imported>Hohum: not relevant

2025-09-05T11:44:56Z

not relevant

New page

{{short description|Anti magnetic mine coating for German tanks, WW2}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2009}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1802-08, Nordfrankreich, Michael Wittmann auf Panzer VI (Tiger I).jpg|thumb|right|alt=Tank Ace Michael Wittmann, wearing Waffen SS dress uniform, sits atop the main gun of his Tiger tank. The tank is covered in a ridged paste.|Close view of ''Zimmerit'' on the turret and hull of [[Michael Wittmann]]'s Tiger I.]]
[[Image:Zimmerit Tiger II 1 Bovington.jpg|thumb|right|Close view of ''Zimmerit'' on the corner of a Tiger II]]
[[Image:Zimmerit Tiger II 2 Bovington.jpg|thumb|right|Close view of ''Zimmerit'' on the glacis of a Tiger II]]

'''''Zimmerit''''' was a paste-like coating used on mid- and late-war German [[armored fighting vehicle]]s during [[World War II]]. It was used to produce a hard layer covering the metal armor of the vehicle, providing enough separation that magnetically attached [[anti-tank mine]]s would fail to stick to the vehicle, despite Germany being the only country to use magnetic anti-tank mines in numbers. ''Zimmerit'' was often left off late-war vehicles due to the unfounded concern that it could catch fire when hit.<ref name=tiger>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLIH9ZKEsXAC&pg=PA114 |page=114 |title=Tiger Tanks at War |first1=Michael |last1=Green |first2=James |last2=Brown|date=15 February 2008 |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=9781610600316 }}</ref> It was developed by the German company Chemische Werke Zimmer & Co ([[Berlin]]).<ref name="Spalding">{{harvnb|Spalding}}</ref>

==Operation==
The coating was a barrier that prevented direct contact of magnetic mines with metal surfaces of vehicles. The [[magnetostatic field]] decreases very rapidly, with the cube of distance; the non-magnetic coating holds the magnet of the mine too far from the steel of the vehicle for it to adhere.<ref name="Spalding"/><ref name="rottman19"/> The coating was normally ridged to increase the distance between the magnet and the armor even further, as the high points on the pattern increase the effective thickness of the coating while minimising additional weight.

The mixture had the consistency of a thick paste or putty. It was applied to the vehicle, usually at the factory, patterned, and then hardened with [[blow torch]]es.<ref name=tiger/> There were many variations seen in application designs, from the regular ridge-shaped pattern, to a less common waffle-shaped pattern. The differences mostly related to the factory producing each type of AFV. For example, the waffle pattern was seen almost exclusively on [[Sturmgeschütz III]] assault guns. In general, vehicles already in service were not coated with Zimmerit.{{cn|date=December 2020}}

==Deployment==
The German army introduced the ''[[Hafthohlladung]]'' anti-tank weapon in 1942. This consisted of a [[shaped charge]] warhead connected to a metal ring holding three powerful [[horseshoe magnet]]s. Issued to infantry, the user would run up to the tank and place the device on any surface to which the magnets would stick. The user would then pull the safety pin and run for safety. The magnets not only held the mine to the vehicle but also provided the correct spacing between warhead and armor, allowing the penetrator jet to form properly. Concerned that the simple design could be easily copied in the USSR, or the possibility that many of these weapons could fall into the hands of their enemies, the German army began looking for ways to defeat such a weapon when used against their own vehicles.<ref name=tiger/>

[[File:German Sturmgeschutz III (5781147553).jpg|thumb|Stug III with waffle-pattern zimmerit, IWM Duxford museum collection.]]

''Zimmerit'' was applied to some tanks and [[casemate#Armoured vehicles|casemate]]-style closed-top self-propelled guns and tank destroyers produced from December 1943 to 9 September 1944.<ref name="rottman19"/> It was only rarely applied to open-topped AFVs. The rough appearance of the coating gave a distinct appearance; for one type, e.g. a shingle-like look.

