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Converted No117 III fuze?

D

Dwayneski

Member
Hello there,

Recently I came across a fragment of a No117 III fuze which was fired on German Weststellung positions. The detail that caught my eye was that the marking 'No117 III Z ...' was deliberately crossed out. Was this some sort of conversion? And to what fuze type?

Thanks in advance for the help!IMG_20160114_203858815.jpgIMG_20160114_203943603.jpg
 
I think that you're right that it is a converted fuze, probably to a later Mark of the No 117 fuze. If a particular component was found to be at fault or if a better substitute was later found or if the fuze function needed to be changed slightly eg longer delay to arming, then fuzes could be re-worked to include a better quality or better-functioning component. It might have been as little as substituting a weaker or stronger spring or changing the material that a component was made from. Sorry I can't be more help.
 
As far as I can ascertain the No. 117 was only converted to three fuzes the No. 360, and two No 361s. It would appear the first of the latter never got further than the drawing board and the other was for post war use in a French battleship. Thus it would appear the fragment is from a No. 360 which was a Naval fuze issued to Land Service in 15" H.E., B.N.F. shell in Coastal Artillery.

TimG
535.jpg531.jpg530.jpg536.jpg
 
Thanks for your help guys! As far as I know, no British artillery larger than 5.5 inch saw action in my region. It is also inland (Limburg province), so I think that rules out the 15" naval guns. So I think AmmotechXT's option is the most logical for this fragment. Does anyone have a example of a complete No117 converted to a later mark?
 
Dwayneski I think Tim has a point. Just going over your photos again, `117' is actually crossed through, rather than just the Mark Number, suggesting that it was converted to another Fuze number entirely. If it was just to a later Mark, then I would expect that only the Mark (`III ') would have been struck through. A pity you don't have the other pieces of the same fuze, to find what it was converted to. They probably wouldn't be more than 100 metres from where your part was found. All the best from Matthew
 
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