SHRAPNEL 



5363 



SHRAPNEL 



army in 1784, and is now recognized as the 

 most reliable and effective of all modern shells. 

 The shell contains a number of balls and a 



CROSS SECTION OF SHRAPNEL 

 The ordinary shrapnel shell is about ten and 

 one-half inches long and nine and one-half inches 

 in circumference, and costs the purchasing gov- 

 ernment $15. Hundreds of thousands of these 

 shells were fired daily during the War of the Na- 

 tions. 



charge of powder which bursts the shell, im- 

 parting to each bullet the velocity of the shell 

 as a whole at the moment of bursting. 



Effectiveness. Destructive effect over as 

 large an area as possible is sought by the use 

 of shrapnel, which on land is used mainly for 

 clearing covered spaces, dislodging the enemy 

 from entrenched positions, or to destroy troops 

 in open positions, by the shower of bullets 

 forced out by the explosion of the shell. Fired 

 at what is called effective range, which varies 

 according to the caliber of the gun, the bullets 

 from shrapnel shell sweep an area of about 250 

 yards by 30 yards, the forward movement of 

 the bullets being more than eight times greater 

 than the lateral speed. German field guns fired 

 at 3,300 yards, the most effective range, using 

 a Krupp shell with a steel body, strike with 

 great effect nearer underneath the explosion 

 than any other shell yet introduced. This shell 

 is effective when used against deeply en- 



Effect of Shrapnel Cone of Bullets _ ^ N 



"" ' II 



THE DEADLY HAIL OF BULLETS FROM SHRAPNEL SHELLS 



Behind a curtain of fire such as is shown in the illustration troops may advance upon an enemy 

 with assurance that they will not be attacked by a hostile advance. 



Changes in Modern Shells. With the intro- 

 duction of the rifled barrels for big guns, the 

 shell was altered, but the principle remained 

 the same. In modern shrapnel the size of the 

 bullets has been reduced and the number con- 

 tained in the shell therefore increased; now the 

 total effective weight of the bullets contained 

 is equal to about fifty-three per cent of the 

 total weight of the shell. The bursting charge 

 may be placed at the base or at the front of 

 the shell, and in naval shrapnel is sometimes 

 placed in the center. The 5-inch British how- 

 itzer fires a shell of 45 pounds weight, contain- 

 ing 22 % pounds of bullets, the firing charge 

 being 9%a pounds of cordite, giving effective 

 range up to 11,000 yards. The original shrap- 

 nel shells contained bullets weighing 18 to 34 

 to the pound, about one-quarter of the total 

 weight of the shell being bullets. The modern 

 field guns of 3-inch caliber fire shrapnel con- 

 taining about 365 bullets, 42 bullets weighing 

 a pound. The United States 3-inch shrapnel 

 contains 242 bullets, each about one-half inch 

 in diameter. 



trenched positions, the bullets coming almost 

 directly down on to the men in the trenches. 



The fuse by which shrapnel is exploded may 

 be set for time, for the instant of concussion, 

 or may be prepared to explode when even 

 slightly grazing an obstacle. The explosion on 

 graze is of great advantage when firing against 

 shielded guns. 



The bullets from shrapnel shell inflict a 

 wound of quite a different character from that 

 caused by a modern rifle bullet, which makes a 

 clean puncture and practically sears its own 

 wound. The shrapnel bullet has high velocity, 

 but it has not the steadiness of the rifle bullet, 

 which revolves on its own axis; therefore, it is 

 liable to make a much larger and more jagged 

 wound than its size would necessitate if of 

 steady flight. The shell itself also bursts into 

 pieces of uneven size and inflicts terrible in- 

 juries. 



The shrapnel mostly in use in the United 

 States army is what is called the 3.2-inch shrap- 

 nel, with the explosive charge in front of the 

 bullets. The total weight of the shell fired 



