Jump to content

Add smoke shells and colored smoke


kriegerfaust

Recommended Posts

The Navy Chemical Smoke Screen Generators.

(a) The Mark 1 Mod 1 (FS) Smoke Screen Generator consists of 4 smoke generator tanks Mark 1 mounted in two tiers. Each tank may be used as a single unit or simultaneously with 1 or more of the other tanks. The FS is ejected by pressure from the ships' high pressure air lines (Max. pressure is 150 lbs/sq.in.). The generator has overall dimensions of 70" long, 32 1/2" wide, 38" high and occupies 16 sq. ft, of deck space. It weighs 3198 lbs. when filled with 2048 lbs. of FS and produces smoke for 6 1/2 to 85 minutes. It is primarily for use on CLs and DDs.
(b) The Mark 2 (FS) Smoke Screen Generator has a single Mark 1 smoke generator tank. The FS is ejected by pressure from a CO2 bottle (max. pressure is 150 lbs/sq.in.). The generator is 68" long, 22" high, and 17" wide, occupying 8 sq. ft. of deck space. It weighs 974 lbs. filled with 512 lbs. of FS and generates smoke for 6 1/2 to 21 minutes. It may be used on escort ships smaller than DDs.

(c) The Mark 3 Smoke Screen Generator consists of 4 HC Smoke Pots Mark 3 and a smoke generator rack Mark 1. It is 48 1/4" long, 17 3/4" wide and 12" high but occupies negligible deck space as the rack is mounted so that it extends over the water abaft the stern. When all the pots are in simultaneous operation, smoke is generated for 5 to 6 minutes. The generator is designed for use on landing and landing support boats where weight and space is at a premium. Total weight is 165 lbs with 128 lbs of HC.

(d) The Mark 4 Smoke Screen Generator (FM) consists of 4 smoke generator tanks Mark 2 mounted in a single unit in two layers. CO2 mixed with the FM in the tank is the smoke ejecting agent. The pressure, therefore, depends on the temperature of the mixture. The generator weighs 2403 lbs. when filled with 1320 lbs. of


2
 
FM and CO2. It is 58.5" long, 40 3/4" high, 36 1/2" wide and occupies 15 sq. ft. of deck space. Smoke can be ejected for 2 1/2 to 100 minutes. The generator is designed for use on CLs and DDs.
(e) The Smoke Screen Generator Mark 5 (FS) is the Mark 2 Smoke Screen Generator modified to be mounted in a depth charge release track.

(f) The Smoke Screen Generator Mark 6 (FM) is a single (Mark 2 Tank) tank unit designed especially for PT boats. It generates smoke for 2 1/2 to 25 minutes. It is 58" long, 17 1/2" high, and 18" wide, occupying 7 1/4 sq. ft. of deck space. It weighs 544 pounds when filled with 330 lbs. of FM and CO2.

4. Smoke Bombs. The Navy is only using two smoke bombs at this time - the 50 lb. Mark 1 Mod 1 floating smoke bomb and the 100 lbs. Mark 3 floating smoke bomb. Both are HC filled. The 50 lb. bomb is 35 1/3" long, 8 7/8" in diameter and weighs 54 lbs. when filled with 28 lbs. of HC. It generates smoke for 3 minutes. The 100 lb. bomb is 48 1/2" long, 10 1/4" in diameter and weighs 102 lbs. when filled with 59 lbs. of HC. It produces smoke for 7 to 8 minutes.

5. Floats

(a) The Mark 1 Smoke Float (HC) weighs 165 lbs. when filled with 90 lbs. of HC. It is 30.7" high by 22.5" in diameter and produces smoke for 18 - 21 minutes. It is designed to be used as a pot mounted on a noninflammable platform on deck or as a float for the protection of convoys against submarines.
(b) The Mark 2 Smoke Float (HC) is nearly identical to the Mark 1 Float. The differences were merely to aid production and do not alter operation characteristics.

(c) The Floating Smoke Pots M-4 and M4A1 are 13" high by 12" in diameter and weigh 35 lbs. when filled with 26 lbs. of HC. They generate smoke for 10 - 15 minutes and are designed for amphibious operations.

