wulsten Posted 11 April , 2009 Share Posted 11 April , 2009 Can anyone provide any info relating to all steel fuses, i have recently seen a fuse that appeared to look like a British 100 type but its was made totally of ferrous metal, what nationality or type may it have been, any help appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey McLean Posted 11 April , 2009 Share Posted 11 April , 2009 Hello - Yes, it's a British fuse, most likely a Type 100. I've found two on the Somme and have seen a third. The Germans also used steel fuses - I believe during the latter part of the war (1917 and 1918), but possibly earlier. Regards, Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulsten Posted 11 April , 2009 Author Share Posted 11 April , 2009 torrey cheers for that, is it unusual to use ferrous in british fuses ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KevinEndon Posted 11 April , 2009 Share Posted 11 April , 2009 Geoff, I had a box of 30 and out of that lot there were only 2 steel fuzes, the rest were brass. 1 was British the other was German but the German one was steel at the top and brass towards the bottom for some reason. Sparks flew when Doug and I polished them up. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulsten Posted 11 April , 2009 Author Share Posted 11 April , 2009 Wondering why steel fuses were produced apart from cheaper materials is there another reason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey McLean Posted 11 April , 2009 Share Posted 11 April , 2009 torrey cheers for that, is it unusual to use ferrous in british fuses ? Hello, Wulsten - Yes, in regard to British fuses I only personally know of the three (four, counting yours) Type 100 fuses mentioned above that were all-steel. No doubt there are many others in the fields that people don't bother to pick up, and other examples in private collections. Perhaps there are other types of British all-ferrous fuses, but I don't know of any. [some of the fuse experts who are GWF members probably will enlighten us.] The British did use mixtures of ferrous and non-ferrous metals in other fuses, as did both the Germans and the French. I would like to know more about the all-steel Type 100 fuses. They must not have been considered successful or they would be much more common. Perhaps they were only manufactured during a short period as an emergency measure in order to keep feeding the guns on the Somme. I should add that I have never seen a "dud" shell with an all-steel Type 100 fuse, but of course I'm not in the habit of examining duds very closely! Regards, Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulsten Posted 11 April , 2009 Author Share Posted 11 April , 2009 Torrey, pm sent lets hope we get some more posts to test the theories, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelfe Posted 12 April , 2009 Share Posted 12 April , 2009 In 1916 it was decided to produce No 101 and 106 fuzes in cast iron, this was due to the high cost of brass that was being imported from the US. Wider use of cast iron in fuzes was also tried, not always successfully, it resulted in a number of shrapnel prematures in 1918. Add source: The Official History of the Minitry of Munitions, Vol X The Supply of Muniitons, Part 3 Gun Ammuniiton: Shell Manufacture, Chap V The Distribution of Raw Materials and Metal Components, Sect 5 Economies in Metals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter and Ellen Posted 12 April , 2009 Share Posted 12 April , 2009 Found one out in the battlefield at Bullecourt (April & May 1917) late last year. It was the first I had seen and was close to the position of the German front trench where the Australians attacked. I just checked that mine was still here because the one in the image is its identical twin. Regards, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey McLean Posted 12 April , 2009 Share Posted 12 April , 2009 In 1916 it was decided to produce No 101 and 106 fuzes in cast iron, this was due to the high cost of brass that was being imported from the US. Wider use of cast iron in fuzes was also tried, not always successfully, it resulted in a number of shrapnel prematures in 1918. Add source: The Official History of the Minitry of Munitions, Vol X The Supply of Muniitons, Part 3 Gun Ammuniiton: Shell Manufacture, Chap V The Distribution of Raw Materials and Metal Components, Sect 5 Economies in Metals. Hello, nigelfe - I knew that some expert would have the answer! I'm rather surprised to learn that cast iron rather than steel would be used. That's why I enjoy the GWF so much - I learn so much. Regards, Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulsten Posted 12 April , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 April , 2009 Seems the questions are answered, thanks all for the replies pm sent Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelfe Posted 13 April , 2009 Share Posted 13 April , 2009 Range Tables also refer to aluminium fuzes, these were significant because they were a lot lighter than brass or cast iron and therefore needed a weight correction when map shooting. Nothing surprising about using cast iron, it was cheaper, don't forget is was also used for some shell bodies, ie those that didn't explode to produce fragments. However, shrapnel was always steel. Can I guess that some guys have recovered cast iron shell bodies and think that they are steel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 13 April , 2009 Share Posted 13 April , 2009 Hi, Steel Fuze nr.101 Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 13 April , 2009 Share Posted 13 April , 2009 British steel fuses seen at Wijtschate some years ago regards, Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulsten Posted 14 April , 2009 Author Share Posted 14 April , 2009 Cnock, nice pics and informative, many thanks for posting them, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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