Depth charges

[dreamk]

either a M/24 or a M/33 - they look the same

The Swedes had 2 main types of depth charges in use: The Sjunkbomb M/24 and the Sjunkbomb M/33.

These differed only by minor changes in their sizes and by some characteristics of their fuze.

They acquired in the interwar period a limited number of Italian depth charges, designated M/27i and M/36i, to equip the Italian motorboats they purchased in the twenties and the 2 Italian destroyers bought in the thirties.

The M/24 had a 804mm length and a 440mm diameter



The M/33 had a height of 845mm (900mm with fuze), a diameter of 450 mm (440 mm ?) a weight of 176kg including 105kg explosive (there was an export variant of this bomb weighting 135kg, used by Finland) minimal depth 20m (= safety depth), sink rate 2.5m/s

The M/33 entered in service in 1933 and is still in use today with the Swedish navy!

[Sturm78]

Hi dreamk,

Thank you very much for your quick and complete response.
There is very little information on the net about this issue and even less from a country like Sweden...

Do you know the weight of the M/24 ?

Regards
Sturm78

[Natter]

Here's a couple of pages from a folder I found in the Kriegsmarine-records at the norwegian national archives a few years back:

[dreamk]

The Norge bought 200 Sjunkbomb M/33, giving it the appellation "135 kg Djupbomb" as it was a special export version of the M/33, with a content of 135kg of Trotyl explosive instead of the 105kg of Trotyl in the original Swedish M/33 (overall weigt of the original M/33 was 176 kg).

[dreamk]

Sturm Hi!
The M/24 was a copy of a retrieved British Vickers Type D depth Charge - however it was also sometimes designated as the "100kg Sjunkbomb" referring to its explosive content while the British original contained 290lbs of Amatol (131kg). I have no further data on the overall weight of the M/24.

[Natter]

The Norge bought 200 Sjunkbomb M/33, giving it the appellation "135 kg Djupbomb" as it was a special export version of the M/33, with a content of 135kg of Trotyl explosive instead of the 105kg of Trotyl in the original Swedish M/33 (overall weigt of the original M/33 was 176 kg).

I never heard of norwegian (I assume "the Norge" = Norway) procurements like this from Sweden, but it's possible of course (the norwegian term for depthcharge is "synkemine").
The documents I provided above, has nothing to do with Norway though.

[dreamk]

Got the lacking info on the Sjunkbomb M/24:
Sjunkbomb modell: Sjb M/24
Typ/varianter: Sjunkbomb. Benämndes inledningsvis Sjunkmina.
Tillverkningsår: 1924 -
Pris: Omkring 500 kr/st.
Utrangerad: 1970 - talet
Ant tillverkade: c:a 1 300 st.
Totalvikt: 164 kg. L 810, D 450.
Laddning: 105 kg trotyl.
Tillverkare: Konstruktion KMF
(K Johansson för Motala Verkstad)

and similar info on the Sjunkbomb M/33 and its various sub-versions
Sjunkbomb modell: Sjb M/33
Typ/varianter: M/33, M/33K, M/33N, M/33T, M/33 mod, M/33 UVT 05.
Tillverkningsår: 1933 –
Pris: 622:- plus Bofors laddningskostnader
Utrangerad: 33/N o K 1978. I övrigt operativ.
Ant tillverkade: Omkring 10 000 (varav 100 st M/33N och 130 st M/33K.
Totalvikt: M/33, 33K: 176 kg, 33N: 209 kg, 33T: 241 kg.
Laddning: M/33, 33K, 33T:105 kg trotyl, M/33N: 135 kg.
Tillverkare: Konstruktion KMF, Mdir Johansson, för lansering av Motala Verkstad.
KMF inköpte tillverkningsrätten vid egna verkstäder.
Motala V tillverkade dock ett stort antal under VKII.
Även tillverkning vid Örlogsvarvet i Stockholm (Karlskrona?)

[Sturm78]

Thank you very much for your information, dreamk ...

Regards
Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

Does somebody know the german designation for this depth charge thrower ?

Sturm78

[Cantankerous]

Hi,

I have an important question. How accurate were the WBD, WDF, WBG, and WBH 240 depth charges compared to the depth charges deployed aboard American and British aircraft and ships during the Battle of the Atlantic?

[Natter]

Does somebody know the german designation for this depth charge thrower ?

Looks like a "Wasserbombenwerfer C/35"..?

[Sturm78]

Thank you very much for your help, Natter

Sturm78