The Grenade, Rifle No. 68 /AT was a British anti-tank hand grenade used during World War II. 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... A WWII-era pineapple fragmentation hand grenade A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb designed to be thrown by hand. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ...
Overview
The No. 68 was an early form of shaped charge grenade, and has some claim to be the first High explosive anti-tank device in use. The design of the warhead was simple and failed to include several features which would have improved performance. That said, it was still capable of penetrating 2 inches (50 mm) of armour in 1940. A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the released energy. ... High explosive anti-tank, more commonly known as HEAT, rounds are made of an explosive shaped charge that uses the Neumann effect (a development of the Munroe effect) to create a very high velocity jet of metal in a state of superplasticity that can punch through solid armor. ...
Detonation occurred on impact when a striker in the tail of the grenade was thrown forward into the fuse.
The grenade was armed by removing a pin in the tail that held the striker. The grenade was launched from a rifle cup. The simple fins gave it some stability in the air and provided the grenade impacted the target at the proper angle (90 degrees) the charge would be effective.
The use of tripwire-triggered grenades (along with Claymores and landmines in general) is banned under the Ottawa Treaty and may be treated as a war crime wherever it is ratified.
Classical "pineapple" grenades, such as the Mills bomb, used smokeless powder and cast-iron shells, which (in theory) would fragment along deliberately cast weak points in the shell—although the pattern on the grenade body was actually intended to allow the user to have a firm grip on the grenade.
This means that the grenade has to hit the vehicle at an exact right angle for the effect to work properly, which is usually achieved by the grenade deploying a small drogue parachute or fabric streamers after being thrown.
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