13–040-915

NAME – Model 1915 Stick Grenade

NAME (NATIVE) – Stielhandgranate mit Brennzünder [Stick grenade with detonator]

COMMON NAMES – Potato Masher (Allies)

TYPE – Blast-type hand grenade

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Germany

DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1915

LENGTH – 35 cm (13.78 in)

WIDTH (DIAMETER) – 8 cm (3.15 in)

WEIGHT – 0.82 kg (1 lb 13 oz)

EFFECT – Blast with secondary fragmentation

BURST RADIUS – 4 to 6 m (4.4 to 6.6 yards) – Blast, 9 to 11 m (10 to 12 yards) – Secondary fragmentation

FUSE TYPE – Brennzünder 1915 friction wire pull igniter, end of string with small ring, paper taped to the side of the stick handle at the bottom

FUSE INITIATION – Pull on wire/string on bottom of handle

FUSE DELAY – 5.5 or 7 seconds – as marked on handle

FILLER – German Military Powder – Ammonal variant (78% Ammonium Nitrate, 15% Tolite {TNT}, 3% Nitroglycerine, 4% Sawdust) – later production grenades were loaded with TNT

FILLER WEIGHT – 0.30 kg (10.6 oz)

FILLER EQUIVALENT TO TNT (R.E.) – 0.83

AVERAGE RANGE – 25 to 40 m (27 to 44 yards)

COLOR CODE – Olive-drab metal head, plain wood handle, white markings

MARKINGS – VOR GEBRAUCH SPRENGKAPSEL EINSETZEN [Before Use Insert Detonator] – Printed on explosive head in white block letters, 5.5 or 7 Sec. – Printed on wood handle in black impressed lettering

MANUFACTURER – Various private parties, resulting in wide variance in component size

STATUS – Obsolete

SERVICE – Imperial German military and allies

     From 1914 to 1917, Imperial Germany fielded at least twenty different styles of stick (handled) grenades alone. In 1916, German hand grenades were being produced at the rate of 8 million per month. The second model stick grenade of 1915 proved to be the most influential design of that year and led to the vast number of distinctive German Model 24 stick grenades used during World War II. The basic design of the grenade, a metal charge head on the end of a handle, allowed the grenade to be thrown much farther than the ball of discus grenades of the time. The layout of the grenade also prevented it from being able to roll back from a target when thrown uphill.

      The basic layout of the Model 1915 stick grenade set part of the standard for the German stick grenades to follow. But it had some serious drawbacks that showed that it had been designed without the environment of Trench Warfare being considered. The ignition pull string and ring at the bottom of the handle could easily hang up when a soldier was moving, or especially crawling, while under fire. And the ring would often come loose as it was only secured to the bottom of the grenade’s handle by a strip of red paper. The paper would not survive long in the muddy environment of the trenches.