Mystery shell.

[GySgt1811]

Originally Posted by andwaahs

thanks for the reference Gunny, I think its the same era as the previous shell which turned out to be shrapnel (lead balls) flechete isnt a to big of a step and I think the pot of gold theory is just wishful thinking.
if i understand correct, the calibration ring would set a time/distance/altitute that needed to be met before the fuze became armed? hence this could have been fired and not exploded if it fell short?

Not quite...

On ours it was a "time" thing which, of course, related to distance traveled. It worked like this; I would spot the target and announce to the crew, "Gunner, BeeHive, Troops in the open, Range 9'er zero zero meters." [900 meters from the tank.] The gunner, when he picked them up in his sights would announce, "Identified." The loader would take the BeeHive round from the ready rack and turn the range ring on the nose to "900", place the round in the breech and announce "Up!"
I, the Tank Commander, would command "Fire" and the gunner, when he was satisfied with his sight picture, would announce "On the WAAAAY!" and fire the main gun.

The BeeHive round would time itself (based upon time of flight for a given range) and automatically detonate 75 meters before the 900 meter setting so as to give the fletchettes time to disperse to do their dirty work. All this was done mechanically by a ballistically compensated cammed fuse whose initial activation was caused by the firing force of the round. On our BeeHive round, if the range was NOT preset before firing, the round detonated 75 meters from the muzzle...I guess figuring the crew was already in deep do do and didn't have time to mess with ranging.

I understand that before the invention of fletchettes, early arty rounds employed a load of metal balls...sort of a modern equivalent of grape shot.

Nasty business all around. I do so hope yours is filled with gold coins.

Best Regards,

Gunny John