Shrapnel

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Image:Shapnel, shell fragment comparison.JPGShrapnel is the term used to describe the spherical shot or musket balls dispersed when a shrapnel shell bursts. It is also used by extension to describe the fragments and debris thrown out by any exploding object, be it a high explosive (HE) filled shell or a rupturing pressure vessel. For shells, bombs or other munitions, the correct term for these particles is fragments, splinters or shards, fragments being the preferred name in scientific documents on the subject. Technically shrapnel can only come from a shrapnel shell and no other explosive device. Shrapnel is spherical lead or iron balls projected from the shrapnel shell in specific manner. The word shrapnel is derived from the name of Major-General Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842), an English artillery officer, whose experiments — initially conducted in his own time, and at his own expense — designed a shell specifically for the purpose.

Contents 1 The shrapnel shell 2 Later designs 3 World War I era 4 World War II era 5 Vietnam era 6 Modern era 7 General use of term 8 Other use of term 9 See also

The shrapnel shell

Image:Shrapnel's original projectile.jpg Image:Boxer's first modification to shrapnel.jpg Image:Boxer's second modification to shrapnel.jpg Image:Shrapnel shell for Armstrong RBL 12-pdr field gun.jpg Image:Shrapnel shell for QF 18-pr field gun.jpg In 1784 Lieutenant Shrapnel began the course to develop an anti-personnel weapon. At the time artillery could use "canister" or "case," to defend themselves from infantry or cavalry attack. Instead of a cannonball a tin container filled with small iron or lead balls was loaded. When fired, the container burst open during passage through the bore or at the muzzle, giving the effect of an oversized shotgun shell. At ranges of up to 300 m canister could cause heavy casualties. At longer ranges, solid shot or the common shell — a hollow cast iron sphere filled with black powder — was used, although with more of a concussive than a fragmentation effect, as the pieces of the shell were very large and sparse in number. Shrapnel's innovation was to combine the multi-projectile shotgun effect of canister, with a delayed-action fuze to take the effect of canister shot to the enemy at a distance. His shell was a hollow cast-iron sphere filled with a mixture of balls and powder, this with a crude time fuze. If the fuze was set correctly then the shell would break open, either in front or above the intended target, releasing its contents (of musket balls). The shrapnel balls would carry on with the "remaining velocity" of the shell. The explosive charge in the shell was to be just enough to break the casing rather than scatter the shot in all directions. As such his invention increased the effective range of case from 300 to about 1100 m. He called his device 'spherical case' shot, but in time it came to be called after him; a position formalised in 1852 by the British Government. Initial designs suffered from the potentially catastrophic problem that, friction between the shot and black powder during the high acceleration down the gun bore, could sometimes cause premature ignition of the powder. The problem was overcome by placing the powder within a central metal tube, or a separate area within the hollow shell. As a buffer to prevent lead shot deforming a resin was used as a packing material between the shot. A useful side effect of using the resin was that the combustion also gave a visual reference upon the shell bursting.

It took until 1803 for the British artillery to adopt it albeit with great enthusiasm when it did. Shrapnel was promoted to Major in the same year. The Duke of Wellington used it beginning in 1808 against Napoleon, including the Battle of Waterloo, and wrote admiringly of its effectiveness.

The design was improved by Captain E M Boxer RA in the 1840s and crossed over when cylindrical shells for rifled guns were introduced.

Later designs

For use with cylindrical shells, the design was slightly modified; the new hollow cylindrical shells had a nose mounted time fuze, a central flash channel around which the resin-encased shrapnel balls were placed, and a hollow containing black powder at the base, above which was a plate that was joined in the centre to the flash tube. At a preselected time during flight, the fuze functioned — the flash was directed down the central tube and ignited the rear powder charge. The powder charge was just enough to shear the fuze threads or pins, and force the shrapnel balls out. The vast majority of the balls' velocity came from the terminal velocity of the shell. Once loosed, the shrapnel balls became a hail of spherical bullets following the line of fire, creating an oval pattern upon striking the ground. Though highly effective against unprotected troops, they were useless when the troops are protected by cover, such as in trenches.

