A chap on WW2F raised the subject of German 20cm & 38cm Spigot mortars for Engineer use, so I splashed the details from Gander's encyclopedia Light and Heavy Spigot Mortars - World War II Forums : Transcribed verbatim from Gander's 'Small Arms, Artillery & Special Weapons of the Third Reich' - Dunno if it's any more than you already have. 20cm leichter Ladungswerfer German Designation - 20 cm leLdg W Spigot diameter - 90mm Length of Spigot - 540mm Weight in action - 93kg Bomb weight - 21.27kg Maximum range - 700m Manufacturer - Rheinmetall Borsig AG Remarks - Specialised Spigot mortar evolved for Assault Engineers to demolish obstacles & strongpoints. Fired HE, Smoke, and special 'Harpunengeschosse', which carried ropes with hooks across minefields. Used operationally during 1940 Western campaign and in North Africa; gradually diverted to second-line engineer units after 1942. (Googled up image that is the same as the one in the book, only with the addition of a projectile. Whether it's the right projectile I don't know) (reference in book photo caption to bundles of explosives being drawn across minefields by the harpun projectile.) 38cm Schwerer Ladungswerfer German designation - 38 cm sLdgW Spigot Diameter - 169mm Length of Spigot - 1680mm Weight in action (approx.) - 1600kg Traverse - 360 degrees Elevation - +37 to +85 degrees Muzzle velocity - 107m/sec (presumably they mean launch velocity, there being no muzzle...) Bomb weight - 149kg (?!!) Maximum range - 1000m Manufacturer - Rheinmetall Borsig AG Remarks - Specialised spigot mortar for assault engineers, evolved to 1938 OKH specifications. Only limited number built and issued as weapon proved too heavy for it's role and needed careful emplacing. No image popped up on very brief google, but happy to scan one in if nothing comes to light on line. (Reference in photo caption to both weapons being electrically fired) 38cm pic: I must have read the details many times, but they'd obviously never really caught my attention. As there seem to be at least two of us now intrigued by them, does anyone have any more information? (We've trawled the Lone sentry lists and there's a few more raw details). Any account of usage would be rather interesting, or even a shot of one actually deployed? Any of you 1940 nuts seen a reference to German Spring-powered mortars? Cheers, Adam.
Adam Spigot mortars were quite well distributed in the Channel Islands by the Germans and photos do exist of them installed, which I will have to try and dig a couple out. Certainly there are photos of them on Guernsey and Jersey but they tend to be the 20cm version. Quite by chance about 2 years ago a fired 20cm spigot bomb was found on Alderney, which had got buried in sand and never gone off. Again I think I got a photo of that one as well but none showing them installed in Alderney.
It'd be great if you could dig some pictures out, thanks. Hadn't thought of the Channel Islands or other fortifications - a far more logical place for such weapons. (Just googling for them, and it's proving to be a bit obfuscated by the better known spigots, the Blacker Bombards so widely used in British fortification plans.) I'll shift my attention to the 'concrete-related' books.
Hi Adam, Some more photos, one showing it loaded on a cart, here: Lexikon der Wehrmacht - leichter Ladungswerfer Tom.
Cheers Tom, not seen the packed one - very neatly stowed. Wonder if I can spot one being towed behind a bike somewhere. (I was half-expecting the 38 on a cart, but that would be some cart!)
Van Poop, very sorry for the delay I forgot all about this I was looking for something else and found the photos that reminded me, there may be another one for Jersey to follow but these are the spigot mortar installed and being readied to fire in Guernsey. Regards
That's brilliant, cheers very much GsyF. Now I must potter off and share those with a certain German gent that originally raised the query. Really does seem to be a weapon widely ignored in the techy/equipment books (and to be honest, quite widely ignored at the time, from what I can tell). Cheers again, ~Adam.