Photoflash bomb

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19-pound (8.6 kg) Flashbombs are loaded into a photo-reconnaissance De Havilland Mosquito at Melsbroek, Belgium. c.1944
A photoflash bomb detonates over La Spezia during an air-raid on the night of 13-14 April 1943. It has illuminated the town's dockyard and a berthed battleship (marked with an 'A'). The silhouette of one of the attacking Avro Lancaster bombers can be seen

A photoflash bomb, or flash bomb, is

nighttime optics, satellite imagery, and stealth aircraft, these bombs are no longer used by the military.[citation needed
]

Construction

There were several models of photoflash bombs, but most had a similar construction and makeup. For example, the M23A1 was constructed of a cardboard tube, capped on both ends with metal "plugs." The tube was then filled with a flash powder "charge" and a fuse. The fuse would be attached to the hanging wire using a standard friction wire, which would ignite the flash powder after a specified delay. In this specific model of ordnance, the flash would last approximately 1/5th of a second after detonation.[1]

Recent events

On 19 July 2015, a World War II-era M122 (45 kg or 100 lb) photoflash bomb washed ashore at

Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from MacDill Air Force Base responded to the scene and detonated the device.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Photoflash bombs". OP 1664, US Explosive Ordnance. Bureau of Ordnance. 1947. pp. 262–264.
  2. ^ "M46 Photoflash Bomb". Carpetbagger Museum. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  3. ^ Camille Spencer; Adam Winer (July 19, 2015). "Authorities detonate M122 photo flash bomb that washed up on St. Pete Beach". Archived from the original on April 26, 2017.

External links

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