RobL Posted 31 July , 2014 Share Posted 31 July , 2014 Struggling to find any information - whatsoever - on these large aerial bombs. My 'details of aerial bombs, 1918' doesn't include it, and can't find any technical information on it anywhere. Apart from them being dropped by Handley Pages, can anyone supply any further information on them? When they were designed, explosive filling, etc etc Many thanks, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 31 July , 2014 Share Posted 31 July , 2014 Can't help with the bomb. The plane was the Handley Page 0/400 which went into service April 1918. I assume the bomb was developed during 1917. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickdavis Posted 31 July , 2014 Share Posted 31 July , 2014 I assume that you're talking about the SN bomb, a number of which were dropped in anger. The specs for the weapon were: Overall Length: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickdavis Posted 31 July , 2014 Share Posted 31 July , 2014 Sorry about the earlier mess up in this post. I assume that you're talking about the SN bomb, the heaviest RAF bomb, a number of which were dropped in anger. Amatol sems to have been the explosive used, but if some were filled with TNT, the explosive charge weight would have been heavier by some 20%. The specs for the weapon were: Overall Length: 133.1" Body Diameter 18.5" Wall Thickness: 0.51" Tail Length: 49" Tail Width: 20" Filling: Amatol Filling Weight: 709-lb Nose Fusing: No.13 pistol Tail Fusing: No.12 pistol Total Weight: 1433-lb Weight/Charge Ratio: 49.5% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 31 July , 2014 Share Posted 31 July , 2014 What was SN? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobL Posted 12 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2014 Many thanks Mick - where is the information from, please? I'm also struggling to find an answer for what 'SN' stands for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickdavis Posted 12 August , 2014 Share Posted 12 August , 2014 The details come from a post-war document listing obsolescent bombs. My understanding is that SN was an abbreviation for Essen, a desired target of the IF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickdavis Posted 12 August , 2014 Share Posted 12 August , 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 13 August , 2014 Share Posted 13 August , 2014 I think the bomb referred to was in fact developed for the V/1500 and was still underdevelopment when the air ministry collection of instruction pamphlets referred to in the OP was issued and so was not included. AFAIK it was never dropped in anger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickdavis Posted 13 August , 2014 Share Posted 13 August , 2014 I think the bomb referred to was in fact developed for the V/1500 and was still underdevelopment when the air ministry collection of instruction pamphlets referred to in the OP was issued and so was not included. AFAIK it was never dropped in anger The Official History, The War in the Air, Vol.6 notes that, on the night of 21/22 October 1918, four HP O/400s carried the bombs on a raid to the Basische works at Mannheim and Krupps factory at Essen. Three were dropped on Kaiserlautern, an alternative target,and the fourth on Weisbaden (a non-military town and the damage done to the civilian population caused an outcry in Germany). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 13 August , 2014 Share Posted 13 August , 2014 http://www.wwi-models.org/Photos/Various/Bombs-brit/SN1650//keh/BombWW1DSCF4196.JPG It was available sometime in September 1918 so the use that Mick refers to may well all there was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobL Posted 13 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 13 August , 2014 Used from July 1918, quite a few more than four dropped through the war The larger 3,300lb bomb was designed for the HP V/1500's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 13 August , 2014 Share Posted 13 August , 2014 Used from July 1918, quite a few more than four dropped through the war The larger 3,300lb bomb was designed for the HP V/1500's sources please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhill Posted 13 August , 2014 Share Posted 13 August , 2014 S.F. Wise: Canadian Airmen and The First World War spends a fair amount of ink on the British "Independent" bombing force, due to the large number of Canadians involved. With regards to the October 1918 operations he notes : "In the strategic aspects of its operations the Independent Force achieved some spectacular results with the 1650-lb bomb now being used routinely by the Handley Page squadrons." He specifically notes the operations of 9-10 October and 21-22 October. As sources to this paragraph he gives a number of reports and bits of the Official History. There is also a photo of the 3300-lb bomb designed for the v-1500 aircraft (which was never used before the Armistice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank_East Posted 13 August , 2014 Share Posted 13 August , 2014 According to the Air Historical Branch,Ref H 503, the largest bomb developed by the Royal Aircraft Factory was the formidable1650lb bomb. There was a great deal of offensive bombing against German targets in October 1918 but the dates mentioned by Wise reveals the following. 