*Imperial German, Pre WW1, Kaiserliche Marine (Navy) C/97.98 37mm Maxim Automatic Cannon round (Pom Pom Round), Dated 1904, Patronenfabrik Karlsruhe, Inert*
Approximate Measurements: 16.1cm overall, 9.4cm brass shell, 4.3 diameter base
Headstamped: Crown over M, C/97.98, IV, Flaming Bomb, Karlsruhe 121, Flaming Bomb, 1904
Primer: KP, 2, 1
This is a rare pre-WWI Imperial German Navy C/97.98 marked 3.7cm Maxim Automatic Cannon round. The brass shell casing is stamped with the manufacturer’s name, “Karlsruhe” along with with two of their trademark “flaming bombs”. The Crown over M marks indicated Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). It is dated 1904, with the “IV” indicating April as the production month, and the number “121” denoting the lot number. Complete with projectile head.
It is highly unusual to find such a complete and intact German naval shell. These rounds were used in Maxim automatic deck guns mounted on heavy cruisers and battleships, serving as standard close-quarters defence weapons. Few examples survive today, as most of the German naval fleet was either destroyed or scuttled during World War I.
Hiram Maxim originally designed the Pom-Pom in the late 1880s as an enlarged version of the Maxim machine gun. Its longer range necessitated exploding projectiles to judge range, which in turn dictated a shell weight of at least 400 grams (0.88 lb), as that was the lightest exploding shell allowed under the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 and reaffirmed in the Hague Convention of 1899.
*Condition*
Excellent used condition. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.
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