TOP 5 fantastic grenades of world wars

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Prototypes of modern garnets appeared hundreds of years ago. This is not surprising, with the help of "pocket" explosives it was possible to invisibly hit the enemy from around a corner or a trench. It took a lot of time and effort of military designers for the grenade to take on a modern look and design. Even during the First and Second World War, there were unusual and sometimes frankly strange specimens of "pocket artillery".

1. "Turtle" Diskushandgranate М.1915

Everyone has heard of the legendary German Stielhandgranate fragmentation grenade, which faithfully and faithfully went through two world wars. Nevertheless, the German "mallet", like all similar grenades, had one significant drawback - a long response interval (about 8 seconds). During this time, the enemy could intercept the grenade and throw it back. To solve this problem, instant grenades began to be developed. A striking example of such explosive devices is the Diskushandgranate М.1915 grenade, created in Germany in 1915.

The shell had the shape of a disc with six spikes, which is why the German soldiers called it "the tortoise." The explosion occurred instantly after the grenade spikes touched an obstacle. It would seem an extremely effective weapon - only in practice everything was much worse. Firstly, the grenade was extremely inconvenient to throw, and secondly, it might not work when it hit soft ground or when it fell flat. Often on the "turtles" were blown up by the German soldiers themselves, so the "innovative" development had to be immediately abandoned.

2. "Bath List", No. 74 ST

Most anti-tank grenades worked on the instant explosion principle. In fact, the delay in firing a salvo could be up to a second. Naturally, during this time, the projectile had time to bounce off the tank's armor at a decent distance and did not cause much damage to it. But what if the shell would stick to the tank? To this end, 1940, Britain developed the # 74 ST sticky anti-tank grenade, better known as the Banny List.

The design of the weapon was extremely simple: nitroglycerin was poured into a glass vessel, and the top of the grenade was covered with a sticky mass. To prevent the weapon from sticking to the soldiers, it was placed in a special metal case. However, from the very first days, the effectiveness of the "Bath List" was massively criticized by the British infantry. In a combat situation, it was extremely difficult to quickly get a grenade out of the case, and in order for the projectile to firmly adhere to the tank, its surface must be dry and clean, which, again, in combat conditions is almost unrealistic. Not to mention the fact that nitroglycerin itself is an extremely dangerous substance that could "explode" during sudden temperature changes and strong shaking.

3. "Deadly Pouch", Gammon's grenade # 82

One of the few WWII grenades designed on a DIY basis. According to Novate.ru, the principle of operation of grenade # 82 was proposed in 1941 by Captain Richard S. Gammon. The projectile was made in the form of a canvas bag and a detonator with a tape, which was closed from above with a lid. The soldier could independently pour the required amount of explosive into the bag, for greater efficiency, mixing it with buckshot, nails, etc.

If it was necessary to destroy heavy armored vehicles, then the grenade was packed to capacity with explosives (about 900 grams). Naturally, such a weight cannot be thrown far, so the projectile was installed in the right place and was undermined by a shot from a rifle. If the grenade was thrown manually, then this was done in a very difficult way. It was necessary to open the lid and, holding the tape, throw the grenade as far as possible. When hitting an obstacle, the projectile instantly exploded. Due to the difficulty in operation, only about two thousand Gammon grenades were created.

4. "Fox tail", Type 3

Strange grenades were made not only by the Germans and the British. In 1943, the Type 3 anti-tank hand-held projectile was created in Japan, which was nicknamed the "Fox Tail" throughout the world. This grenade looked really unusual: in a cone-shaped wooden vessel, covered with a bag, there was 300 grams of explosive, and on top there was a beam that stabilized the grenade during flight. By the way, this tail was made from one hundred percent hemp.

Of course, looking for a check in these thickets was a very dubious occupation. Nevertheless, the grenade was quite effective and easily destroyed the light armored vehicles of the Americans. It was possible to throw such a grenade far and with great accuracy. "Fox's tail" even stood in service with the Imperial Army until the early 1950s, changing only the composition of the explosive.

5. "Smoke Decanter", Blendkorper

Most often, hitting a heavy tank with a simple fragmentation grenade is an almost unrealistic task. Here you need artillery, anti-tank mines and guns. In 1943, the Germans decided to go the other way and simply "smoke out" the crew of the armored vehicle with the help of smoke shells. So, there were smoke grenades Blendkorper, which until the end of the war the Germans "riveted" as many as 2.5 million pieces.

The checker device was simple but effective. A mixture of silicon and titanium was poured into a small glass vessel, which, when interacting with oxygen, smoked strongly for several seconds. Usually this was enough for the tankers to begin to choke and were forced to leave the tank.