No 1 Grenade
The Grenade, Hand, No. 1 was the first British hand grenade used in World War I. It was designed in the Royal Laboratory, based on reports and samples of Japanese hand grenades during the Russo-Japanese War provided by General Sir Aylmer Haldane, who was a British observer of that war. • Illustration — Detailed diagram and cross section of the No. 1 grenade The grenade proper is a container of explosive material with an iron fragmentation band.
Also recorded as Grenade, Hand No 1
No 1 Grenade
War Office, UK · Plate XLIII and Page 264-265 in "Treatise on Ammunition" 10th Edition 1915. Facsimile reprint by Imperial War Museum and Naval Military Press, 2003 · Public domain
- Name
- No. 1 grenade
- Field
- hand grenade
- Region
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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Documentary summary
The Grenade, Hand, No. 1 was the first British hand grenade used in World War I. It was designed in the Royal Laboratory, based on reports and samples of Japanese hand grenades during the Russo-Japanese War provided by General Sir Aylmer Haldane, who was a British observer of that war. • Illustration — Detailed diagram and cross section of the No. 1 grenade The grenade proper is a container of explosive material with an iron fragmentation band.
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wikidata · Q11236791 · wikipedia · No. 1 grenade
In this article
Overview
Overview
The fuse was of the impact sort, detonating when the top of the grenade hit the ground. A long cane handle (approximately 16 inches or 40 cm) allowed the user to throw the grenade further than the blast of the explosion. To ensure that the grenade hit the ground nose first, a cloth streamer was attached to the end of the handle. When thrown, this unfurled and acted as a tail to stabilize flight. The grenade came with a metal loop so it could hang from a belt.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — No. 1 grenade • Origin — United Kingdom • Type — Hand grenade • Is Explosive — yes • Is Uk — yes • Used By — United Kingdom • Wars — World War I • Designer — Royal Laboratories • Design Date — 1908 • Production Date — 1908-1915 • Variants — No. 3 (shorter handle), No. 18 (different detonator) • Weight — 2 lb (0.9 kg) • Filling — Lyddite • Detonation — Percussion fuse (impact detonated)
In the trenches
In the trenches
When the battlefield became confined to the trenches, the long handle became a liability, causing several accidents. Reaching back for the throw, the fuse could strike the trench side. The No. 3, a variant of the No. 1, had a shorter handle for easier use in trenches. Even with these adjustments, the No. 1 and its variants did poorly in battle. According to German prisoners captured at Ypres in January 1916, the No. 1 could be deflected by wooden boards. In some cases, the deflected grenade could be thrown back. Manufacturing the No. 1 was difficult, as it required a special detonator that could only be produced by the ordnance factories. Because of this, the British Expeditionary Force got far fewer No. 1s than were ordered. A version that used a more common detonator, the No. 18, was designed, but by then battlefield experience had shown that the No. 1's design was ineffective. The difficulty of operating it in trenches plus the special detonator caused Britain to create several stopgap grenades, such as the jam tin grenade, until the Mills bomb was adopted.
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No 1 Grenade is associated with United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Classified as a hand grenade.
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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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No 1 Grenade is associated with United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Ainslie, "Hand Grenades: A Handbook on Rifle and Hand Grenades". John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 1917. p.2.
- 2.Saunders, Anthony (1999) Weapons of the Trench War, Sutton Publishing, , p.2.
- 3.Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p.3.
- 4.Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p.6.
- 5.Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p.5.
- 6.Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p.7.
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1- hand grenadeTerminology
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