Description
The NV-41 mine is a wooden box shaped mine with a flat lid and sloping sides. The mine is 9 3/4 inches long, 7 3/4 inches wide, and 7 1/4 inches high. It weighs about 17.5 pounds, including about 13 pounds of TNT. The mine has a built-in pressure plunger, a release lever and spring, a spring-loaded striker, and a booster charge. A vertical hollow tube in the bottom leads into the chamber between the striker and the detonator. This tube is used for insertion of an electric blasting cap so the mine may be fired electrically. If the mine is to be set for anti lifting, the tube permits a wire or string to be tied to the end of the plunger. A wooden plug closes the access tube to the percussion cap and detonator well.
This mine was employed as an anti transport mine, as an antipersonnel mine, or for both uses at the same time.
Functioning
By pressure - Pressure of several hundred pounds on the lid crushes the lid and depresses the plunger and spring. The plunger, moving down, rotates the striker-release lever which releases the spring-loaded striker.
By lifting - If the mine is laid with a string or wire attached to the hole in the lower end of the plunger, the string runs down the tube in the bottom of the mine and is anchored in the ground. Any attempt to lift the mine causes the anchored string to pull down on the plunger, which rotates the lever arm and releases the spring-loaded striker.
By electrical detonation - If an electric blasting cap is inserted in the tube in the bottom of the mine, the mine is fired electrically from a remote-control post.
Hazardous Components
Main charge - TNT, 13 lbs (5.9 kg)
Physical Data
Length - 9.75 in. (248 mm)
Width - 7.75 in. (197 mm)
Height - 7.25 in. (184 mm)
See Also
Nothing else to see.
Source(s)
TM 5-280, Foreign Mine Warfare Equipment (1963)
TM 5-223A, Soviet Mine Warfare Equipment (1951)
