![]() A year later Hanes developed the "Excelsior" grenade - a cast-iron shell with 14 nipples, each requiring attachment of a percussion cap before throwing the grenade. Ketchum made an 1861 patent of a hand grenade with a percussion cap activated by a "plunger" inserted just before the grenade was thrown. The fuse had to be lit before the hand grenade was thrown. A ceramic sphere packed with black powder with a cork in the hole required a fuse to detonate the grenade. One grenade version had simple black powder as filling, while a more advanced grenade added metal fragments and a strychnine-like compound to the mix. Civil War GrenadesÄuring the Civil War, the impetus for creating new ways to wage war included the "Universal Model" cylindrical grenade manufactured in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the Union Army. The British, on the other hand, did have a small grenade that used a1/2 pound of black powder which was used during the Revolutionary War. No one knows if this first American grenade was ever used. Too heavy to throw, the Franklin grenade would be rolled down an incline. The hole in the grenade was then sealed with a wick sticking out of wax. The grenade container was filled with black powder, broken glass and fragments of rusty old nails. Besides developing a poison rifle ball, Ben Franklin designed a grenade made from sheet lead in the form of a number of small hexagons folded to make a softball size container. The small black powder factories that sprang up, produced a poor variety and the Continental Congress worked to get better black powder from Germany. The British restricted manufacturing and accumulation of black powder in their colonies, which the American Revolutionary Forces found out the hard way. By the time the Spanish were destroying the native American population in the "New World", the soldiers had grenades to use. But, the first documented proof of the use of grenades to protect or defend against another militant force is in the 14th Century, when the hand cannon, stationary cannon and field cannon first came into use. The early 13th Century Chinese may have expanded the use of fireworks to bombs and grenades. England's Roger Bacon in the middle of the 1200's and Germany's Berthold Schwarts a hundred years later left written records of experiments with explosives (sulfur, carbon, and potassium nitrate). The beginning of explosive ordinance was the advent of black powder, followed by Chinese firecrackers, Roman Candles and Greek Fire Bombs. The purpose of this website is to present an overview of development of the grenade, rifle grenade, grenade launchers, the M203, and the evolution of the M203PI 40mm Enhanced Grenade Launcher Modular (EGLM). ![]()
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