According to this link, http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/weapons/ordnance/25pounder.htm a hollow charge round was developed for the 25 Pounder but never issued. I find that puzzling. Does anyone have any more information on this? (Development and capabilites of the round, why it wasn't issued, etc.) Thanks.
Ian Hogg's British and American Artillery of World War 2 has some info. - to summarise: Development started 1940, but little was known about HEAT warhead design then, plus there was a lot of trouble in developing a suitably sensitive base fuze, so a looong time was spent in R&D. By the time they were getting it sorted, they discovered that HEAT didn't work too well with a spun shell, and that the Wallbuster (HESH) approach seemed more promising, so they cancelled the HEAT in 1944.
Thanks Tony, I thought you would know if anyone did. That Canadian link did mention a HESH round. Did that get into service before the war was over?
The theory and use was a well known principle - The Munroe effect was the later work of an earlier German mining engineer on shaped charges. The Munroe Torpedo lecture 1888: The long RD trail? https://archive.org/stream/lecturesonchemi00munrgoog#page/n6/mode/2up Munroe effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_charge#Munroe_effect
Hi Tony Williams, Quote "they discovered that HEAT didn't work too well with a spun shell" Because the rotation of the projectile caused the focused jet from the shaped charge to disapate on impact reducing penetration. Hence the Plastic "Slipping Ring" on the Projectile of the 84mm Carl Gustav Medium Anti Tank Gun. The slipping Ring reduced the rotation of the shot in the barrel and the "Boat Shaped Tail" stabalized the projectile in flight. Regards, Mick D.
Yet they produced a HEAT round for the 95mm Howitzer, albeit with a nose fuse. I suppose this was worth pursuing to give the original 'infantry gun' and the later 'close support' tank gun some degree of anti-tank capability, however limited.
I am familiar with the general hollow-charge principle, I just found it odd that the 25 Pdr never got a HEAT round when so many contemporary field guns did. The US 75mm and 105mm howitzers certainly had them, as did the British 95mm tank howitzer. I don't know how effective these rounds were or how often they were actually used in combat, though I have seen some fairly respectable penetration figures quoted.
Hogg doesn't mention it. The Wallbuster shell was developed in conjunction with the Burney recoilless guns, which were of course a lot lighter than conventional artillery (and culminated in the 120mm Wombat/Mobat anti-tank guns).
When Atk was a serious issue for 25-pr the solid shot rounds could do the trick against the German armour that provided the targets. It was enhanced by the extra increments and muzzle brakes. After 1942 25-pr engaging tanks became a tad unusual. It's always useful to remember that the first Tigers the UK met were dealt with by 6-pr. A HEAT round was developed for 3.7-in How, all production being delivered to Burma, obviously. Japanese tanks were not exactly noted for their state of the art heavy armour. 25-pr HESH entered service after the war, IIRC it had a land service number, which would be a clue if my memory is right.
