The Hafthohlladung, also known as the "Panzerknacker" ("Tank breaker", German connotation "Safe cracker") was a shaped charge

Shaped charge

A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Various types are used to cut and form metal, to initiate nuclear weapons, to penetrate armor, and in the oil and gas industry...

 anti-tank grenade

Anti-tank grenade

An anti-tank grenade is a specialized explosive device to defeat heavily armored targets.-History:The first anti-tank grenades were improvised devices...

 used by German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 forces in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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Details

The Hafthohlladung was primarily used by Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

tank killer squads. Around its base were three metallic magnets, each provided with a pair of pole pieces that were configured to act as stand-off feet with a strong magnetic field across their gap. This allowed the infantryman using the device to attach it magnetically onto the steel enemy tank, no matter the angle of the surface on which it was placed, before arming it by pulling the ignitor at the rear of the mine. Because the device blast axis was normal to the armour at the point of placement, the degree to which the tank's armour was sloped had no effect on the device's penetration. However, this requirement for direct placement made use of the device very dangerous to the infantryman placing it, as that infantryman would be highly vulnerable to enemy fire. The Hafthohlladung device itself was very effective against armour, being able to penetrate around 140mm of RHA

Rolled homogeneous armour

Rolled homogeneous armour is a type of steel which is used to armour vehicles.-Composition:Armoured steel must be hard yet impervious to shock in order to resist high velocity metal projectiles. Steel with these characteristics is produced by processing cast steel billets of appropriate size and...

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The H3 (3 Kilos weight) and the H3.5 (3.5 Kilos weight)Version can be recognized easily, the 3.0 has a bottle shape while the 3.5 looks like an inverted funnel.

Specifications

• Weight: 3kg for the H3 version, 3.5kg for the H3.5 version.
• Date of issue: November 1942
• Penetration: 140mm of RHA
  Rolled homogeneous armour
  Rolled homogeneous armour is a type of steel which is used to armour vehicles.-Composition:Armoured steel must be hard yet impervious to shock in order to resist high velocity metal projectiles. Steel with these characteristics is produced by processing cast steel billets of appropriate size and...
  
   angled at 0 degrees, 20 inches of concrete
• Fuse: Friction ignited 4.5 second delay fuse, increased to 7.5 seconds in May 1943
• Production: 553,900 produced 1942-44
• Declared obsolete in May 1944 in favour of the Panzerfaust
  Panzerfaust
  The Panzerfaust was an inexpensive, recoilless German anti-tank weapon of World War II. It consisted of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead, operated by a single soldier...
  
  , but existing stockpiles were still used.