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Nimbus MC w/20mm MG
Short description
The vehicle which were deployed by Denmark, is a Nimbus Type C motorcycle where the sidecar mouting have a 20mm Madsen Anti-Tank autocannon mounted.
Development and Operational History
In 1906, the two danes, Peder Andersen Fisker & Hans Marius Nielsen created the company Fisker & Nielsen, which produced vacuum cleaners, and it later went on to become the company Nilfisk A/S.
However important for the story of this vehicle, is that during World War 1, the sale of vacuum cleaners were not great, and that is why Fisker chose to create a prototype of a motorcycle in 1918. However at the time the motorcycle didn’t have a name yet, and Fisker felt provoked by a notice about a race in a newspaper saying the following:
“You can also see fabricant Fisker with his homemade 4 cylinder”
This spured him to come up with a name that you would be able to pronounce in most languages and would also sound good in Danish. He came up with the name Nimbus.
In 1920 he came up with an improved version, which earned itself the nickname “Stovepipe” because of its construction. Then it and an improved version was produced between 1920 and 1926, where production was halted because a new turnover tax.
The son of Peder Andersen Fisker, then 18 year old Anders Fisker, got his own Nimbus motorcycle in 1926. He was a very passionate motorcyclist and was annoyed that his dad dropped the production of the motorcycle. In 1932 as a 24 year old he took his exam in engineering and the same year he was successful in convincing his dad to resume production of motorcycles with his own improved design. This design that father and son worked together on in the basement of the family villa would end up becoming the famous Nimbus Type-C, which got the nickname the Bumblebee for its exhaus note.
Some of the biggest purchasers of the motorcycle was the Danish Post Office, Police and Army. As war loomed on the horizion, the Danish goverment chose to spend a lot of money to motorise the Danish Army, in that purchase were a lot of Type C motorcycles.
Two relevant modifications that were done to the motorcycle, were one one of them a 20mm Madsen M/1938 Anti tank gun were mounted where the sidecar would be were it could also carry 4 drums of 20mm ammunition each capable of holding 15 rounds. The other was a companion to the motorcycle, an ammuniton bike, which were able to carry an extra 180 rounds.
Operationally the two motorcycles would be part of the same team, and when they saw a good position or a target, they were supposed to dismount the motorcycle before firing, however it was possible to fire it on the motorcycle mounting.
The 20mm Madsen M/1938 were designed by Dansk Industri Syndikat (DISA), where it is an upscaled version of the Madsen machinegun that was popular during WW1. The cannon were used in multiple roles, including as an naval weapon, anti-air and anti tank cannon.
During 9th of April 1940, during the German Invasion of Denmark, the motorcycle saw its only action, and were operated at the border. The 20mm Madsen cannon were actually able to successfully take out 2 Panzer I and 11 armoured cars.
| Specifications: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Motorcycle: | Nimbus Type C + sidecar | |
| Length: | 2250mm | |
| Width: | 1650mm | |
| Height: | 1100mm | |
| Crew: | 2 (Driver + Gunner) | |
| Power: | 22hp @ 4500 RPM | |
| Gearing: | 1st gear: 1:11,9 | |
| 2nd gear: 1:7,5 | ||
| 3rd gear: 1:5,12 | ||
| Top Speed: | 95 km/h | |
| Weight with Sidecar: | ~ 290kg | |
| Armament: | 20mm Madsen M/38 | |
| 150-350 RPM | ||
| 4 drums of each 15 rounds stored |
Ammunition
| Type | Penetration of 30mm armored steel plate | Explosive filler |
|---|---|---|
| Armor Piercing | 500-600m | - |
| Armor Piercing Tracer | 400-500m | - |
| Armor Piercing High Explosive | 400-500m | 3,5g Black Powder |
| High Explosive | - | 8,75g Tetryll |
| High Explosive Timed Fused | - | 8,75g Tetryll |
Sources
Nimbus MC w/20 mm MG - armyvehicles.dk
Aberdeen Proving Grounds Tests the Madsen in 7mm and 20mm - Forgottenweapons.com
Die automatische Präzisions- und Einheitswaffe des modern Schlachtfeldes - Forgottenweapons.com
1957 Type C Nimbus Motorcycle - motorcycleclassics.com
Fisker & Nielsen and the Nimbus - veetopia.com
Madsen 20mm Machine Cannon M/38 – An Anti-Tank Weapon - smallarmsreview.com
Equipment – Danish 20 mm Madsen M1938 Anti-tank Machine Gun - playinghistory.wordpress.com
“Den danske Hær 1932-1941 - Cyklistregimentet” - chakoten.dk
The Danish Army on April 9th, 1940, Part 1 - web.archive.org - Chakoten.dk
Motorcycle with Madsen 20mm antitank gun, Museum Sonderburg castle - Reddit.com
