Bomb Releases

[The Dark]

I was reading up recently on a topic I hadn't much considered previously, that being bomb releases for the various airplanes in the war. I found the 1919 Handbook of Ordnance Data has some good information for those in use by or under development by the United States Army:

 

Mark V - for use on the DH-4, it has a trap under each wing that can carry the following totals:

4 Mk I (104 lb)

10 Mk II or II-A (22 lb; the II is high explosive and II-A is fragmentation)

6 Mk III (55 lb)

It could also carry French 90mm or 115mm bombs and be modified to carry Cooper bombs.

 

Mark VI - a Mark V for the Bristol Fighter.

 

Mark VIII-A - the DH-9's equivalent of the Mark V, with identical capacity.

 

Mark IX - the DH-9's fuselage bomb release, capable of carrying 2 Mk III or 1 Mk I or 1 Mk IV (260 lb) bomb.

 

Mark IX-A - for the Handley-Page, used to carry 2 Mk V (550 lb) bombs under the fuselage.

 

Mark III - for Caproni bombers, an in-fuselage release capable of carrying 16 Mk I or 9 Mk IV bombs.

 

Mark IV - also for Caproni bombers, an under-fuselage release for 2 Mk V bombs.

 

Mark VII-B - the left wing trap of a Mk V, carried under the fuselage of a Jenny for training.

 

European carriers include the Cooper quadruple bomb carrier (used on the SPAD S.XIII and Salmson 2A2), the Michelin Type IV (capable of carrying a pair of 115mm French bombs or a single 155mm, and used on the Breguet 14B2), the Michelin Type I (integral to the Breguet's wings and capable of carrying a total of 16 90mm bombs or 8 115mm or 155mm bombs), and the British 112lb and 230lb carriers for the DH-4, underwing releases capable of carrying 1 or 2 112lb bombs and 1 230lb bomb respectively.

 

The releases for the Brisfit, Handley-Page, and Caproni apparently never entered service, but the DH-4 and DH-9 releases did. The Caproni releases were for the Ca.3, while the Handley-Page ones were for the O/400. The Handley-Page had limited production in the US and The U.S. Air Service in World War I states that 1/6 of Caproni's production of the 450hp was to be earmarked for the AEF starting in October 1918 (only 19 were actually received). Brisfit production in the US was dogged by attempts to up-engine the plane and a limited number were eventually produced by Dayton-Wright in 1920-21.

 

What other bomb releases were in use or under development during the war?

[MikeMeech]

On 06/01/2020 at 04:32, The Dark said:

I was reading up recently on a topic I hadn't much considered previously, that being bomb releases for the various airplanes in the war. I found the 1919 Handbook of Ordnance Data has some good information for those in use by or under development by the United States Army:

 

Mark V - for use on the DH-4, it has a trap under each wing that can carry the following totals:

4 Mk I (104 lb)

10 Mk II or II-A (22 lb; the II is high explosive and II-A is fragmentation)

6 Mk III (55 lb)

It could also carry French 90mm or 115mm bombs and be modified to carry Cooper bombs.

 

Mark VI - a Mark V for the Bristol Fighter.

 

Mark VIII-A - the DH-9's equivalent of the Mark V, with identical capacity.

 

Mark IX - the DH-9's fuselage bomb release, capable of carrying 2 Mk III or 1 Mk I or 1 Mk IV (260 lb) bomb.

 

Mark IX-A - for the Handley-Page, used to carry 2 Mk V (550 lb) bombs under the fuselage.

 

Mark III - for Caproni bombers, an in-fuselage release capable of carrying 16 Mk I or 9 Mk IV bombs.

 

Mark IV - also for Caproni bombers, an under-fuselage release for 2 Mk V bombs.

 

Mark VII-B - the left wing trap of a Mk V, carried under the fuselage of a Jenny for training.

 

European carriers include the Cooper quadruple bomb carrier (used on the SPAD S.XIII and Salmson 2A2), the Michelin Type IV (capable of carrying a pair of 115mm French bombs or a single 155mm, and used on the Breguet 14B2), the Michelin Type I (integral to the Breguet's wings and capable of carrying a total of 16 90mm bombs or 8 115mm or 155mm bombs), and the British 112lb and 230lb carriers for the DH-4, underwing releases capable of carrying 1 or 2 112lb bombs and 1 230lb bomb respectively.

 

The releases for the Brisfit, Handley-Page, and Caproni apparently never entered service, but the DH-4 and DH-9 releases did. The Caproni releases were for the Ca.3, while the Handley-Page ones were for the O/400. The Handley-Page had limited production in the US and The U.S. Air Service in World War I states that 1/6 of Caproni's production of the 450hp was to be earmarked for the AEF starting in October 1918 (only 19 were actually received). Brisfit production in the US was dogged by attempts to up-engine the plane and a limited number were eventually produced by Dayton-Wright in 1920-21.

 

What other bomb releases were in use or under development during the war?

Hi

 

The Naval & Military Press have produced reprints of the 'Handbook of Aircraft Armament' Admiralty, Air Department, 1916, and 'Details of Aerial Bombs' Air Ministry, 1918, which cover the majority of the bomb carriers used during WW1 by the British.

 

Briefly the history is as follows:

 

By the end of 1914 there were only two standardised carriers, one for a single 16-lb bomb and one to carry two 20-lb Hales bombs.  By 1915 there were carriers for larger bombs including the 112-lb bomb carrier and a twin 112-lb carrier.  Also that year the Woolwich 520-lb and 550-lb, these were similar to the previous 112-lb carrier.  The aircraft company Shorts also produced and fitted a 520-lb carrier for their 225 hp seaplane, this carrier was lighter than the Woolwich.  During 1916 the Skeleton type carriers were introduced in three sizes, 112-lb, 250-lb and 520-lb, these were lighter than the Woolwich carriers, eg. the Skeleton 520-lb carrier weighed 16-lb compared with the Woolwich 520-lb carrier which weighed 90-lb.

There were also the 20-lb carriers (weight 9-lbs) that could carry four Cooper 20-lb bombs or two Incendiary Phosphorus 40-lb bombs (used to produce smoke screens on the battlefield) and other weapons, this type is not only seen on bomber aircraft but also Corps and fighter aircraft like the Camel.  There was also the Gledhill Bomb gear for 20-lb or 50-lb bombs, fitted internally on DH.9 aircraft for instance.  At the end of the war there was also the 1650-lb SN bomb rack for the Handley Page O/400.  Another bomb carrier was the Baby Incendiary Bomb container, the book 'Bombs Gone' by MacBean and Hogben has a drawing of this device on page 34.

Also by 1916 Grenade dropping gear was also in service, the RNAS for example used one that could hold and drop 18 Grenades.  A different device was in use in the Middle East by the RAF during 1918 that could drop 120 Mills Bombs or 60 small smoke canisters from an under fuselage container (RE.8).

 

I hope that is of use.

 

Mike