The Multi-Star Signal Cartridge was a non-lethal signal flare that was developed by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and used by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The Multi-Star Signal Cartridge was designed to be fired from a ''Leuchtpistole'' or

flare gun A flare gun, also known as a Very pistol or signal pistol, is a large-bore handgun that discharges flares, blanks and smoke. The flare gun is typically used to produce a distress signal. Types The most common type of flare gun is a Very (s ...

in English.

Design

The Multi-Star Signal Cartridge was a signal flare that could be fired from the

Leuchtpistole 34 The Leuchtpistole 34 or flare gun in English was introduced into German service before World War II and served throughout World War II. Design The Leuchtpistole 34 was a single shot, break action, smoothbore, flare gun designed and produced by ...

Leuchtpistole 42 The Leuchtpistole 42 or flare gun in English was introduced into German service in 1943 and served throughout World War II. Design The Leuchtpistole 42 was a single shot, break action, smoothbore, flare gun that was a successor to the earlier ...

, or Sturmpistole. The Leuchtpistole and Sturmpistole were

single-shot Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many cent ...

break action Break action is a type of firearm action in which the barrel or barrels are hinged much like a door and rotate perpendicularly to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow loading and unloading of cartridges. A separate operation may be requir ...

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...

guns and the cartridge was

breech loaded A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition (cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle). Modern firearms are generally breech ...

. The cartridge consisted of an inner light alloy projectile which contained a total of three red stars and three green stars inside of a light alloy cartridge case with propellant charge. The exterior of the cartridge was engraved with numbers and the projectile could be twisted to create six different number combinations. Each number combination corresponded to a combination of red and green stars. By twisting the projectile a series of ignition holes were either opened or closed. When fired a

percussion cap The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise ...

in the base of the cartridge ignited the propellant which in turn ignited a delay pellet in the base of the projectile. Once the delay pellet had burned through it exploded and the flash was channeled through an ignition tube in the center of the projectile igniting and ejecting the stars in sequence.

Gallery

File:Flare pistol, U-505, World War II - Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago) - DSC06765.JPG, Leuchtpistole 34. File:Leuchtpistole IMG 1728.JPG, Leuchtpistole 42. File:German soldier with Sturmpistole, 1943.jpg, A Sturmpistole with

HEAT In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

grenade.

References

{{WWIIGermanInfWeapons Ammunition World War II weapons of Germany Military equipment introduced from 1940 to 1944