Fist cartridge
The Faustpatrone was the first recoilless single-use weapon for fighting tanks and a forerunner of the better known German Panzerfaust . Other names for the weapon were Faustpatrone 1 , Faustpatrone small , Faustpatrone 30 or - later on the successor - Panzerfaust 30 (where 30 stood for the range in meters). There were also nicknames like "Gretchen" and "little Grete".
The development of the fist cartridge began in Leipzig in 1942 at the HASAG company under the direction of Heinrich Langweiler. The aim was to create a simple but effective defense weapon for infantrymen against tanks, as German soldiers had considerable difficulties with the Soviet T-34 tank in the war against the Soviet Union .
The result was the fist cartridge 30 tested in troop trials in 1942 and first introduced in 1943. The Wehrmacht ordered 20,000 pieces; the first 500 were delivered to the Eastern Front by HASAG Hugo Schneider AG, Schlieben plant in August 1943. HASAG used forced laborers from concentration camps to meet its labor requirements.
The fist cartridge (total weight: 3.2 kilograms, 54 grams of propellant charge, 0.4 kilograms of hollow charge in the warhead) could penetrate up to 140 millimeters of armor at a range of 30 meters.
The problems with the fist cartridge were the lack of an optical aiming device and the fact that the pointed warhead with a diameter of 100 millimeters tended to ricochet off the sloping armor of the T-34 or to explode without penetration. Due to the early identified deficiencies, production of the successor model Panzerfaust 30 began almost at the same time as the introduction of the fist cartridge. This had a visor, a propellant charge reinforced to 96 grams and a hollow charge doubled to 0.8 kilograms. The warhead was widened to 150 millimeters in order to achieve a higher effect even with oblique armor with an enlarged impact area.
The difference between Faustpatrone 30 (smaller and pointed) and Panzerfaust 30 (larger and blunted) is clearly visible on the warhead.
literature
- Günter Wollert, Reiner Lidschun: Infantry weapons yesterday . (1918-1945). In: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world . 3. Edition. tape 1 . Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1998, ISBN 978-3-89488-036-1 , p. 226-228 .
Web links
- Fist cartridge. In: 508pir.org. Retrieved November 3, 2015 .