Brontekst bekijken van Teller mine

{{Short description|German antitank mine in World War II}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-315-1143-29, Italien, Minen Z42 an Baumstamm.jpg|thumb|Various Tellermines strapped to a tree. Fuzes and pressure-plates have not been fitted]]

The '''Teller mine''' ({{lang-de|Tellermine}}) was a [[Germany|German]]-made [[antitank mine]] common in [[World War II]]. With explosives sealed inside a sheet metal casing and fitted with a pressure-actuated [[fuze]], Teller mines had a built-in carrying handle on the side. As the name suggests (''Teller'' is the German word for dish or plate) the mines were plate-shaped. 

== Design ==

Containing little more than 5.5 kilograms of [[trinitrotoluene|TNT]] and a fuze activation pressure of approximately {{convert|200|lb|kg|abbr=on}}, the Teller mine was capable of blasting the tracks off any World War II-era tank or destroying a lightly armored vehicle. Because of its rather high operating pressure, only a vehicle or heavy object passing over the Teller mine would set it off.

Of the two types of pressure-fuze available for Teller mines, the T.Mi.Z.43 fuze was notable for featuring an integral [[anti-handling device]] as standard:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lexpev.nl/fuzesandigniters/germany/tmiz43.html |title=T.Mi.Z.43 |accessdate=2015-02-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074707/http://www.lexpev.nl/fuzesandigniters/germany/tmiz43.html |archivedate=2016-03-04 }}</ref> when the T.Mi.Z.43 fuze is inserted and the pressure plate (or screw cap) is screwed down into place, it shears a [[shear pin|weak arming pin]] inside the fuze with an audible "snap". This action arms the anti-handling device. Thereafter, any attempt to disarm the mine by unscrewing the pressure plate (or screw cap) to remove the fuze will automatically release the spring-loaded [[firing pin]] inside it, triggering [[detonation]]. 

Since it is impossible to determine which fuze type has been installed, no pressure plate or screw cap can ever be safely removed from a Teller mine. The T.Mi.Z.43 fuze can be fitted to the Teller mine 35, 42 and 43 series.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lexpev.nl/downloads/dontgetkilledbyminesandboobytraps.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-06-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627015631/http://www.lexpev.nl/downloads/dontgetkilledbyminesandboobytraps.pdf |archivedate=2008-06-27 }}</ref>

To hinder [[demining]], all Teller mines featured two additional fuze wells (located on the side and underneath) to enable [[anti-handling device]]s to be attached, typically some form of pull-fuze.
==Models==
There were four models of Teller mine made during World War II:
* [[Tellermine 43|Teller mine 43]]
* [[Tellermine 42|Teller mine 42]]
* [[Tellermine 35|Teller mine 35]]
* [[Tellermine 29|Teller mine 29]]

Approximately 3,622,900 Teller mine 43 mines were produced by Germany for the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' from 1943 to 1944.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sproe.com/m/mine-tellermine.html|title=Saving Private Ryan Online Encyclopedia: Teller Mine 43|date=2009-04-13}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:USA-A-Utah-p7b.jpg|Teller mine on [[Utah beach]]. Intended to explode against landing craft at high tide
File:Operation_%27market_Garden%27_%28the_Battle_For_Arnhem%29-_17_-_25_September_1944-_Nijmegen_and_Grave_17_-_20_September_1944_B10174.jpg|British engineers removing the charges which the Germans had set to blow the [[Nijmegen]] bridge, September 1944
Image:Tellermine 43 MN 2007.jpg|[[Tellermine 43]] anti-tank mine
</gallery>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Anti-tank mines]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Germany]]


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