German Vs American Grenades

German Vs American Grenades with the help of Hollywood

Movies Featured:
Jojo Rabbit, 1944, Tahli-Ihantala, Saving Private Ryan, The Unknown Soldier, Band of Brothers, The Eight Hundred.

[usarmy]

That cut from JoJo rabbit to saving private Ryan was good

[MrEnvirocat]

You should have mentioned that the German stick grenade was a concussion weapon, whereas the American pineapple grenade was a shrapnel weapon.

[niko]

There‘s a difference in offensive and defensive grenades. In general, offensive grenades have no or only a small amount of splinters, since its purpose is to force the enemy behind cover and when you charge or flank etc. you dont want shrapnel flying around. A defensive grenade has LOTS of shrapnel, since you are behind cover and are trying to kill the enemy who advances.
The M24 was for attacking. When you try to push through an enemy formation, so the core strategy of blitzkrieg, that grenade was good. Defensively its was to less lethal. No shrapnel and you have less lethal radius. Hope i helped clarify and if you have comments or further knowledge, pls feel free

[whisper]

Just gonna point out that a major advantage of a Mk-2 is it's controllability. Once you pull the pin, as long as you don't release the safty handle, you can hold onto it (theoretically) indefinitely. That means you can time your release.
It also meant that technically, you could put the pin back in if needed.
You couldn't really do that with the sticks. Once they were primed, they had to be thrown within a fairly short amount of time.
The Mk-2s were also more controllable. You could roll 'em easier. You could bounce/ricochet them easier. If a soldier was a good enough tosser, he could get it through smaller openings then a stick could go through.

In Vietnam, some helicopter pilots/crewmembers I know would pull the pins out of some M26A1 / M61 grenades (similar in size to the Mk-2s), then slide them into mason jars so that the safety handles were held in place. Then when they were flying over some enemy soldiers, they could drop the granade jars (or a crate of jars) on them. When the jars hit, the glass would break, & the safety handles would release, letting the grenades go boom.

[jusztinnemeti]

The Germans also used a ton of the model 39 grenade. It was similar in size to the US pineapple grenade but was smooth on the outside.

[gibbi]

You feel to mention how the German stick grenade was designed for concussion rather than fragmentation. Each grenade at its own advantages different environments

[alanmacification]

My father had a German stick grenade bounce off the heal of his boot in Italy and explode behind him. There is very little fragmentation but it did ring his bell. Luckily, his brother-in-law, ( my uncle) ran out and carried him to safety until his head cleared. They always released the spoon, counted to 3 before throwing their own grenade.

[kyledunn]

Woody Harrellson messed with the pin before he blew his ass off on Hill 210. The pin has two metal strips that are folded when the spoon is secured with the pin. Harrellson's character thought it would be easier to deploy if he did so but result was that the pin came out too quick before he could grasp it and it got caught on his belt. GIs were told never to fumble around with the safety pin but sometimes they ignored it when they thought it was necessary. Results varied.

[mclau]

The German grenade with a stick is easier to throw away without big body actions. Soldier can throw it even crawling.

[eatfastnoodle]

I think size is probably the ultimate determinator, stick grenade just takes up too much space which might work in a conventional mechanical warfare but in many of the (most of the post WWII wars) where infantry marching on foot were the mainstay, the ability to carry x+5 could outweigh any loss of accuracy

[mitqqdu]

Well, everyone knows them because they are iconic . The m24 will be recognized by most as german and the mk2 as american. If a german soldier suddenly was seen throwing an m39 many people will at first glance wonder why. The model is less known which is a shame as it was paradoxically produced in larger numbers than the m24

[johansmallberries]

One movie mk II grenade trope that should be mentioned: unless you’ve pre-straitened the pin, pulling a pin out with your teeth would likely result in a lot of ripped out teeth.

[Justsomeoneyoucouldhaveknown]

I'm sure somebody already pointed it out. But I have to say that, the actual main differences between the two grenades is one killed you by fragmentation, the other killed you by concussive force.

[fazole]

The Stielhandgranate was a concussion grenade and was designed to be used in close assault where it could be thrown into a nearby enemy position right before a bayonet charge. The US Mk2 grenade was known to have an unpredictable shrapnel pattern where it could even send a piece of shrapnel a 100 yds away. I've read that US soldiers really had to keep their head well down when throwing it, while the Germans did not.

[SovereignRose]

I feel the main reason the stick grenade faded from use wasnt the weight, but the distance of engament. Most modern fighting is room to room where the added leverage isnt worth the added weight. That, and it was a concussion grenade, not fragmentation without modification.

[Better_Clean_Than_Green]

What I like about the Stielhandgranate:
•You can throw it further than every other grenade
•Looks cool
•Wonderful potato masher!

[johnwilliamsscuba]

You forgot to mention the fragmentation sleeve that fits over the German grenades when used for defensive purposes

[eugenius]

The german stick grenade also featured a splinter sleeve, but most stick grenades you'll see are the offensive grenades which need to have a limited blast radius and minimal schrapnel to prevent harming the person throwing it. The stick grenade and pineapple are suited for different roles and are both affective at what they're meant to do. The germans also made the egg grenade which features an easier pull cord and a round shape.

[danofdybukon]

Though having it as a stick grenade makes sense for ease of throwing. It also makes sense why most armies go for grenades similar to the Mk 2s, since you very rarely have to hock a grenade the length of a battlefield anymore (which the stick handle allows you to do cos basic physics), and is mostly more urban combat.

[geordiedog]

This is one of the most watchable military history etc channels. No ridiculous jingoistic nonsense. Nice work.