Smoke munitions grenade

Nuclear and non-nuclear munitions (to include mines, grenades, demolition devices, explosives, explosive devices and initiators) except chemical and smoke munitions assigned to Edgewood Arsenal... 

Uses As a screening smoke in burning type of munitions (grenades, candles, smoke pots, smoke floats, special air bombs). 

With the exception of the hand grenade, type AN-M8, which contains 19 oz of HC mixture (2 min B.T.) and is thrown, HC-smoke munitions belong to the largest of the strictly pyrotechnic munitions. The Ml Smoke Pot (ffC) contains lO lb, the M5 Smoke Pot HC) 301b of composition in addition, they can be stacked for multiplication of the 5—20 min of smoke emission. First fires for the HC-smokes will be discussed in Chapter 23. 

Airplane spray tanks were not as widely or as frequently employed as smoke pots, grenades, mechanical generators, and other ground smoke munitions. In amphibious landings, paratroop drops, and situations where a wall of protective smoke had to be erected quickly between American and enemy forces, smoke tanks nonetheless proved to be valuable, efficient devices. 

The loading of colored smoke munitions was confined to two CWS arsenals, Edgewood and Huntsville. By far, most of the loading was done at Huntsville. There the colored smoke was loaded into Ml6 and M18 grenades, and M22 and M23 rifle grenades, furnished by the Ordnance Department, and canisters for 105-mm. and 155-mm. Ordnance shells. 

In loading the Ml6 grenades, and all other colored smoke munitions, safety was the biggest problem. The danger of fire from dust and other causes was always present. Workers had to wear fireproofed clothing and safety shoes at all times. The plants had to have sprinkler systems, and the workers had to be taught how to use them. Dust was not only a fire hazard, but it also caused some workers to become ill for several hours at a stretch. 

The burning rate of delay compositions can be very fast (mm ms 1) or quite slow (mm s-1). Delay compositions which have a fast burn rate of greater than 1 mm ms-1 are used in projectiles and bombs that explode on impact. Delay compositions which have a slow burn rate between 1 and 6 mm s-1 are used in ground chemical munitions such as smoke pots, tear gas and smoke grenades. Delay compositions which have intermediate burn rates are used in effective blasting in quarries and salt mines. Here, the explosions in the boreholes are staggered to reduce vibration and improve fragmentation. 

In the military, white phosphorus is used in ammunitions such as mortar and artillery shells, and grenades. When ammunitions containing white phosphorus are fired in the field, they burn and produce smoke. The smoke contains some unbumt phosphorus, but it mainly has various burned phosphorus products. In military operations, such smoke is used to conceal troop movements and to identify targets or the locations of friendly forces. White phosphorus munitions are intended to burn or firebomb the opponents, in other words, to effectively produce widespread damage but not kill the enemy. 

None (21) None needed None needed Burning-type munitions ortiy grenades candles smoko floats special uir houibs 1 yellow band liC smoke... 

Postwar Development of Smoke Grenades.—The phospliorus combination hand-and-rifle grenade wa.s a very successful munition and was by far the most effective and useful chemical grenade in the late war. Because it was so satisfactory in the war, nothing has been done since to develop a more effective smoko grenade, and the World War type of combination hand-and-rifle smoke grenade remains today the most effective device of its kind,... 

The terrors of the gas cloud and the artillery bombardment were combined in a weapon which the Germans came to view with particular horror. A captured German document spoke of the violent explosion of a projector attack volcanic sheets of flame or the simultaneous occurrence of many gun flashes, thick black smoke clouds, powerful concussion, whistling and noise of impact up to 2,5 seconds after the flash of discharge. .. the noise resembles that of an exploding dump of hand grenades. 32 At Arras, the German gun crews were forced to wear their masks for hours on end many ran out of ammunition as the gas killed hundreds of horses used to carry munitions up to the front. 

At the end of World War I, there were four million shells in the United States inventory. World War I ordnance such as the Livens projectile and Stokes mortar were outmoded by World War II, resulting in burials and dumping. Leaking ordnance was a continual problem. Add to that the 1,343,728 World War II chemical bombs, and the 13,550,613 World War II chemical mortar rounds not used in World War II, and the probability of substantial buried chemical weapons becomes a certainty, in addition to the tremendous numbers of currently stockpiled ordnance. Also, even current inventory ordnance would have an occasional leaking or damaged munition. In addition, experimental ordnance, grenades, rockets, candles, spray tanks, smoke pots, and cylinders are also burial candidates. Where is the question state and local regulators need to repeatedly ask. 

At the end of May, Shadle expressed his satisfaction with the chemical offensive potential and ammunition status in the North African theater. His view seems to have been overly optimistic since smoke pots, tear gas, and HC smoke grenades were the only ammunition items available in sufficient supply. All the chemical supply officers reported urgent requests for unavailable white phosphorus grenades. The Twelfth Air Force reported limited quantities of ANM50A1 4-pound incendiary bombs, a few Mja yoo-pound incendiary bomb clusters, and a considerable number of My4 loo-pound incendiary bomb clusters. There was no other chemical ammunition in the theater although the New York port had promised that 120 days supply of high explosive and smoke shell was en route for the three chemical mortar battalions which had recently arrived in the theater. Aside from a small amount of artillery shell stored by Ordnance, no toxics were available in the theater and none was scheduled to arrive until the fall of 1943. The March theater plan for gas warfare, the first such plan, was based on meeting possible enemy gas attack with this plainly inadequate supply of artillery shell. The new War Department policy for retaliation in event of enemy initiation of gas warfare called for the use of aerial munitions as the principal gas weapons. Shadle s satisfaction with the toxic supply status can be explained by the fact that he did not con-... 

In mid-1940 the only smoke-producing munitions available to the U.S. Army were smoke shells, pots, grenades, and airplane smoke tanks. These munitions were satisfactory for establishing transitory curtains and could be used to a limited extent for blanketing enemy positions, but they were unsuitable for maintaining smoke screens over wide areas of friendly terrain because of the limited amount of smoke they produced and because artillery and mortar shells could not be impacted... 

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