What was shrapnel used for

Shrapnel consisted of a hollow shell which was packed internally with typically small steel balls or lead, together with an amount of gunpowder, and was the most common form of artillery deployed in Managed by a timed fuse shrapnel was designed to explode while in mid-air above the enemy's trench positions.

The rapid dispersal of the shell's contents, be it lead or steel, was designed to cause maximum casualties with minimal artillery effort; in essence a modern-day equivalent of the previous century's grapeshot. Inevitably shrapnel was best utilised against troops advancing across open land rather than against those huddled in more or less effective trench dugouts; in this case high explosive shells - which broke into many fragments upon detonation - were generally preferred.

Or did they have an improved variant of it? I visited the regiment and asked questions everywhere. No one knew of anyone wounded by shrapnel. When I hunted up the surgeon who had first mentioned shrapnel, and told him that practically all the casualties in the 22d were from shell fragments, he said, "That's what I told you.

Since then I have frequently noticed the misuse of "shrapnel" by newspaper men, radio commentators and historians This image depicts two shrapnel balls from a World War I era mm. The intended destructive effect of the shrapnel projectile against men and animals came from the shrapnel balls. The projectile casing, which merely acted as a carrier for the shrapnel balls, was not designed to fracture or fragment.

Some World War I era shrapnel projectiles contained a mixture of two sized balls. The smaller balls, intended for anti-personnel use, constituted approximately ninety per cent of the shrapnel round. The remaining percentage of larger balls were included to disable or kill horses. The intended destructive effect of high explosive rounds came from the action of the high explosive charge coupled with the fragmentation of the projectile casing. Whereas a shrapnel round was intended to kill or injure people and animals, high explosive rounds were originally designed to damage or destroy inanimate objects such as buildings and field guns.

In the s, a British lieutenant named Henry Shrapnel developed a long-range artillery shell, packed with lead shot, that used a delayed-action fuse. Shrapnel's shell was designed to explode near or above the heads of enemy soldiers, causing widespread death and injury, according to Wired.

After the device helped the British secure victory over Napoleon's troops at the Battle of Waterloo in , Shrapnel was recognized as a national hero. Today, bombs containing shrapnel are one of the favorite weapons used by terrorists, suicide bombers and other militants, since they can be cheaply constructed, easily hidden and can spread panic and bloodshed over a wide area.

There are dozens of variations of the shrapnel bomb, but most follow the basic design of a pipe bomb: a hollow section of steel pipe capped at both ends; a low-grade explosive element either gunpowder or some chemical compound attached to a fuse; and metal shrapnel packed inside the hollow pipe. When the low-grade explosion occurs, the pressure inside the steel pipe amplifies the explosive force, creating a much more powerful blast than would be achieved without the steel outer shell.

According to the Associated Press , the bombs used at the Boston Marathon contained gunpowder, small nails and metal ball bearings housed inside pressure cookers kitchen pots with lockable lids that create a high-pressure environment not unlike a pipe bomb.

Trauma surgeons and militia experts describe the effects of a pipe bomb or shrapnel bomb using four categories, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC. Primary injuries are caused by the initial blast wave, which generally affects air-containing organs.

Lung injuries and ruptured ear drums are common among people closest to a detonated bomb; sources including the Miami Herald report numerous ear injuries among the wounded in Boston.