Minenwerfer is the German name for a class of short range mine shell launching mortars used extensively during the First World War by the Imperial German Army. The weapons were intended to be used by engineers to clear obstacles, including bunkers and barbed wire, that longer range artillery would not be able to target accurately.
Early Krupp MinenWerfers
Japanese troops using a mortar during the Russo-Japanese War
German 7.5 cm MinenWerfer, World War I
17 cm nMW nA
A mine shell or high-explosive, high-capacity (HEHC) in British military nomenclature, is a military explosive shell type characterized by thin shell walls and a correspondingly high quantity of explosives, much higher than the traditional high explosive shell type per caliber, meaning that mine shells trade fragmentation effect for a higher pressure wave effect when comparing to traditional high explosive shells.
Mine-construction during the American Civil War. This mine was dug under the enemy like traditional tunnel warfare. (see Battle of the Crater)
French "fougasse" mine-construction from pre-modern times. This weapon-name was later given by the French to a specific mine shell design called obus fougasse (fougasse shell).
Imperial German 25 cm (9.8 in) "mine-mortar" (German: Minenwerfer) during World War I.
German 30x90mmRB mm rounds as used by the MK 108 cannon. The sectioned round is a mine shell (Minengeschoss).
