Pineapple grenade

[Flying10uk]

I have this aluminium base plug from an exploded 36m Mills grenade which I believe was manufactured in 1971 at Poole. There appears to be the partial remains of a date, 1971, in the top left of the picture; the one showing the information marked on the base plug.

Presumably, this is one of the last base plugs for the Mills type grenade made in the U.K.?

[bigduke6]

Regarding the base plug, I had a bag of them years ago that I had doug up on an old WW2 training area......... spent many a summer evening armed with my metal detector and folding shovel scouring the area.
Found everything from .303 cases, live rounds, grenade plugs, also parts of the Bakelite grenade, 2" mortar fins, parachute flares and smoke bombs and a few Live 2" HE mortars that had failed to go off..... back to the Grenades it was not long after the war and the same area as I used to go, a group of the local lads had found a No36 ........cant remember the full story now but have mentioned it before, think one was killed and one lost an eye......

[Flying10uk]

The base plug in post 41 was purchased from a trader/stall holder at an event a couple of years ago for the princely sum of £1. I've always remembered what my Sergeant Major in the cadets taught us, never pick up any spent ordinance found laying around; it's simply not worth the risk. Some cadets ignored his advice when they were not being watched but I never have.

[Sentryduty]

I've always remembered what my Sergeant Major in the cadets taught us, never pick up any spent ordinance found laying around; it's simply not worth the risk. Some cadets ignored his advice when they were not being watched but I never have.

That is still a pretty standard practice in the military today, it's easier to teach not to touch it than it is to teach safe/not safe UXO recognition.

There is always souvenir hunting but the risk is life and limb in some circumstances.

Some explosive devices get very unstable with age, while others are somewhat benign.

And then is the Master Corporal D*****l observed idley kicking an old unexploded 2" Mortar bomb he found partially buried in the dirt. Camp Aldershot (Kentville NS) used to have a mortar range during the war, and the impact zone was re-classed as dry training area years after...

[ireload2]

A friend of mine was in the USMC in Korea. He was warned never to pick up souvenirs. However he did pickup a PPSH41. It was dewatted when he brought it back to the states. He felt it was safe to pick up since it was partially charred and its former owner was still laying on it and was still smoking from napalm dropped by a A1.

[browningautorifle]

Here's something for the OP to note... https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....679#post375679

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Cast iron will fracture wherever it feels like. Thus, unless the web between the "raised tiles” is EXTREMELY thin, you will always get "random" chunks. The base plugs are known to be blown out and fly a fair distance at great speed.

All of that was the motivation for the development of the M-26 and similar "offensive" grenades. The outer casing rips open like a beer can, closely followed by the ejection of a cloud of steel balls or short bits of steel wire that line the inside of the outer body.

The idea of an "offensive grenade" is not that it tells off-colour jokes, but that it's effective / lethal range is limited by the low mass of individual fragments, i.e. high initial velocity, VERY lightweight individual projectiles. Basically, you can throw it FURTHER than the known lethal distance, ALWAYS a good thing with grenades and other explosive devices.

Being whacked by the remnant fuse assembly may vary your mileage.

Also, if used inside buildings with sheeted, timber-framed walls, the smaller/lighter "chunks" are a lot less likely to punch completely though the walls and "get" the thrower. There remain, of course, the nasty effects of instantaneous "over-pressure" inside and adjacent to, said room.

And then, there is your classic German "potato-masher" grenade; essentially a "blast" job.

[CINDERS]

Seeing as Bruce raised the subject of over pressure the fuel air burst bombs they have or used? was the design to A) Bring the demise of the enemy by over pressure and O2 starvation B) Both and turn everything there to fire.
You talk of the instances of flying chunks I have a doco on battleships which goes into detail about AP main rounds and the effect when it penetrates it always displaces a great chunk on the inside as it moves through called a biscuit like secondary fragmentation to which a 15" or 16" round would create a rather large hunk of shrapnel causing untold grief before the round detonated. As a last one the striking energy of a 15" projectile (Which is measured in Foot Tons) is in the order of 80,000 Ft Tons so pretty much the Mushashi lobbing into the side of your battleship.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The production of "secondary missiles" is part of the job of an effective anti-armour round.

The HESH, ("high explosive squash-head") specifically does this.

The principle is simple:

On impact, a generous quantity of VERY fast explosive detonates on the OUTSIDE of an AFV. The shock-wave traveling through the hard armour causes "spalling" or "scabbing" as it exits the armour on the INSIDE of the target vehicle. Large or small, the detached "chunks" rattling at high speed around the fighting compartment cause unpleasant things to happen to the occupants. On the outside, a bit of a dent and some paint burnt off. Inside? Messy!

Back in 1985 I was being guided around the "New Jersey" by its Dental Officer, who also happened to be the safety Officer for the "B" turret"

His description of the effect of a 16" HE round impacting on a ground target was something like: "Imagine something about the weight of a Volkswagen striking the ground at 20 miles and leaving a crater the size of a tennis court."

He also told us why they ALWAYS fire the main armament in BROADSIDE mode; fired fore and aft, the shockwave of the guns' recoil travels through the ship and knocks people off their feet and breaks things. The other story concerned the "loss" of a helicopter during a fire mission in Lebanon.

Urgent, and copious, fire was called for on short order. After the appropriate number of rounds had been delivered, someone remembered that the ship's helicopter had not been flown off the aft deck, just astern of "C" turret.

Its battered remains were hastily swept up and shoveled over the side.

[Flying10uk]

I have heard it suggested that there was appalling carnage, with many dead and seriously wounded, on the main gun deck of the French flag ship at the Battle of Trafalgar. This was caused by HMS Victory passing the stern* at point blank range and firing just a single broadside into the stern with 50 or so cannons.


*The most venerable part of a wooden warship is said to be the stern.