9/10 October 1918.A wide range of targets were operated against,principally railways and aerodromes..all by HP O/400 squadrons 97,100,115,215 and 216..a total of 30 aircraft despatched and 18 bombed. 21-22 October 1918.Kaiserslautern railways and district and Mezieres railway targets by No 97 and No 100 Squadron HP 0/400 aircraft...10 aircraft despatched...6 bombed.Greist munition factory totally destroyed by a 1650lb bomb. Incidentally some of the bomb types, in use at the latter end of the Great War, were still on charge by the RAF when the Second World War started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobL Posted 15 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 15 August , 2014 sources please For which bit? No problem with either, will supply when I get a chance at the weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickdavis Posted 19 August , 2014 Share Posted 19 August , 2014 just to show the beast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshipped Posted 19 August , 2014 Share Posted 19 August , 2014 I think there's a quote in "Bloody Paralyser" about the first 1,650-lb bomb being dropped by Sgt LA Dell of 214 Squadron. The IWM might have other useful material on the subject: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30020785 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg100 Posted 24 August , 2014 Share Posted 24 August , 2014 Hi all, I came across this thread whilst searching for something else. 100 Squadron, equipped with the 0/400 and as part of Independent Force, dropped a number of these bombs. Centurion, for sources you can check "The Annals of 100 Squadron" by Major Burge, which makes mention of the fact on a number of occasions, or any one of a number of 100 Squadron / Independent Force raid reports in the AIR1 files at TNA. Hope that helps Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 16 November , 2019 Share Posted 16 November , 2019 These bombs were used in great numbers. Tey were secret weapons and very probably developed before the war and used until the end of the battle. Actually, Handley Page bomber was also a plane which was in secret list of War Office. They were unknown until one of the planes had to land in Germany due to a malfunction in 1917. The photographs of this plane were published in German newspapers so Brits cancelled its secret status and revealed to the world that they had actually bombers which can release very heavy bombs. But the story of Handley Page is a total fabrication. It was in production in 1915 (actually it emerged official order for 40 plane was given at the beginning of 1915) However, censorship declared plane was operational at the end of 1916 and the plane which was captured by germans was in fact the first aeroplane. They were also capable of releasing 3300 libre SN Major bombs. V1500 type of Handleys (almost the same plane with slightly bigger wings and for motors) were developed for after war purposes such as mail and human transport. According to Handley Page himself, this aeroplane is the principal factor for the defeat of Ottoman forces in the battle against General Allenby's Palestine Campaign. These aeroplanes were also used in Gallipoli Battle but it was in secret list so air campaign in Gallipoli Battle remained a secret. There are many reports squadrons of aeroplanes some of which were definitely Handley Page bombers bombed Gallipoli and Istanbul in 1915 and 1916. It had to remain a secret because official history collapse if their existence is known. The history of these bombs are still a secret. Nobody knows where they were produced and under which contract. This is SN Major and SN bomb together... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Posted 4 January , 2020 Share Posted 4 January , 2020 On 13/08/2014 at 14:26, centurion said: sources please George K. Williams' Biplanes and Bombsights claims the SN 1,650 lb bomb only entered service in October 1918, but Bloody Paralyser claims that four were dropped on Bruges on 10-11 August and another three in the same city the next night. The Bruges attacks are the ones with the quotes from Sgt. LA Dell that Airshipped mentioned. Another SN was dropped on Forbach on 17 August, two were dropped on 22-23 September (one on Saultain and one on Douai), another two on 8-9 October (Valenciennes and Melle), one on 14-15 October (Audenarde), and then four on 21-22 October as mickdavis mentioned, with one last one dropped the next night on Kaiserslautern. That adds up to 18 bombs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josquin Posted 4 January , 2020 Share Posted 4 January , 2020 On 19/08/2014 at 13:03, Airshipped said: I think there's a quote in "Bloody Paralyser" about the first 1,650-lb bomb being dropped by Sgt LA Dell of 214 Squadron. The IWM might have other useful material on the subject: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30020785 More about Sgt Dell of 214 Squadron: Sgt. Mechanic Leslie Alexander Dell (202839 Sgt Pilot, RFC/RAF) attested in 1914; civilian occupation, motor engineer born at Paddington, London, on 26 November 1894 residence in 1911, Ealing, Middlesex died in 1982, at Ealing, London Josquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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