8,0cm Zug-Flak Cartridge Casing | ||
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A close-up of the head stamping on the base with the manufacturer's stamp and date. Marked: FN (Fritz Neumeyer cartridge factory) manufactured "APRIL 1918" (April 1918). "33" is the lot number of that batch of cases which were made during 1918. Hb27 is the control/inspection mark of the manufacturer Fritz Neumeyer. Note that the primer has been struck, so this cartridge casing was fired. | ||
8 cm Granatpatrone mit Doppelzünder Projectile 3D rendering and information provided by Pascal Casanova | ||
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8,0cm Zug-Flak L/45 | ||
From: "Das Gerät der leichten Feldartillerie IV.Teil: Flugabwehrwaffen" by Alfred Muther. Courtesy Dr. Hannes Täger | ||
In 1916 the firms of Krupp and Ehrhardt (Rheinmetall) were given contracts to develop mobile heavy anti-aircraft cannons for use by the army. Both firms fielded prototypes in the spring of 1917 based upon the highly successful Marine 8,8cm SK L/45. Only Krupp fielded a 8,0cm Flak. The Krupp 8,0cm Zug-Flak L/45 was pedestal mounted on a 4-wheeled trailer and was towed by tractors and therefore designated Zug-Flak (Zug: Zugmaschinen = tractor). The publication "Die technische Entwicklung der Flakwaffe bis zum Endes des Weltkrieges" states that the Krupp an 8,0cm and 8,8cm towed Flak cannons were basically identical in construction and differed only slightly in dimensions. This makes positive identification very difficult. | ||
From: "Das Gerät der leichten Feldartillerie IV.Teil: Flugabwehrwaffen" by Alfred Muther. Courtesy Dr. Hannes Täger | ||
A common misconception is that the 8,0cm Zug-Flak had solid steel wheels and that the 8,8cm K-Flak had steel wheels with large holes. However, the publication "La FLak" by Bernard Delsert shows 8,0cm Zug-Flak with both patterns of steel wheels. Therefore the kind of wheel is not an indicator of whether a towed Flak is an 8,0cm or an 8,8cm. This seems to indicate that the towed platforms for both Flak cannons of 8.0cm and 8.8cm had solid wheels at first and later wheels with holes to reduce the weight. | ||
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