6. Smoke Pots or Grenades (non-floating)

(a) The Smoke Pot M-1 is an HC filled smoke pot for escort vessels and miscellaneous uses. It is 9.5" high, 5.2" in diameter and weighs 134 lbs. when filled with 122 lbs. of HC. It generates smoke for 5 - 8 minutes.
(b) The Smoke Pot Mark 3 is an HC filled smoke pot designed for use in the Mark 3 Smoke Screen Generator (paragraph 3-c). It is 9" high, 8.5" in diameter and weighs 34 lbs. when filled with 32 lbs. of HC. It generates smoke for 5 - 6 minutes. The volume of smoke is superior to that of the M-1 pot, since over twice as much HC is burned in approximately the same time interval.

(c) The small Navy Training Candle is a small tobacco can shaped can 2" high, 2" long, and 1" wide filled with HC. It is designed to simulate fires in damage control practices and is the only naval HC smoke pot that produces a small


3
 
enough quantity of smoke to be used safely (personnel need not wear gas masks) in confined spaces such as below decks.
(d) The AN M-8 Smoke Grenade (HC) is 5 3/4" high, 2 5/16" in diameter and weighs 1 3/4 lbs. when filled with 1 lb. of HC. It produces smoke for 2 1/4 to 3 1/4 minutes. While primarily used as a signal, it may be used to generate a small cloud of smoke if no large pot is available.

7. Smoke Projectiles

(a) The Navy Smoke projectiles at this time are limited to 5"/38 caliber WP filled projectiles. These are designed for laying down a surface screen or an antiaircraft cloud in the air. They may also be used as bombardment weapons to start fires in easily inflammable targets and to produce casualties. The projectile is a bursting munition holding 7.2 lbs. of WP. It has an effective range of 8000 yards and produces an initial burst of about 70 yds. in diameter.
(b) While the Navy has only the smoke projectile described above, in combined operations with the Marine Corps or the Army the 4.2" chemical mortars will often be available. This is a rapid firing munition with a range of over 4000 yds. The WP charge in the shell is slightly greater than that of the 5"/58 projectile.

8. Smoke Rockets are a recent development and are available still in very limited quantities.

(a) The 4.5" rocket holds 12 lbs. of FS (WP in the future) and has a range of about 1100 yds.
(b) The 7.2" rocket holds 20 lbs. of FS and has a 3700 yd. range.

9. Aircraft Spray Tanks (FS)

(a) The Mark 5 and Mods Smoke Screen tank (50 gal.) is a monel metal tank 67" long and 19" in diameter. The complete tank weighs 947 lbs. when filled with 727 lbs. of FS. It ejects smoke for a period of about 25 to 80 seconds.
(b) The Mark 6 Smoke Screen tank (50 gal.) (now obsolete) is similar to the Mark 5 tank, but smaller, weighing 593 lbs. when filled with 442 lbs. of FS. It ejects smoke for 15 to 50 seconds.

(c) The Army has the following smoke tanks that may be used by the Navy in emergencies. The M-10 tank weighs 68 lbs. empty and has a 30 gal. capacity. The M-5 tank weighs 175 lbs. empty and has a 70 gal.capacity. Both are gravity flow tanks. Also the Army has the M-20 and M-21 tanks which are identical to the Navy Mark 5 and Mark 6 tanks, respectively, except that they are constructed of mild or copper-bearing steel instead of monel. These tanks can be used only on Army type planes in use by the Navy.

NB3.JPG

Not classified in any of these categories, but also worth mentioning was colored smoke. The Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine used colored smoke from smoke boxes both to signal their own position and to mark objects or targets. Personnel in need could use the "Rauchnotzeichen", red smoke generators in several sizes with handles, to signal their own position, both on land and in water. The Abwurfrauchzeichen could be dropped from aircraft up to 500 meters in height to mark strategic objectives or important features. These came in the colors blue, red and purple. Rauchsichtzeichen orange came in three sizes and was used as aerial recognition on land to announce the presence of own troops. In addition, there were also message boxes for sea and land that were equipped with a smoke generator to mark its own position. For signaling, there were also a number of standard flare gun ammunition varieties that used colored smoke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.