Sticky bomb

Sticky bomb
Manufacture of ST Grenades
General Information
Designation:	Grenade, hand, anti-tank No. 74
Type:	Squeeze head
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Kay Brothers Company
Development:	Stuart Macrae
Commissioning:	1940
Technical specifications
Combat weight:	1.02 kg
Charge:	680 g of nitroglycerin and cellulose nitrate
Length:	230 mm
Diameter:	100 mm
Lists on the subject

The Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank No. 74 , better known as "ST grenade" or "sticky bomb" (Engl. For Sticky ), was a British hand grenade antitank that in World War II developed because of the threat of a German invasion in the short term as part of a defense emergency program of the British Ministry of Defense from 1940 and was produced.

development

Schematic structure of a "sticky bomb"

Home Guard men during an anti-tank exercise in 1943 with No.74 shells next to a Valentine tank

In 1940, under the impression of an imminent German invasion , there was a great need in England for effective and quickly available anti-tank weapons. The Grenade, Hand, Anti-Tank No. 74 was developed by Stuart Macrae as an employee of the "MD 1" (Ministry of Defense, Department 1), a special department of the Ministry of Defense. Outside of the usual bureaucracy, the department independently designed innovative projects such as the Limpet mine or the PIAT launcher. In the case of this weapon, Churchill overruled experts in other departments who considered the weapon to be inadequate because it did not stick to wet or dirty surfaces and personally ordered the construction of a million sticky bombs.

construction

The 1002 gram sticky bomb consisted of a bakelite handle that contained the ignition device and onto which a spherical glass flask with a diameter of 100 mm was screwed. The flask was filled with an explosive based on nitroglycerin and cellulose nitrate . The glass bulb was sewn into a tight-fitting, knitted fabric. Finally, this fabric cover was soaked in an adhesive solution made from bird glue . For transport, the adhesive part was enclosed in a two-part, spherical protective cover made of sheet metal.

commitment

The user removed the protective cover from the weapon by pulling the safety on the upper part of the handle. He released the fuse on the lower end of the handle, but continued to hold the safety lever on the handle. He then hit or threw the bomb with the glass bulb at the enemy vehicle so forcefully that the bulb broke and the viscous explosive was partially released and distributed on the target. The adhesive cover, together with the detonator attached to it, stuck to the target in the handle. The explosive was ignited five seconds after releasing the safety lever and produced a shock wave that, according to the principles of the squeeze-head projectile , was intended to destroy a lightly armored target with armor no more than 25 mm thick.

user

The weapon was never approved for use in the regular British Army: the adhesive effect was insufficient to adhere to dirty, wet or oily armored vehicles, but was strong enough to allow the weapon to adhere to the uniforms of its own soldiers. The whole project was classified as "highly deserving of rejection". The Sticky Bomb was used almost exclusively to equip the Home Guard .

See also

• List of explosive weapons

literature

• John Weeks: Men Against Tanks: A History of Anti-Tank Warfare. David & Charles, 1975, ISBN 0-7153-6909-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ also: ST grenade (= Sticky Type) according to Postan, MM; Hay, D .; Scott, JD (1964). Design and Development of Weapons: Studies in Government and Industrial Organization. History of the Second World War. Stationery Office Books. ISBN 978-0-11-630089-8 , p. 268.
2. ↑ John H. Maurer in: Churchill and the Strategic Dilemmas before the World Wars: Essays in Honor of Michael I. Handel. 2014, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-76142-0 , pp. 142, 143.
3. ^ Navy Department, Bureau of Ordonance: British Explosive Ordnance. 1946, p. 380 ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ War Office: The ST Grenade. Tank Hunting and Destruction, Military Training Manual No 42, Appendix C. 1940.
5. ↑ "most objectionable" after Stuart Hylton: Kent and Sussex 1940: Britain`s Frontline. Pen & Sword, 2004, ISBN 1-84415-084-4 , p. 44