Flea market find: U-boat ammo box!

[spripple33]

Originally Posted by m1903a3

Congratulations! There are only a few of us lucky enough to own one of these.

One minor point: Although they are often called "U-Boat" ammo boxes, there is no actual historic basis for that as far as I am able to ascertain.

From known labels we certainly know they were originally used for P.04 ammunition by the Imperial Navy, but it is most likely that they were used by Torpedo boats and Minesweepers as well as U-Boats. Those vessels all had the P.04 as the primary crew weapon, that is the weapon they trained on in basic training and they are all comparatively "wet" environments.

Mike, thank you for the correction. I debated on how I was going to label this post because I agree with you. After finding a couple other posts also referring to it as a 'U-boat ammo box' I thought this was the best way to go to preserve a commonality between the posts for future reference.

In support of the U-boat theory, I would think they would be a little more common if used aboard all these other smaller ships as well. Some boxes, including this one, have apparently been found near ports with known U-boat activity.

Lastly, this box is deceptively small for the claim of being able to hold 800 rounds of 9mm ammo. I have been aboard a modern U.S. nuclear submarine and space is VERY limited. Every nook and cranny is utilized for storage. Even a small surface ship would probably have a palatial amount of room compared to a U-boat... Jmho but I absolutely agree no official documentation exists. Thanks for weighing in.

-Jason