details The Germans
have recently brought out a very nasty
little gun, firing a projectile monstrously
disproportionate to its size. II In doing
much havoc in the trench fighting of
the Aisne ...'.
The allies probably are opposing this
new gun with something similar. but
the censor is careful to exercise all al
lusions to new devices Of the British or
French.
Call II 'MInenwurfer."
The new German trench gun is called
the "minenwurfer" (mine thrower) and
is no more than a hand" grenade
thrown by q gun. II 10 like the giant
q centimeter siege gun, a product OF
Krupp ingenuity. The howitZer part Of
the "minenwurfer'' is only about three
feet long and weighs 13O pounds. The
mounting weighs 100 pounds and the bed
or platform $50 pounds. The total is a
little over half q ton.
1t is mounted on wheels and two men
easily move it from place TO place over
short distances. When It reaches its
position in the trenches the 'minenwur-
fer is removed from the travelling
wheels.
The diameter Of the bore is only three
inches but 1t throws a shell over a foot
in diameter, spherical in shape and con-
tanning nearly 200 pounds Of high eX-
plosive!
1t does this by a curious device There
gs int he
zle Of the gun. A second stem fits into
the outer end of the first and on this
second stem the big sphere is fixed.
When the gun is fired both stems leave
together, but the back half (the part
which fitted into the muzzle) soon drops
of, being OF such a shape that the
air pressure pulls it from the front ac-
tion. The great shell then hurtles on its
way.
The great grenade travels through the
air very slowly and the enemy can
easily see it coming and might con-
ceivably, in favorable circumstances,
dodge it by running.
The initial velocity is only 30 feet a
second. The lowest elevation used is
forty-five degrees and at this angle the
shell travels $50 yards. the maximum
range of the gun
At this range the shell takes ten sec
onds IN flight and reaches height OF
40 feet in the air.
As four pounds of dynamite or guncot-
ton will usually demolish breastworks Of
three feet thickness composed Of dirt
between planks. it is easy to
see what a great effect this trench how
itzer shell must have.
The shell depends for its effect almost
entirely on the explosive itself. as the
walls are thin and do little damage and
no bullets are carried such as are en-
ployed in shrapnel.
The "minenwurfer" can be elevated to
eighty degrees and the range then is 100
yards. The shell then takes nearly a
quarter Of a minute to travel and reaches
a height OF 500 feet. In other words II
covers the ground not much faster than
a crack sprinter
Thus the horror of trench fighting is
increased beyond that already attained
by the rife and the hand grenade.