Topfblende or Saukopfblende or maybe.....

Discussions on the vehicles used by the Axis forces. Hosted by Christian Ankerstjerne
Post Reply
edgardo gil
Member
Posts: 134
Joined: 11 Feb 2006, 05:56
Location: Montevideo, Uruguay.

Topfblende or Saukopfblende or maybe.....

#1

Post by edgardo gil » 06 Nov 2018, 23:22

I found this document in that site and makes me wonder if the german word "entenschnabel" refers to the "topfblende" aka "saukopfblende".
The word is before the Chapter II after the subtitle "MG in rohrwiegenpanzerung"

http://panzer-elmito.org/ca%C3%B1ones_a ... 944_D.html

Yoozername
Member
Posts: 2615
Joined: 25 Apr 2006, 16:58
Location: Colorado

Re: Topfblende or Saukopfblende or maybe.....

#2

Post by Yoozername » 07 Nov 2018, 00:24

It appears so. {Spanish to English}
Document written by the School of Assault Cannons of Burg (Magdeburg) in December 1943 and directed to the units equipped with cannons and assault howitzers where the troop is informed about the introduction of improvements in StuG40 and StuH 42. to this type of documents can be recognized the great importance of the training centers as a link between designers and the front in the process of development and improvement of vehicles. Interesting is also the use in this document of the unofficial term "Entenschnabel" (duck's beak) to refer to the new mantelete model in molded version and to which in post-war literature it has been baptized as "Saukopfblende" (pig's head mantlet) .

Through this circular it is intended to inform battalions of assault guns stationed in the front as well as those of the reserve about the current state of technical development of the assault guns.

Interesting improvements have been described and illustrated in the attached annexes. In order to avoid long waits the troop can already, based on these descriptions, manufacture the necessary pieces.

The G-Series assault cannon will be discontinued in the coming months. For this reason, the attached questionnaire has remained brief. Data and images of the new assault cannon can be found in annex 1.

We hope that this circular will be received with joy and understanding as well as that it will impel all the members of the Assault Artillery to cooperate in the development and in this way to ensure the success of their armament.


Chapter I

A) Cannon
StuG 40
Excerpt from the 'Notebook of the Army Directives' ( Heeresverordnungsblatt ) edition of 15.7.43, number 157:

The 7.5 cm StuG 40 new manufacturing will be fitted on the hood of the visor drum 37 ( Visiereinrichtung 37 ) with a partition from 0 to 2000 meters for 7.5 cm Gr. 38 HL / C . This partition is also valid for the 7.5 cm Gr. 38 HL / A and HL / B

The existing StuG 40 7.5 cm must be equipped by the weapons master ( Waffenmeister) with a ring with the aforementioned partition. The rings must be requested by the units to the army supply center ( Heeres-Zeugamt ) Magdeburg including the detailed address where they must be delivered as well as the amount specified. The shipment will be made by military mail in the form of packages.

Unreadable text in the original document

StuH 42
Excerpt from the 'Notebook of the Army Directives' ( Heeresverordnungsblatt ) edition of 1.10.43, number 306:

Assault howitzer ( Sturmhaubitze ) 42 Unreadable text in the original document

1) All 10,5 cm StuH 42 have to be equipped with an 'Ansetzer' (unknown translation, probably a piece related to the loading of the projectile) . In case of not having ' Ansetzer ' these should be directly claimed:

The combatant troops in the respective artillery parks ( Artilleriepark ) or in army maintenance centers ( Heeres-Feldzeug )

The reserve troop ( Ersatzheer ) in the Heeres-Zeugamt Magdeburg.

2) Until the Ansetzer for the 10.5 cm StuH 42 is not available, it will be used for this cannon the one of le.FH 18 (application number A 8404) that must be reduced in length by the troop to the 650 mm.

Figure 307
Partition in meters ( Meterteilung ) for the 4. loading of the grenade of the assault howitzer ( FHGr. )
In the viewer drum 37 ( Visiereinrichtung 37 ) for 10.5 cm StuH 42new has been reduced the partition in meters for the grenade of the howitzer assault from 6. to 4. charges In the remaining guns the troop must temporarily manufacture the partition in meters for the 4. load using the partition in lines ( Strichteilung ) in base to the shooting boards ( Schusstafel ).

