13–040-913
NAME – Kugelhandgranate 13
NAME (NATIVE) – Kugelhandgranate 13 [Ball hand grenade 13] and Kugelhandgranate 13 Aa Neuer Art [Ball Hand Grenade New model 13)
COMMON NAMES – Spherical {Ball} Grenade
TYPE – Fragmentation hand grenade
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Germany
DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1913
LENGTH – 10.7 cm (4.21 in) including fuze body
WIDTH (DIAMETER) – 8 cm (3.15 in)
WEIGHT – 0.75 kg (1 lb 10.5 oz)
EFFECT – Blast and fragmentation
BURST RADIUS – 20 m (22 yards), 50 to 100 m (55 to 109 yards) danger area
FUSE TYPE – Brenzünder 13 pull–type friction
FUSE INITIATION – Sharp pull on wire at top of fuse
FUSE DELAY – 5 seconds (hand thrown), 7 seconds (projected)
FILLER – Coarse-grained Black Powder
FILLER WEIGHT – 0.050 kg (1.76 oz)
FILLER EQUIVALENT TO TNT (R.E.) – 0.55
AVERAGE RANGE – 35m (38 yards)
COLOR CODE – Black grenade body, brass fuze with red top indicates a 5 sec delay
MANUFACTURER – State arsenals
STATUS – Obsolete
SERVICE – Imperial German military
The Kugelhandgranate was one of the first issue hand grenades in the Imperial German Army (the other was the Model 1913 Disk Grenade). Of the nearly 700,000 hand grenades available to the Army at the breakout of World War I. The majority of the available grenades were of the M1913 Kugelhandgranate pattern. The basic Kugelgranate pattern was a heavy iron ball with deep grooving around and along the surface dividing the outside of the grenade into 60 segments with an additional 4 at the bottom. The segments aided breakup of the body but really made the grenade easer to hold in the muddy and wet environment of the combat zone. But the weight of the grenade made it only really effective in the hands of trained grenadiers, or “Bombers” in the parlance of the war, who could throw it a reasonable distance.
The Kugelhandgranate 13 was difficult to manufacture in the numbers needed once the war broke out. High demand for the grenades caused a simplification of the body in the Kugelhandgranate Model 1913 neuer Art (n/A) [Ball Hand Grenade Model 1913 New Model]. Several different patterns were tried such as only four horizontal grooves and much larger square segments. This pattern was still found to be difficult to cast in large numbers. The final new model of the M1913 grenade had fewer horizontal rings around the body of the grenade, only four instead of the original six. The vertical grooves remained the same (12) but the center segments around the middle of the body were much larger. Instead of being square-shaped, the middle segments were shaped much like the sections of an orange. This made the casting of the body easier and faster, and also made larger fragments with a longer danger radius.
In all cases, the Kugelhandgranate did not require a detonator in order to operate. The fuze was a simple igniter type sufficient to ignite the black powder loading, with the power of the powder increased by the addition of Barium Nitrate. The lack of a detonator greatly simplified the manufacture of the fuze for the Kugelhandgranate, as well as increasing the overall safety of the weapon. A nearby explosion could not easily cause a chain-detonation of a case of grenades. Yet the blast and fragmentation of the grenade body was satisfactory for the most part.
All models of the Kugelhandgranate were packaged 50 to a wooden case, along with 50 fuses, packaged in a waterproof box. Along with the grenades and fuses were two tear-off devices and three carrying frames. The carrying frames secured a single Kugelhandgranate to a soldier’s belt. The frame also had a small length of chain with a hook that could be attached to the fuse pull wire of the grenade. A leather strap and small cup along the bottom of the frame secured the grenade in the carrier. Pulling the leather strap over studs on either side of the frame released the grenade and with a quick pull ignited the fuse for throwing.
The tear-off device was a metal square that could be attached to the chest of a soldier by his normal webbing. A bent metal rod extended out from the bottom of the frame and was bent to extend to the opposite corner. The frame allowed a soldier using a pull-fuse grenade, such as the kugelhandgranate, to just slip the end of the pull fuse wire over the metal rod and arm the grenade while holding it in his throwing hand. The allowed the soldier to operate the grenade one-handed, useful in a combat situation.
