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The Stielgranate 41 (German: "stick grenade"; model 1941) was a 
The design looked like a
* Weight as fired: 8.6 kg
* Explosive content:
** TNT, 2.42 kg, shaped charge
* Total length: 73.9 cm
* Stem diameter: 37 mm
* Warhead diameter: 160 mm
* Fuzes
** base fuze ''Bd Z 5130 - Bodenzünder 5130''
** nose fuze ''AZ 5075 - Aufschlagzünder 5075'' (identical with the one used for
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
shaped charge
A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ini ...
, fin-stabilized shell, used with the 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank gun to give it better anti-tank performance.
The 3.7 cm PaK-36, was the standard anti-tank gun of 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 ...
in 1940. During the battle of France in 1940 it had trouble dealing with thick armour of French and British tanks. In 1941, when Germany invaded the USSR, the gun was next to useless when confronted with Russian T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The C ...
or KV-series
The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Tanks in the Soviet Union, Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known ...
tanks. It was successively replaced by larger calibre weapons, like the 5 cm PaK 38, but there were never enough of them, so it was decided to enhance the capability of the PaK 36 by providing it with new ammunition.
The design looked like a rifle grenade
A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade were thrown by hand.
The practice of projecting grenades with rifle-mounted launchers was first widely used dur ...
, only considerably larger. One part of its stem, a stick, was placed inside the gun barrel
A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressu ...
; the other part, a perforated tube, fitted around it. On the tube there were six stabilizing fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
s. It was shot with a special blank cartridge at a velocity of , which gave it maximum range of about (with gun elevation 25°) and around 180 m point blank
Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...
range (gun elevation 5°).
It was equipped with two fuzes: in the nose, for direct hits, and in the base, to ensure detonation if the target was only grazed. The large calibre of the 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 ...
warhead and shaped charge of 2.42 kg HE, enabled it to penetrate armour 180 mm thick, enough to defeat any World War II tank. The hit was equally dangerous at any distance, as the shaped-charge effect is not dependent on the velocity of the round at the point of impact. However, due to low velocity the grenade was not very accurate, so the effective range against tanks was around 300 m.
Another disadvantage of using ''Stielgranate'' was that the gun loader had to leave cover, go in front of the gun and place another grenade on the barrel.
Panzerschreck
''Panzerschreck'' (lit. "tank fright", "tank's fright" or "tank's bane") was the popular name for the ''Raketenpanzerbüchse'' 54 ("Rocket Anti-armor Rifle Model 54", abbreviated to RPzB 54), an 88 mm reusable anti-tank rocket launcher dev ...
rockets) or its improved variant ''AZ 5095 - Aufschlagzünder 5095''
References
{{WWIIGermanGuns Artillery shells Anti-tank rounds World War II weapons of Germany Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1941