No. 6 grenade

Last updated
Grenade, Hand No. 6
TypeTime-fused grenade
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1915–1917
Used byUnited Kingdom
Wars World War I
Production history
DesignerRoyal Laboratories [1]
Designed1915
Produced1915 [2]
Specifications
Mass1 lb (0.45 kg) [3]
Length4 in (10 cm) [3]
Diameter214 in diameter [3]

Detonation
mechanism
Timed friction fuse

The No. 6 Grenade was a hand grenade used by the United Kingdom during World War I.

Contents

The No. 6 was a concussion grenade. A variant of it, called the "No. 7", contained shrapnel, making it a primitive fragmentation grenade. Pulling a loop at the top of the grenade ignited the fuse. Once the loop was pulled, the grenade was armed and had to be thrown immediately. [3]

History

The No. 6 was one of the intern grenades, created because of problems associated with the No. 1 grenade. [1] It is one of the few intern grenades that uses a friction-based lighting system. While this seemed fine in theory, in practice it had multiple problems. The most prominent of all was that the arming method did not work as intended. In many cases pulling the loop was too difficult for one man to do and it required two men. [1] For a lone soldier, the best method was to hold the grenade between the knees and pull on the loop with both hands. However, this often resulted in cutting the fingers in addition to igniting the fuse. [1]

Another danger was that the friction igniter was very sensitive, a powerful blow to the grenade with the detonator inserted could set it off. [1] This made the No. 6 almost as dangerous as the percussion cap grenades that it was designed to replace.

Percussion cap type of firearm igniter

The percussion cap, introduced circa 1820, is a type of single-use ignition device used on muzzleloader firearms that enabled them to fire reliably in any weather conditions. This crucial invention gave rise to the caplock or percussion lock system.

At the end of December 1915, the No. 6 and No. 7 were declared obsolete. [1] However, it appears they were still in use up to at least 1917, as grenade manuals made during that time have a section on how to activate and ignite it. [3]

Variants

No. 7

The No. 7 is a variant of the No. 6. Unlike the No. 6, it has an inner and outer casing. The inner casing contained the explosive while the outer contained scrap that was intended to be used as shrapnel. Generally, the No. 6 was used in preference to the No. 7 as it was lighter and there was the possibility of shrapnel from the No. 7 hitting friendly soldiers. [1]

Fragmentation (weaponry)

Fragmentation is the process by which the casing of a projectile from a bomb, barrel bomb, land mine, IED, artillery, mortar, tank gun, or autocannon shell, rocket, missile, grenade, land mine, etc. is shattered by the detonation of the explosive filler.

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References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Saunders, pp 17–19
  2. Saunders, p.27
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ainsile, pp10-11
Bibliography