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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

timing on shrapnel shell nose cone


charlotte cardoen-descamps

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Hello,

I am hoping that there is someone out there who might be able to answer the following question.

If you pick up a nose cone from an 18 pounder shrapnel shell, with the timing set on 11.5 seconds, how far would that shell have travelled before it exploded?

I am asking this on behalf of one of my guests, whom I couldn't help out.

Thanks in advance!

Charlotte

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Tom's not too far off with his answer.

According to notes in my "Notes on Trench Warfare for Field Artillery" (WO2869, 1916) it mentions "11 seconds - 4,040 yards/12 seconds - 4,400 yards". This obviously is the distance travelled by the shell in flight, not straight yards on the ground (ie firing at a higher trajectory would make the shell travel a different distance to that fired on a lower one for the same amount of time). Weather conditions should also be taken into consideration, so this can only really be used as a guide.

Dave.

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thanks Tom and Dave for your quick reaction! I am going to forward the information to Australia straight away.

Thanks again!

Charlotte :)

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Just to ask a supplementary question to this- how do you tell what the fuse has been set to? I have an 18 pounder No. 85 fuse that was certainly fired. Although it is somewhat corroded, I can see the numbers around the ring of it and have always presumed that they were twisted around to set the fuse ... were they lined up to match a mark on the fuse?

Mark

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Mark,

Looking at a No. 80 fuse, there is a little lug on the ring above the one with the timing numbers on it. This lug is the "pointer" which indicated the duration of the fuse-burn. Mine is set to 8.5 seconds. You're right - the parts of the fuse are turned until the lug lines up with the desired time, to make the shell burst in the air over the target.

(Now I must watch what I say here as I know that Tom-Tulloch Marshall is around and he might remind me of an unfortunate statement I once made :huh: )

When the shell was fired, the jolt allowed a little firing pin to overcome the pressure of its retaining spring and hit a detonator, setting off a ring of gunpowder inside the fuse. This ring of powder burned round and ended in a hole connecting to a second ring of powder lower down, and by turning segments of the fuse around to set the time, you adjusted the position of the hole over the second ring, varying how much powder was left to burn before the charge in the magazine (at the bottom of the fuse) was reached. The explosion in the magazine part of the fuse passed down a flash-tube running down the middle of the shell, where it ignited a further charge under a piston. The piston was forced upwards, and the compression pushed off the fuse and forced out the shrapnel balls which were packed around the flash-tube.

Tom

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When the shell was fired, the jolt allowed a little firing pin to overcome the pressure of its retaining spring and hit a detonator, setting off a ring of gunpowder inside the fuse. This ring of powder burned round and ended in a hole connecting to a second ring of powder lower down, and by turning segments of the fuse around to set the time, you adjusted the position of the hole over the second ring, varying how much powder was left to burn before the charge in the magazine (at the bottom of the fuse) was reached. The explosion in the magazine part of the fuse passed down a flash-tube running down the middle of the shell, where it ignited a further charge under a piston. The piston was forced upwards, and the compression pushed off the fuse and forced out the shrapnel balls which were packed around the flash-tube.

Crikey, no wonder so many of them failed :huh:

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Crikey, no wonder so many of them failed :huh:

Exactly, and apart from the physical complications of the workings, I believe there were something like 17 moving parts in the fuse!

Tom

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Thanks for that Tom, very interesting. The No 85 I have has a lug on the same "ring" as the second markers so I'm not sure what it would have been set at (?).

Yeah, these fuses are intricate things and it isn't a surprise a high proportion were duds. Anyway, see attached, taken on a visit a while ago.

Mark

post-23-1062433109.jpg

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(Now I must watch what I say here as I know that Tom-Tulloch Marshall is around and he might remind me of an unfortunate statement I once made :huh: )

Tom - I swear I've told no one about that ................ well. not very many ! - I'm frightened to in case they think that you told me because you thought I'd believe it :lol:

See what happens when you take your hat off - the sun goes to your head !

regards - Tom

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Thanks tom (phew) :blink:

Mark A's picture has lots of little tubes - these are the flash-tubes I mentioned and the things which look like metal wheels (there's one at the lower right-hand corner) are the pistons which pushed out the contents of the shell. The hole in the middle is where the flash-tube was connected.

Tom

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  • 2 weeks later...

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