Shells, Rockets, and High Explosives!

Discussions on the fortifications, artillery, & rockets used by the Axis forces.
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A-Bomb
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Shells, Rockets, and High Explosives!

#1

Post by A-Bomb » 20 Dec 2002, 17:36

I have some questions.

Were many AT(anti tank) shells of WWII equipped with an explosive charge? Was the charge supposed to explode on the outer armor of the tank or penetrate and explode inside? How common was solid shot vs. the exploding AT rounds(hollow shot?)?

Were most rockets of WWII HE rounds? And what does an HE round look like when it explodes? Seriously, many movies show HE as being firey explosions but were they? Or do they just look like a big grey cloud when they hit?

Thanks alot!

A-Bomb
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#2

Post by A-Bomb » 20 Dec 2002, 22:05

anyone?


Mark V
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Re: Shells, Rockets, and High Explosives!

#3

Post by Mark V » 20 Dec 2002, 22:43

A-Bomb wrote:I have some questions.

Were many AT(anti tank) shells of WWII equipped with an explosive charge? Was the charge supposed to explode on the outer armor of the tank or penetrate and explode inside? How common was solid shot vs. the exploding AT rounds(hollow shot?)?

Were most rockets of WWII HE rounds? And what does an HE round look like when it explodes? Seriously, many movies show HE as being firey explosions but were they? Or do they just look like a big grey cloud when they hit?

Thanks alot!
OK, here is something about this issue:

Germans used HE content on their APCBC shells, Brits used pure kinetic energy - no explosives.

Firey explosions in movies are created with gasoline-spicing. TNT, which is the primary explosive in artillery shells creates a black cloud of smoke - not even nearly as spectacular, but far more destructive than fancy gasoline-spiced explosions in movies.

A-Bomb
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#4

Post by A-Bomb » 21 Dec 2002, 00:02

Ok. So did the German shells penetrate and THEN explode? Or explode on the outside like a Panzerfaust or Bazooka?

What about the Americans and Ruskies?

A-Bomb
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#5

Post by A-Bomb » 22 Dec 2002, 02:24

...
please

Zygmunt
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#6

Post by Zygmunt » 22 Dec 2002, 19:54

Okay, the basic deal is that HEAT (high explosive anti tank) shells/projectiles relied on a shaped explosive charge which went off outside the armour, but blasted a hole in it, so that the hot gases and molten metal would kill the crew inside, damage the tank etc, and hopefully cause "secondary explosions" by setting off the ammo stored in the tank. This is the kind of warhead used in Bazookas and Panzerfausts etc.

Regular AP (armour piercing) shells might have had a small charge in them, but they were mostly a solid piece of metal. The idea was they were so hard and going so fast that they would knock a hole straight through the armour. Then a small charge would go off once they were inside the tank, to hopefully cause those secondary explosions. This was the kind of shell typically fired from tanks and artillery pieces.

I'm pretty sure that this type of thing has been covered somewhere else in the equipment section, which is probably why this thread hasn't had many replies.

Take a good look through this section, with or without the search engine, and see what we've written before.

Good luck tallboy.
Zygmunt

Mark V
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#7

Post by Mark V » 22 Dec 2002, 20:17

A-Bomb wrote:...
please
Well, normally i don't recommend other forums in any of Marcus excellent sites, but here is the source of information on these matters. Read previous discussions before posting anything there...

http://www.tank-net.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

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