![]() In anticipation of a German invasion, the British Army asked for ideas for a simple, easy to use, ready for production and cheap close-in antitank weapon. ![]() Also developed by the UK during the war was the No 74 ST Grenade, popularly known as the "sticky bomb", in which the main charge was held in a sphere covered in adhesive. The Type 68 had a penetration of 50 mm of armor plating, which was astonishing for 1940. The No 68 was fired from a rifle using the Mills grenade cup launcher. The grenade facilitates this by deploying a small drogue parachute or fabric streamers after being thrown.īritain put the first anti-tank grenade into the field during the Second World War in late 1940 with the No 68 AT Grenade, which was one of the first "any" type anti-tank weapons of the shape charge or HEAT type. Because of the way shaped charges function, the grenade must hit the vehicle at an exact right angle for the effect to work most efficiently. In military terminology, warheads employing shape charges are called high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads. Purpose-designed anti-tank grenades generally use the shaped charge principle to penetrate tank armor, although the squash head concept is also used. While this method was used in desperation, it usually proved more dangerous to the soldier on the ground than to the crew of the tank. When tanks overran entrenchments, hand grenades could be, and were, used by infantry as improvised anti-tank mines by placing or throwing them in the path of a tank in the hope of disabling a track. By late 1940, the British had brought into production a purpose-built adhesive anti-tank grenade - known as the " Sticky bomb." It is not known if this type of improvised anti-tank grenade was ever successfully employed in combat. If successful, it caused internal spalling of the armor plate, killing or injuring the tank crew inside. ![]() The antitank sock was pulled out, the fuse lit and the sock thrown against the side of the tank turret in the hope it would stick until the explosion. Another method used by the British Home Guard in 1940 was to place dynamite or some other high explosive in a thick sock and cover the lower part with axle grease and then place the grease covered part in a suitable size tin can. Due to their weight, these were normally thrown from very close range or directly placed in vulnerable spots onto an enemy vehicle. In combat, after arming, the grenade was thrown on top of the slowly advancing tank where the armor was thin.ĭuring World War Two, various nations made improvised antitank grenades by putting a number of defensive high explosive grenades into a sandbag. The Germans were the first during World War One to come up with an improvised anti-tank grenade, taking their stick ("potato masher") grenade and taping two to three more of the explosive heads without the sticks to create one complete grenade. The first anti-tank grenades were improvised devices. An anti-tank grenade is a specialized explosive device to defeat heavily armored targets.
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