kids encyclopedia robot

Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Mauser Mod. 1918 13.2 mm Tankgewehr
Mauser Tank-Gewehr M1918.jpg
13.2 mm Rifle Anti-Tank at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris
Type Anti-tank rifle, anti-materiel rifle
Place of origin German Empire
Service history
In service 1918–1933
Used by
Wars
Production history
Manufacturer Mauser
Produced January 1918 – April 1919
No. built 16,900
Variants M1918 shortened
Magazine-fed
Specifications
Mass 15.9 kg (35 lb), 18.5 kg (41 lb) loaded with the bipod
Length 169.1 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Barrel length 98.4 cm (3 ft 2.7 in)
Crew two-man crew
Cartridge 13.2 mm TuF (German: Tank und Flieger)
Caliber 13.2 mm (.525 inches)
Action bolt-action
Rate of fire single shot
Muzzle velocity 780 m/s (2,600 ft/s)
Effective firing range 500 m (550 yd)
Feed system manual
Sights 1,000–5,000 m (1,100–5,500 yd) (notched V)

The Tankgewehr M1918 (transl. Tankgun), also known as the Mauser 13mm anti-tank rifle and T-Gewehr in English, is a German anti-tank rifle—the first rifle designed for the sole purpose of destroying armored targets—and the only anti-tank rifle to see service in World War I. Approximately 16,900 were produced.

History

During the First World War the onset of static, trench warfare saw the rise in the use of armour plate for personal defense, and the development and use of armour-piercing ammunition to counter this. Both Britain and Germany used high-powered rifles, such as elephant guns from their African colonies, for this purpose. The first use of armoured fighting vehicles (tanks) was by the British at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette in September 1916 and were followed by the French. By June 1917, the German Army faced the Mark IV tank, and found that the standard armour-piercing 7.92 mm K bullet was no longer effective. This prompted the development by the Germans of a heavy-calibre and high-velocity rifle as an anti-tank weapon. The makers of the gun were inspired by weapons used to hunt African big game, like the elephant gun. The Mauser Company responded with the 13mm T-gewehr and began mass production at Oberndorf am Neckar in May 1918. The first of these off the production lines were issued to specially raised anti-tank detachments.

14,700 T-Gewehrs were produced before the Armistice, and production ceased in April 1919. Approximately 1,490 were produced after the cessation of hostilities.

Operation

The rifle was a single-shot bolt-action rifle using a modified Mauser action, with rounds manually loaded into the chamber. The weapon had a pistol grip and bipod, but no method of reducing recoil, such as a soft buttpad or muzzle brake. This could cause problems for the shooter with repeated firing. The iron sights were composed of a front blade and tangent rear, graduated in 100-meter increments from 100 to 500 meters. The rifle was operated by a two-man crew of a gunner and ammunition bearer, who were both trained to fire the weapon. Due to the tremendous blunt force of the recoil, it was designed to be shot in a static position, either prone or from inside a trench.

German T-Gewehr anti-tank rifle team of Infanterie-Regiment Nr.124 of 27 Wurttemburg Infanterie-Division, France, late summer-autumn 1918
Imperial German Army soldiers firing a Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr

Post-war service

The United States Army tested the T-Gewehr after the war, as did the other Allied Powers. Poland obtained a few T-Gewehrs during border skirmishes at the German border in 1920.

The Reichswehr kept some M1918s in service into the 1930s (805 were in the secret arsenals of the Reichswehr in 1925). Sweden bought a number from Germany, and used them under the designation Pansarvärnsgevär m/21. During the Rif War, the Rifian rebels obtained some smuggled Mauser 1918s to counter the Spanish Renault and Schneider tanks.

In 1939, a Soviet team led by V.N. Shokolov retro-engineered the T-Gewehr, modified to fire the Soviet 12.7×108mm B-32 bullets. Small numbers were hand-produced by the Bauman Institute in the emergency of July 1941. After the Winter War, Finland bought 100 T-Gewehr from Great Britain but they were never used and Finland scrapped them in 1944.

Cartridge

NLS Haig - Bullets from a German anti-tank rifle and a British rifle, France, during World War I
Comparison of a standard .303 British rifle cartridge and a 13.2 mm T-Gewehr cartridge

The armour-piercing hardened steel cored 13.2×92mm (.525-inch) semi-rimmed cartridge, often simply called "13 mm", was originally planned for a new, heavy Maxim MG.18 water-cooled machine gun, the Tank und Flieger (TuF) meaning for use against "tank and aircraft", which was under development and to be fielded in 1919. The rounds weighed 51.5 g (795 gn) with an initial velocity of 785 m/s (2,580 ft/s).

Range Penetration @ 90°
100 m (110 yd) 26 mm (1 in)
200 m (220 yd) 23.5 mm (0.93 in)
400 m (440 yd) 21.5 mm (0.85 in)
500 m (550 yd) 18 mm (0.71 in)

Surviving examples

Examples of the Mauser 1918 anti-tank rifle can be found in several museums:

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr para niños

  • Anti-tank rifle
  • Boys anti-tank rifle
  • Lahti L-39
  • Panzerbüchse 39
  • PTRD-41 ― Mass produced competing design to the PTRS
  • PTRS-41 ― Mass produced competing design to the PTRD
  • Solothurn S-18/100
  • Type 97 automatic cannon
  • Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle
  • MG 18 TuF
kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.