B) Engine and gearbox
Complaints about premature failures in engines and gearboxes have increased. Unfortunately, reports of these breakdowns have gaps and in many cases they are only received orally. In order to obtain a clear vision of the true state of the engines and gearboxes delivered it is absolutely necessary that all the facts related to this important issue be documented in written form. These notifications must contain the following:
Exact data on the type of fault as well as its possible origin
Chassis number
Number of the engine or gearbox

C) Radio
Radio equipment in Volkswagen KI Typ 82
The recent stock cut in Kfz. 15 has led to the development of a radio system mounted in Volkswagen . The basis of this development has been the Kfz radio system . 15 . Description and user manual see in annex 2.

10-watt transportable station
Annex 3 shows a transportable platform for the 10-watt radio equipment that can be used regardless of the type of vehicle, in any command post or supply base. This system can be manufactured by the troops with their own means.

Various topics :
Cannon tube support ( Rohrstütze )
The support proposed by the mechanical master ( Schirrmeister ) Johann Schäfer (Abt 270) has been manufactured and tested by the school. Its manufacture has not presented any difficulty and can be carried out with the means available in any campaign workshop. During driving tests it was confirmed that thanks to the new tube support the load of the lock mechanism ( Zurrung ) of the barrel is reduced .

It must be based on the premise that by incorporating the new tube support (Annex 4) the damage to the barrel will be reduced.

Machine gun in the mantlet
In combination with the new mantlet 'duckbill' ( Entenschnabel ) the assembly of the machine gun based on the circular Br.B.Nr.1853 / 43 geh. sent by the school on 9/23/1943 is no longer possible.
A new position for the machine gun is being tested and will be introduced as early as possible in the series. Once this new machine gun has been incorporated in the series it is foreseen to eliminate the shield of protection of the loader.


Chapter II

Questionnaire


1) Artillery prismatic ( Scherenfernrohr )
For a battery made up of 10 vehicles, 13 artillery binoculars are currently provided.
Are the three reserve binoculars sufficient?

Considering the current shortage of optical equipment, would it be possible to reduce this reserve?

2) riflescope ( Zielfernrohr )
The current vehicle kit by Sfl. ZF 1a is composed of a viewfinder and additionally two upper parts ( Abschussköpfe , unknown translation, probably visor protection device, see below ).
Has the top part ( Abschusskopf ) fulfilled the expectations placed on it? that is, when the vehicle was hit by shots, was the entire ZF viewfinder destroyed or, as had been foreseen, only the upper part?

Is the current equipment with enough ZF visors?

Can the current ZF kit be further reduced?

3) Module to point indirectly ( indirektes richten )
Do you have all the vehicles in this module?

Has this module been used or can it be deleted?
In the assault canyon
In the assault howitzer

4) Modifications in the form ( Formveränderungen )
Have the modifications proposed by the school been carried out and what results have they given?
Machine gun in the mantlet

Modification of the hatch of the vehicle commander

Modification of the support and fixation of the seat of the vehicle commander

Target designation system ( Zielanweisungsgerät )


edgardo gil
Member
Posts: 134
Joined: 11 Feb 2006, 05:56
Location: Montevideo, Uruguay.

Re: Topfblende or Saukopfblende or maybe.....

#3

Post by edgardo gil » 07 Nov 2018, 00:41

Excellent translation, many thanks. New term for me.

Yoozername
Member
Posts: 2615
Joined: 25 Apr 2006, 16:58
Location: Colorado

Re: Topfblende or Saukopfblende or maybe.....

#4

Post by Yoozername » 07 Nov 2018, 01:33

It is easy since that website translates to Spanish and then it can be 'googled' to English. That report also raises some info regarding optics discussed in another thread here.

'Ansetzer' is a 'ram-rod'

'Abschussköpfe' is the top part of the periscopic sight that is replaceable.

Post Reply

Return to “The Ron Klages Panzer & other vehicles Section”