WW1: What would happen if an aerial bomb was dropped from too high an altitude?
score:2
This is not really a history question, but anyway...
I presume we are talking about shells here, not bombs. You may want to read "High Explosive Shells" By Percy E. Barbour, E. A. Suverkrop (1915) which you can find on Google Books.
Shells can (and did) have dual fuzes so that the shell would explode if it hit something before timer expired. There are many different types of possible fuzing arrangements with widely different outcomes. In World War I, the preferred fuze was a timed fuze so that the shell would burst in the air above the enemy.
Upvote:0
I had always understood that bombs with a timed fuse were designed to detonate at a pre-set period after impact whereas you seem to be suggesting they would detonate a preset period after release.
The timer was chemical rather than mechanical and was designed to be triggered the moment the bomb first hit the surface of it's target (say the roof of a building, or the earth above a bunker). The delay would allow the inertia of the bomb to carry it through the roof and maybe a couple of floors before detonating on the ground floor and hopefully destroying the whole building. A bomb that hits a roof and detonates immediately is mostly likely to only destroy the roof and maybe the top floor, a bomb that detonates on the ground floor may well knock out all the walls a cause a complete collapse. Similarly a bomb that detonates on the surface immediately above a bunker might not destroy it, but a bomb whose inertia has carried it a few feet into the ground before detonating is likely to have a much more damaging effect.
Sorry, I can't actually find any references for this. I've always assumed that this was how bombs worked, I could be wrong (and frequently am)
Upvote:1
In WWII, with better targeting equipment, bombs dropped on Japan from high altitude by B-29s generally missed their targets because of erratic winds. General Curtis LeMay took over command of the Pacific bombing forces and ordered the bombers to come in lower to correct the problem. See http://www.usaaf.net/ww2/hittinghome/hittinghomepg9.htm
Upvote:2
According to "Birth of a Legend. The Bomber Mafia and the Y1B-17" by Capt Arthur H. Wagner, USCG(ret.) and Lt Col Leon E. Braxt, a Bulgarian Air Force pilot suggested the use of aircraft for bombing during the First Balkan War in 1912.
Subsequently, Captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created a number of prototypes. After a number of iterations the final design had an increased payload, an X-Shaped tail, improved aerodynamics and an impact fuse.
Furthermore, the book states that copies of the plans were later sold to Germany, was codenamed Chataldzha, and remained in mass production until the end of WW1.
The paragraph containing this information can be found here (Google Books).
While this doesn't speak for the other combatant nations in WW1, I can't imagine that the technology was that different.
More post
- 📝 Why didn't Royal Navy (columns of) ships turn outwards, rather than inwards?
- 📝 What happened to Caesar's hostages in Gaul?
- 📝 Were there any conquests that Ancient Rome undertook explicitly to gain control of a natural resource?
- 📝 Did any other countries try to breed a race out like what happened in Australia?
- 📝 Why did Franklin D. Roosevelt confiscate gold from the American people during the Great Depression?
- 📝 Did former SS-member Alois Brunner advise Syria on organizing it's Intelligence Service?
- 📝 Primary sources from Umayyad times
- 📝 Why were proconsular appointments so staggered under the Principate?
- 📝 Is Sumer considered by historians as a part of Western Civilization?
- 📝 Has there ever been a society with impartial distribution of privilege and punishment where all members of the society have equal status.
- 📝 Was there ever any co-existence solution to peace with Israel that the Arab Palestinian side proposed or said would accept?
- 📝 What triggered the acceleration in human advancement?
- 📝 How many surface ships have reached the North Pole?
- 📝 In medieval Europe, were children born in an annulled marriage automatically illegitimate?
- 📝 What were pre-internet stock books called?
- 📝 Did the US provide oil assistance to Germany during WW2?
- 📝 At what point did high school become a standard prerequisite for university students in the USA?
- 📝 When did the number of motor driven vehicles surpass the number of horse driven vehicles in Paris, London, Berlin?
- 📝 What does the Latin "prorex" mean in reference to Louis II de Bourbon?
- 📝 What was the first fossil fuel pipeline in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 What is the Ancient Egyptian word for "Fisher"
- 📝 Why are some New Kingdom dates quotes in pairs two years apart?
- 📝 Are there notable incident(s) where Russia/SU was wrongfully accused by Western powers in the 20th century?
- 📝 What are the most comprehensive historical references for ancient India?
- 📝 Can someone help me identify this coin?
- 📝 Any precedents of U.S. presidents having served in other government roles after the ends of their terms?
- 📝 How did the British keep Enigma 'snatches' secret?
- 📝 Did B-17 crews run into difficulty releasing their bombs and does data exist on this?
- 📝 Did the Diggers view property as a sin?
- 📝 What is the painting within this 17th c. painting?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 WW1: What would happen if an aerial bomb was dropped from too high an altitude?
- 📝 What was the typical peasant's diet like in Europe during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 What was the "Favorable result" that the German admiralty was expecting from the naval attack on the Royal Navy in 1918?
- 📝 Was a bomb or shell ever dropped directly down the funnel of a warship?
- 📝 What was the economic impact of WW1 on USA's economy?
- 📝 From 1936-45 what was the prescribed punishment in Nazi Germany for failing to join or participate in the Hitler Youth?
- 📝 Toyotomi Hideyoshi threatened to exterminate all Japanese foxes unless he heard from the god Inari. What was the aftermath (if any)?
- 📝 Before 1961, what did they think would happen to people in weightlessness?
- 📝 What was the first documented mention of American English different from British English?
- 📝 What class / type of ship was the "Dragon" from Rotterdam c. 1732?
- 📝 What was the South actually afraid Lincoln or Congress would do that precipitated the Civil War?
- 📝 Considering what was known about Hitler in 1933, why would German bishops declare that Catholics could cooperate with the new State?
- 📝 What was the price of going from England to New England as a passenger in the 1600s?
- 📝 What evidence exists to say whether or not FDR was planning to use the Atomic Bomb just as Truman did?
- 📝 What was preventing the populace from progressing in medieval times?
- 📝 What percentage of the British Empire's economy was profits from the opium trade?
- 📝 What was the military makeup of the Baltic tribes/Lithuania from 1200 to 1500 AD?
- 📝 What was the first recorded use of Aerial Weapons in warfare?
- 📝 What was the persecuted group that was formally banned from leaving France?
- 📝 What happened in Kazakhstan that its population dropped from 16m to 14m between 1992 - 2001?
- 📝 What route would 1st century BCE travellers have taken from Alexandria to Jerusalem?
- 📝 What was American anti-tank doctrine during WWII on paper, and how did it differ from in practice?
- 📝 What holidays would be on a European-centric calendar from the 11th - 13th Centuries?
- 📝 What was the first book translated from Japanese to any of the European languages?
- 📝 What can I learn from these WW1 shell cases?
- 📝 What was the rate of premarital conceptions in England from 1850 to 1890?
- 📝 What was the price of bread in France from 1789 - 1815?
- 📝 Based on historical experience what would happen if/when the USA/EU fell?
- 📝 What kind of music was played at European, High Middle Age (c. 1100-1400 A.D.) universities' ceremonies?