''Zimmerit'' was discontinued from factory application on 9 September 1944 and from field application on 7 October 1944.<ref name="J&D20">{{harvnb|Jentz|Doyle|1993|p=20}}</ref> This was due to concerns that projectile impacts could ignite it. These proved false, but the order was never rescinded.<ref name="rottman19"/><ref name="J&D20"/> Applying and drying the paste added days to the production of each vehicle,<ref name="Spalding"/> which was unacceptable as there was a shortage of tanks.

Following the war, the British carried out trials of a similar material on [[Churchill tank|Churchill]] and [[Cromwell tank|Cromwell]] tanks and some trials were conducted in Canada with a similar material applied to self-propelled guns<ref>Appendix 'A' to 21 Army Group AFV Technical Report No. 26</ref> but it was not implemented. No similar material was used on post-war tanks as the widespread use of man-portable [[HEAT]] rockets such as the [[bazooka]] made magnetic mines obsolete.

==Ingredients==
[[File:Zimmerit 2.jpg|thumb|Squares pattern]]
The paste was composed of the following:<ref name="Spalding"/><ref name="rottman19">{{harvnb|Rottman|2005}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=vCwV1bC47-cC&pg=PA19 p. 19.] {{dead link|date=July 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
* 40% [[barium sulfate]] – BaSO<sub>4</sub>
* 25% [[polyvinyl acetate]] – PVA (similar to white school glue)
* 15% [[pigment]] ([[ochre]])
* 10% [[zinc sulfide]] – ZnS
* 10% [[sawdust]]

In the raw paste, polyvinyl acetate was used in the form of "Mowilith 20", a 50% [[benzene]] solution.<ref name="Spalding"/> During the drying process, the benzene evaporated and the mixture hardened.

==Vehicles with factory application==
[[File:PanzerV Ausf.G 1 sk.jpg|thumb|Panther Ausf. G with Zimmerit]]
[[File:Sturmgeschutz III G SdKfz 142 slash 1 pic17.JPG|thumb|StuG III with waffle pattern]]

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Panzer III]]
* [[Panzer IV]]<ref name="rottman19"/>
* [[Panther tank|Panther]]<ref name="rottman19"/>
* [[Tiger I]]<ref name="rottman19"/> - mid and late production models only
* [[Tiger II]]<ref name="rottman19"/> - early models only
* [[Elefant]] - 48 Ferdinands rebuilt at [[Nibelungenwerk]]
* ''[[StuG III]]''
* ''[[StuG IV]]'' - early models only
* ''[[Jagdtiger]]'' - Porsche versions only
* ''[[Jagdpanther]]'' - early models only
*''[[Jagdpanzer IV]]''
* ''[[Brummbär]]''
* ''[[Sd.Kfz. 251]]'' - very rare
}}

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* Appendix 'A' to 21 Army Group AFV Technical Report No.26 on the application of anti-magnetic compound as camouflage
* {{Citation | last1 = Jentz |first1 = Thomas |last2 = Doyle |first2= Hilary |title= Kingtiger Heavy Tank, 1942-45 |publisher= Osprey |location= London |year=1993 |isbn=1-85532-282-X }}
* {{Citation | last = Rottman | first = Gordon | title = World War II Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics | publisher = Osprey Publishing (UK) | location = City | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-84176-842-7 }}
* {{Citation |last=Spalding |first=Donald |title= ZIMMERIT: Production and Application Methods |journal= Afv News |issue=Jan–Apr/1983 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071005162036/http://www.afvnews.ca/zimmerit.html |url=http://www.afvnews.ca/zimmerit.html |archive-date=2007-10-05 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Zimmerit}}
* {{Citation |url=http://www.panzerworld.net/zimmerit.html |title=The history of Zimmerit |work=panzerworld.net |access-date=12 December 2009}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cKLs10-ucw British Zimmerit - Tank Design & Development] ''Armoured Archives'', YouTube

[[Category:World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Germany]]
[[Category:Coatings]]
[[Category:Armoured fighting vehicle equipment]]

Zimmerit - Revision history

imported>Hohum: not relevant