That link (I was familiar with the site but not that particular document) had an interesting point:
Quote:
Pi 2 (Pi 39H)
Selectable impact and magnetic or impact alone (new German designed magnetic detonator - impact mechanism same as Pi1) G7e TIII
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That got my attention, and a quick search led me to this incredible find.
http://eaglescholar.georgiasouthern...._201005_MA.pdf
Here is the information I've been looking for for years. The whole file is worth downloading and reading in depth, but here is the relevant information.
Quote:
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At the time U-boats carried torpedoes equipped with either the MZ or AZ pistol. The option that would later allow the commander to interchange these settings while on patrol had not yet come into being, so whatever setting the pistol was set to when delivered to the boat was what it was stuck with for the duration of the patrol. It was impossible, in other words, for a commander to change his torpedo's pistols from MZ to AZ setting and vice-versa.
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Page 47.
Things I've learned from this single document:
1. The date of the order to stop using MZ (magnetic) pistols, and the beginning of the "Happy Times" - June 1, 1940 (page 132).
2. The date of the introduction of the new improved MZ pistol - November 1942 (Mediterranean) and December 1942 (Atlantic). (page 155)
3. Apparently I've been wrong and SH3 had it right, at least starting in 1943. From that point on there was indeed a selector switch. (Obltn Strand's link, as quoted above).
This is the biggest find in a long time, to my mind anyway. 