No. 15 ball grenade

No 15 "Ball Grenade"
Type Time-fused grenade
Place of origin United Kingdom
Service history
In service 1915
Used by United Kingdom
Wars World War I
Production history
Designed 1915
Produced 1915
Specifications
Weight 1 lb 111⁄2 oz[1]
Diameter 3in diameter[1]
Filling Ammonal[1]
Filling weight 51⁄2 oz[1]
Detonation
mechanism
 Timed friction fuse

The No. 15 ball grenade was a grenade used by the British during World War I.

Overview

The No 15 was a time-fused grenade. It was internally fragmented and incorporated a cast-iron body.

To light the grenade, the user had to remove a covering that was on the fuse, then strike an external Brock matchhead igniter against the fuse.

There were two types of fuses available; the five-second and the nine-second. The former was intended for throwing, while the latter was intended for catapults.

History

The No 15 was one of the interim grenades created because of the problems associated with the No 1 grenade.[2] Unlike the others, the No 15 had been created specifically for the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, mostly for the fighting in the Dardanelles.[3]

While crude, the No 15 did well in the Dardanelles. In addition, it could easily be mass-produced; in September 1915, more than 200,000 No 15s were created per week.[3]

However, there were a few problems; the explosive charge was too large, which created smaller-than-expected fragmentation when the grenade exploded. In addition, it was considered too large because of its 3 in circumference.[4] These problems were remedied with the No 16 oval grenade.

Battle of Loos

The No 15 was first widely used in the Battle of Loos. Tacticians envisioned that the No 15 would be useful in breaching German defenses and trench clearing.[3] The No 15 was used because production of the No 5 "Mills bomb" was running seriously behind planned figures, and not enough of them could be supplied before the start of the Loos campaign.[4]

When the Battle for Loos started, the No 15 was beset with problems, in particular the wet conditions encountered made the fuse almost useless.[4] It was estimated that approximately 18 out of 20 No 15's failed to ignite due to inoperative fuses.[3]

On November 20, 1915, the No 15 and its cousin, the No 16, were withdrawn from France and were replaced with the No 5 "Mills bomb".[5]

Variants

No 16 "oval grenade"

The No 16 is essentially an improved version of the No 15. Instead of a ball shape, it has an oval shape and has less explosive charge. It was planned to completely replace the No 15, but the defeat at Loos caused both the No 15 and No 16 to be withdrawn from service, as they both had the same lighting system.[4]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ainsile, "Hand Grenades" p.17.
  2. ↑ Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p.16.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p.24.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p.25.
  5. ↑ Saunders, Weapons of the Trench War, p. 27.
Bibliography

External links