mtskull Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I have re-posted this here, having originally posted in the aviation section; Any help identifying this item would be much appreciated. This object was recovered (legally) from the crash site of a Bristol Beaufighter shot down onto the sea off the Greek island of Kefalonia in 1944 but as far as I can ascertain it doesn't belong to the Beaufighter. One clue to its origin may lie in the story that, post war, the local people wanted to recover scrap metal from the aircraft and blew it up using munitions scavenged from an abandoned German gun battery; possibly not everything they used detonated successfully. The scale on the ruler is in centimetres; the object itself appears to be aluminium. Another, damaged, example (which we left on the sea bed) appeared to be packed solid with a bluish, powdery substance. My thoughts are that it may be a component from an artillery shell; can anyone else offer any suggestions? P.S: In the interests of safety, this has been put back where it came from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I have re-posted this here, having originally posted in the aviation section; Any help identifying this item would be much appreciated. This object was recovered (legally) from the crash site of a Bristol Beaufighter shot down onto the sea off the Greek island of Kefalonia in 1944 but as far as I can ascertain it doesn't belong to the Beaufighter. One clue to its origin may lie in the story that, post war, the local people wanted to recover scrap metal from the aircraft and blew it up using munitions scavenged from an abandoned German gun battery; possibly not everything they used detonated successfully. The scale on the ruler is in centimetres; the object itself appears to be aluminium. Another, damaged, example (which we left on the sea bed) appeared to be packed solid with a bluish, powdery substance. My thoughts are that it may be a component from an artillery shell; can anyone else offer any suggestions? P.S: In the interests of safety, this has been put back where it came from. Absolutely nothing to give from an expert view, but I'd guess it's some sort of ballistic cap off a 75mm or greater round. A ballistically - efficient round will not be efficient in penetrating armour, so that by the Second World War you'd see anti-tank rounds that were Armour - piercing, Capped, Ballistic - Capped. The payload had a flat surface to efficiently transfer energy from round to target and a cap that would protect the round from breaking up on the armour, with a further ballistic cap to make it fly better, further faster and more accurately. However, an APCBC round would be solid shot with no explosive content, so I don't think it would have been of any use blowing up the wreck. No help at all. I know the Luftwaffe converted Stukas to tank-busters by adding ever-greater-calibre guns under the fuselage. I am sure someone can confirm to me that Beaus never went through the same concept and the aircraft in question might have been such a tank-buster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtskull Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Absolutely nothing to give from an expert view, but I'd guess it's some sort of ballistic cap off a 75mm or greater round. A ballistically - efficient round will not be efficient in penetrating armour, so that by the Second World War you'd see anti-tank rounds that were Armour - piercing, Capped, Ballistic - Capped. The payload had a flat surface to efficiently transfer energy from round to target and a cap that would protect the round from breaking up on the armour, with a further ballistic cap to make it fly better, further faster and more accurately. However, an APCBC round would be solid shot with no explosive content, so I don't think it would have been of any use blowing up the wreck. No help at all. I know the Luftwaffe converted Stukas to tank-busters by adding ever-greater-calibre guns under the fuselage. I am sure someone can confirm to me that Beaus never went through the same concept and the aircraft in question might have been such a tank-buster? From what is known of the aircraft and the circumstances of its loss, we can be fairly certain that it was equipped with the standard Beaufighter T.F. X armament of four 20mm cannon and eight rockets. The gun emplacement from which the munitions were said to have been obtained was equipped with four Krupps 105mm guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Beaus did carry 60lb rockets. Nose off one of those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timerover51 Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I will take a look in my US Handbook on German Explosive Ordnance and see what I can find. Looks like it might be a ballistic cap for a 105 round. There were no apparent threads on the item? And what was the object made of that appears to be inside of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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