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would ineffectually fire its contents only a few feet into the air in a cone-shaped pattern (while the casing itself remained intact). However, the reduced area of effect of shrapnel shells can be exploited, such as in the creeping barrage tactics of World War I, where shrapnel shells were able to be used much closer to friendly infantry than HE shells could.
193:, chin chih, scallion juice, and heat them so as to coat a lot of iron pellets and bits of broken porcelain. Then fill in (with a gunpowder core) to a case of cast iron making a fragmentation bomb. When it bursts, it breaks into pieces that wound the skin and break the bones (of enemy soldiers) and blinds their eyes.
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One easy comparison between fragmenting HE and shrapnel shells would be to imagine a shell of each type standing stationary and base-first on the ground; a high-explosive shell would be equally lethal if detonated in this state vs. detonating on impact after being fired, whereas a shrapnel shell
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that shatters the entire shell casing into many fragments that fly in all directions. The use of high explosives with a fragmenting case improves efficiency as well as propelling a larger number of fragments at a higher velocity over a much wider area (40 to 60 times the diameter of the shell),
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was the first major conflict in which HE shells were the dominant form of artillery; the failure to adapt infantry tactics to the massive increase in lethality they produced was a major element in producing the ghastly subterranean
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for these pieces is "fragments” (nicknamed “splinters” or “shards”). Preformed fragments can be of various shapes (spheres, cubes, rods, etc.) and sizes, and are normally held rigidly within some form of matrix or body until the
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In contrast, a high-explosive shell contains a relatively large and energetic secondary charge of high explosive (known as a burster charge) which, when ignited by the fuse, produces a powerful supersonic
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This article is about casing fragmentation of explosive weaponry. For the internally held projectiles delivered by anti-personnel artillery, see
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matrix, with a small explosive charge at the base of the shell. When the projectile is fired, it travels a pre-set distance along a
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The term "shrapnel" is commonly, although incorrectly from a technical standpoint, used to refer to fragments produced by
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giving high-explosive shells a vastly superior battlefield lethality that was largely impossible before the
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The New
Weapons of the World Encyclopedia: An International Encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to the 21st Century
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U.S. War
Department Technical Manual 9-1900 ‘'Ammunition, General'’. 18 June 1945. p. 106. Available:
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Grenade fragments in the soft tissue of the lower leg (along with an old fracture of the fibula)
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A shrapnel shell consists of a shell casing filled with steel or lead balls suspended in a
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The use of fragmentation in bombs dates to the 14th century, and appears in the
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An illustration of a fragmentation bomb from the 14th century Ming
Dynasty text
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What forensic conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of shell fragments:
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These casing pieces are often incorrectly referred to as "
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Explosive weapon that inflicts injury through fragments
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Difference between fragmentation and shrapnel shells
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453:Examples of use of "shrapnel" for casing fragments
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200:Huolongjing
191:salammoniac
178:Huolongjing
165:Huolongjing
69:barrel bomb
44:Diagram of
543:Categories
396:HistoryNet
375:References
301:shock wave
214:Mills bomb
112:detonation
93:autocannon
569:Gunpowder
315:stalemate
116:explosive
81:artillery
73:land mine
564:Grenades
445:Archived
401:23 March
356:Gulf War
196:—
187:tung oil
148:shrapnel
118:filler.
89:tank gun
293:cordite
210:grenade
155:History
114:of the
108:grenade
104:missile
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100:rocket
85:mortar
46:S-mine
549:Bombs
281:resin
175:text
96:shell
91:, or
500:ISBN
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403:2024
132:heat
123:term
65:bomb
57:shot
291:or
258:any
134:or
77:IED
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