Wasserballoon. In the summer of 1944 the German Luftwaffe was ordered to devel-op a mine that would destroy bridges on the Rhine and other main rivers. The Wasser-balloon was an attempt to meet this requirement. This was a modified Flam C 250 bomb designed to be fitted with optical units, S 102 and S 103.

Operation. The Wasserballoon was loaded with explosive to give it slight positive buoyancy and to permit it to float vertically downstream. The top of the bomb was modi-fied to take an optical unit. One coil of primer cord was affixed on the inside around the top of the mine. When the mine floated under a bridge, the optic unit was actuated, firing the coil of primer cord. The resulting explosion split the case at the top of the buo-yant section and allowed the mine to fill with water and sunk. At the same time a time delay fuse was ignited, which prevented the mine from firing for several seconds until it sank. When the safety fuse burned out, a detonator fired the main charge and the col-umn of water resulting from the explosion destroyed the bridge.

Description

Length

41 in.

Diameter

15 in.

Weight of charge

88 lb.

Unit used

S 102 and S 103

Permissible Dropping Heights. With an LS 3 parachute it can be dropped from heights of 325 to 3,250 ft., in depths of water from 5 to 5 ft., at speeds up to 400 m.p.h.