This is a complete list of Japanese explosives used during the Second World War. It is sorted according to application.
Explosive | Type | Application | Navy or Army | Japanese designation | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mercury fulminate Potassium chlorate Antimony trisulfide | Primer cap composition | Army | Bakufun | Mk I and Mk III powders are ammunition primers, Mk II is a fuze primer | |
Potassium chlorate Antimony trisulfide | Primer cap composition | Both | - | Most common mixture for fuze primers | |
Mercury fulminate | Initiator in fuzes and blasting caps | Both | Raikoo (Thunder Mercury) | ||
Lead azide | Initiator in fuzes and blasting caps | Both | Chikka Namari | Most common initiator | |
Tetryl | Sub-booster | Both | Meiayaku | Pressed. | |
RDX | Sub-booster | Army | Shouyaku | Pressed. Often used with wax | |
70% Trinitroanisole 30% HND | Main charge, auxiliary booster | bombs, sea mines, depth charges | Navy | H2 kongo or Type 98 | Pressed. |
TNT | Main charge | Projectiles, hand grenades rarely in bombs | Army | Chakatusuyaku (tea colored explosive) | Usually cast in paper wrapped blocks |
Picric acid | Main charge and main booster charge | bombs, projectiles, sea mines, land mines | Both | Ooshokuyaku (Yellow color explosive) or Shimose | Most commonly used booster. Pressed |
66% Ammonium perchlorate 16% Silicon carbide 12% wood pulp 6% oil | Main charge | mines, depth charges | Navy | Type 88 | Loose grey powder. Friction sensitive. |
Trinitroanisole | Main charge | bombs | Navy | Type 91 | Cast |
60% Trinitroanisole 40% RDX | Main charge | torpedo warheads | Navy | Type 94 | |
60% TNT 40% HND | Main charge | torpedo warheads, depth charges | Navy | Seigate or Type 97 | Cast blocks |
70% Trinitroanisole 30% HND | Main charge | bombs, sea mines, depth charges | Navy | Type 98 | Poured into case and cast |
81% Ammonium picrate 16% aluminium powder 2% wood pulp 1% oil | Main charge | depth charges | Navy | Type 1 | Loose powder |
60% TNT 24% HND 16%aluminium powder | Main charge | torpedo warheads | Navy | Otsu-B | |
25% TNT 75% picric acid | Main charge | bombs | Army | Chaooyaku | Used rarely. TNT lowers the melting point making it suitable for casting |
50% Picric acid 50% Dinitronaphthalene | Main charge | projectiles | Army | Oonayaku | Used rarely. Dinitronapthalene aids casting. |
90% Picric acid 10% Wax | Main charge | projectiles | Army | Ooshivaku | Used in the nose of armour piercing projectiles. Insensitive. |
70% TNT 30% Dinitronaphthalene | Main charge | projectiles | Army | Chanayaku | Cast |
70% to 50% TNT 30% to 50% RDX | Main charge | bombs, projectiles, landmines and bangalore torpedoes | Army | Nigo tanooyaku (Mk2) | Cast |
75% Ammonium nitrate 25% RDX | Main charge | bombs | Army | Anga yaku | Cast in case. Hygroscopic |
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanical stress, the impact and penetration of pressure-driven projectiles, pressure damage, and explosion-generated effects. Bombs have been utilized since the 11th century starting in East Asia.
Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the military fields of explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and improvised explosive device disposal (IEDD), and the public safety roles of public safety bomb disposal (PSBD) and the bomb squad.
Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary device is used to initiate a fire is often described as a "firebombing".
A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles.
A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device (IED) that uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion due to the containment causing increased pressure. The fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially lethal shrapnel.
A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may be set to act upon trespassers that enter restricted areas, and it can be triggered when the victim performs an action. It can also be triggered by vehicles driving along a road, as in the case of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used as roadside bombs, or homemade bombs.
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire, using materials such as napalm, thermite, magnesium powder, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. Though colloquially often known as bombs, they are not explosives but in fact are designed to slow the process of chemical reactions and use ignition rather than detonation to start or maintain the reaction. Napalm, for example, is petroleum especially thickened with certain chemicals into a 'gel' to slow, but not stop, combustion, releasing energy over a longer time than an explosive device. In the case of napalm, the gel adheres to surfaces and resists suppression.
An explosive belt is an improvised explosive device, a belt or a vest packed with explosives and armed with a detonator, worn by suicide bombers. Explosive belts are usually packed with ball bearings, nails, screws, bolts, and other objects that serve as shrapnel to maximize the number of casualties in the explosion.
An explosive device is a device that relies on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide a violent release of energy.
A smoke bomb is a firework designed to produce a large amount of smoke upon ignition.
A time bomb is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use or attempted use of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They are a frequent plot device in thriller and action films as they offer a way of imparting a dramatic sense of urgency.
A controlled explosion is the deliberate detonation of an explosive, generally as a means of demolishing a building or destroying a second improvised or manufactured explosive device.
A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission or nuclear fusion or a multi-stage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion-based weapons have used a fission device to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains a hypothetical device. Nuclear explosions are used in nuclear weapons and nuclear testing.
A bomb suit, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) suit or a blast suit is a heavy suit of body armor designed to withstand the pressure generated by a bomb and any fragments the bomb may produce. It is usually worn by trained personnel attempting bomb disposal. In contrast to ballistic body armors, which usually focus on protecting the torso and head, a bomb suit must protect all parts of the body, since the dangers posed by a bomb's explosion affect the entire body.
In military munitions, a fuze is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze designs can be seen in cutaway diagrams.
Hexanitrodiphenylamine (abbreviated HND), is an explosive chemical compound with the formula C12H5N7O12. HND was used extensively by the Japanese during World War II but was discontinued due to its toxicity.
An explosive weapon is a weapon that uses an explosive to project blast and/or fragmentation from a point of detonation.
Animal-borne bomb attacks are the use of animals as delivery systems for explosives. The explosives are strapped to a pack animal such as a horse, mule or donkey. The pack animal may be set off in a crowd.
The Type 21 and Type 22 rocket-bombs were rocket artillery systems used by garrison troops of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the late stages of World War II in defense of island bases in the Pacific.