World War I era

During the initial stages of World War I, shrapnel was widely used by all sides to attack massed advancing troops in the open, but later dropped and the high explosive shell became the predominate nature of 'explosive' shell used. The dropping of the shrapnel shell from use was due to the advent of trench warfare, the shrapnel was unable to cut the barbed wire entanglements in no man's land, crater the ground, or to defeat troops under cover, all of which were required as a precursor to an attack.

With the advent of relatively insensitive high explosives which could be used as the filling for shells, it was found that the casing of a properly designed HE shell fragmented so effectively that additional shot was not required. For example the detonation of an average 105 mm shell produces several thousand high velocity (1,000 to 1,,500 m/s) fragments, a lethal (at close range) blast overpressure and, if a surface or sub-surface burst, a useful cratering and anti-material effect. This all in a munition much less complex to make than the later versions of the shrapnel shell.

One item of note would be the 'Universal Shell', a type of field gun shell developed by Krupp of Germany in the early 1900s. This shell could function as either a shrapnel shell, or HE projectile. The shell had a modified fuze and instead of resin as the packing between the shrapnel balls, TNT was used. When the fuze was set to time, the fuze functioned in the normal way, ejecting the balls and igniting (not detonating) the TNT, the TNT giving a visual puff of black smoke. In impact mode the TNT filling was detonated, so becoming an HE shell with a very large amount of low velocity fragmentation and a milder blast. Again due to its complexity, it was dropped in favour of the simple HE shell.

World War II era

By World War II shrapnel shells, in the strict sense of the word, fell out of use, the last recorded use of shrapnel being 60 pdr shells fired in Burma in 1943.

Vietnam era

Although not strictly shrapnel, a 1960s weapons project produced the Beehive shell. Unlike the shrapnel shells’ balls, the beehive shell contained flechettes. The result was the 105 mm M546 APERS-T, first used in the Vietnam in 1966. The shell consisted of approximately 8,000 half gram flechettes, these arranged in five tiers, a time fuze, body shearing detonators, central flash tube, smokeless propellant charge with a dye marker contained in the base and tracer element. The functioning of the shell was as follows; the time fuze fires, flash sent down the flash tube, shearing detonators fire, and the forward body spits into four pieces, body and first four tiers dispersed by the projectile's spin, last tier and visual marker by the powder charge. The flechettes spread, mainly due to spin, from the point of burst in an ever widening cone along the projectile's previous trajectory prior to burst. The round is a highly effective anti-personnel weapon, but complex to make. It is said that the name beehive was given to the munition type due to the noise of the flechettes moving through the air resembling that of a swam of angry bees.

Modern era

Though shrapnel now is rarely encountered, there are other modern rounds, apart from the Beehive shell, that use, or have used the shrapnel principle. The DM 111 20 mm cannon round used for close range air defence, the flechette filled 40 mm HVCC (40 x 53 mm HV grenade), the 35 mm cannon (35 × 228 mm) AHEAD ammunition (152 x 3.3 g tungsten cylinders), RWM Schweiz 30 × 173 mm Air-Bursting munition, 5-Inch Shotgun Projectile (KE-ET) and possibility many more. Also many modern armies have canister shot ammunition for tank and artillery guns, the XM1028 round for the 120 mm M256 tank gun being one example (approx 1150 tungsten balls at 1400 m/s).

General use of term

The word shrapnel is used by the general public and media incorrectly to describe munition fragments. It is now used to describe all types of high velocity debris thrown out from an explosion and makes no differentiation to the process which created or produced them.

Other use of term

Shrapnel is also British English slang for loose change. The Oxford English Dictionary documents that the term shrapnel is often incorrectly used to describe fragments or shot included in explosive weapons.

See also

• Warfare: Armour, Ammunition, Howitzer, Military technology and equipment, Suicide bombing, Pipe bomb, Anti-personnel weapon, Claymore mine, Grenade, Shaped charge, Ammunition column
• Military: British Army, Second Battle of Krithia
• Other : Eponym, List of cemeteries and memorials at Gallipoli
• Engagements: , Battle of Scimitar Hill, Centennial Olympic Park bombing, Afghanistan timeline
• People: Henry Shrapnel, Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford, Wali Khan Amin Shahbg:Шрапнел

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