Grenades
Morgan Cradick
***MUST SEE! U.S. Marine Corps Live-Fire Grenade Training Exercise!
time-delay fragmentation anti-personnel hand grenade
The time-delay fragmentation anti-personnel hand grenade is the most common grenade on the battlefield.
The six types of grenades are..
- Fragmentation. These grenades are used to produce casualties by high-velocity projection of fragments.
- Illuminating. -This grenade is used to provide illumination of terrain and targets.
- Chemical. -These grenades are used for incendiary, screening, signaling, training, or riot-control.
- Offensive. -This grenade is used for blast effect.
- Practice and Training.- These grenades are for training personnel in use, care and handling of service grenades.
- Nonlethal-This grenade is used for diversionary purposes or when lethal force is not desired.
How A Grenade helped in World War I
In World War I, soldiers could use grenades to take out machine gunners without ever revealing themselves to the enemy. Thanks to mechanical ignition systems that made the weapons relatively practical and safe, grenades took their place as an indispensable element in modern warfare.
British forces mainly used an improvised hand explosive that was at times more difficult to use, yet sill useful in battle. Hand Grenades were not the only attempt at projectile explosives for infantry. A rifle grenade was brought into the trenches in order to attack the enemy from a greater distance. The Hales rile grenade got little attention from the British Army before the war began but, during the war, Germany showed great interest in this weapon.
How a Grenade Works
It's triggered by a spring-loaded striker inside the grenade. Normally, the striker is held in place by the striker lever on top of the grenade, which is held in place by the safety pin.
- With the pin removed, there is nothing holding the lever in position, which means there is nothing holding the spring-loaded striker up. The spring throws the striker down against the percussion cap. The impact ignites the cap, creating a small spark.
- Its spark ignites a slow-burning material in the fuze. In about four seconds, the delay material burns all the way through.
- The explosion ignites the explosive material around the sides of the grenade, creating a much larger explosion that blows the grenade apart.