Explosive performance of the USAAF's mainly US bombs in WW2

[Barnie65]

Hello
Can anyone tell me what explosive power the individual GP bombs had (100lb, 250lb, 300lb, 500lb, 1000lb) or what damage they caused?

 

[cvairwerks]

The power of the individual bombs would be based on style and size. GP's are filled with one of three compounds....TNT, Amatol or Comp B. Comp B is a mixture of RDX and TNT. Case design, wall thickness and fuzing all come into play to determine the destructive power. From a purely chemical stand point, you can figure that any of the bombs contain between 14 and 51% of the drop weight in explosive filler. As an example, the AN-M30, which is one of the 100 pound GP's, weighs 108 lbs at release and has just over 54 pounds of explosive filler.

TM-9-1980 is a good source of WW2 era info for US ordinance, while OP-998 and OP-1664 Volume 1 and 2, cover various other ordinance items.

 

[Frank Stewart]

Hello
Can anyone tell me what explosive power the individual GP bombs had (100lb, 250lb, 300lb, 500lb, 1000lb) or what damage they caused?

Find an old encyclopedia from the late 40s-early 50s, and look up bombs.

 

[ThomasP]

Try "Terminal Ballistic Data Vol. III" from 1945 - it should answer most questions re the effects the ordnance has on various targets. Between that and the ordnance manuals cvairwerks mentioned in his post above you will have most of the generally available data at the end of WWII for the US bombs.

 

[pbehn]

Find an old encyclopedia from the late 40s-early 50s, and look up bombs.

But dont google "bombs"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Barnie65]

Thanks for the answers, the "Terminal Ballistic Data Vol. III" from 1945 already answers a few questions for me.
I'll look for the other TMs and OP and hope that I can get them as PDFs so I can print them out

 

[cvairwerks]

TM-9-1980 can be found here:

https://hangarthirteen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/9-1980-Bombs-for-Aircraft.pdf

OP-1664 and various others can be found here:

Ordnance Pamphlets

OP 0, Index of Ordnance Publications (1946) OP 4, Ammunition (1923) OP 4, Ammunition (1943) OP 63, Depth Charge Projector Mk 1 (1918) OP 831, Depth Charge Projector Mk 6 (1944)

www.bulletpicker.com

For probably all you would want to know about the subject, here's the gateway...

Home

Ordnance, Explosives, and Related Items The Bulletpicker site or software is not to be considered Demining, Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), or Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) inf

www.bulletpicker.com

 

[Barnie65]

Thanks

 

[33k in the air]

Thanks for the answers, the "Terminal Ballistic Data Vol. III" from 1945 already answers a few questions for me.
I'll look for the other TMs and OP and hope that I can get them as PDFs so I can print them out

I would also suggest the following:

Effects of Impact and Explosion — Summary Technical Report of Division 2, NDRC — Volume 1. You can download it from the Library of Congress website using this link. Select from the drop-down menu the format (PDF by default) and click the 'Go' button. The file will open in a new browser tab. Once it finishes loading you can save the file to your hard drive. Note that it is a big file: 533 total pages, 404 MB in size.

Aircraft Munitions versus Specific Targets — Volume 1 — Munitions

Explosives and Terminal Ballistics — A Report Prepared for the AAF Scientific Advisory Group

I believe the latter two can be found at the excellent Bulletpicker website.

 

[33k in the air]

As an example, the AN-M30, which is one of the 100 pound GP's, weighs 108 lbs at release and has just over 54 pounds of explosive filler.

The exact figures vary sometimes between reference sources, due in part to natural variances within the ordnance itself.. The AN-M30/M30A1 had a filling of either 53-54 lbs of Amatol 50-50, or 56-57 lbs of TNT, or 63 lbs of Tritonal. Composition 'B' does not seem to have been used in this class of bomb.