The
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
RGD-33 (''Ручная Граната Дьяконова образца 33 года'' >''Ruchnaya Granata Djakonova obraztsa 33 goda'', "Hand Grenade, Dyakonov design, pattern year
93") is an
anti-personnel
An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles ga ...
fragmentation stick
grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
developed in 1933.
The grenade was composed of three separate pieces that were stored in different crates until use: the warhead and sleeve, spring-loaded handle, and fuze tube. They were assembled and issued only before combat. The warhead and handle were screwed together and carried in a grenade pouch and the fuzes were wrapped in waxed paper and carried separately in the pouch's internal pocket. There was a hole in the outer handle to the right of the thumb catch that lined up with bars of paint on the inner handle, making a colored dot - a white dot meant safe and a red dot meant the handle assembly was cocked. It would not be armed unless the fuze tube had been inserted, which would be done only before throwing.
Use
![Soviet RGD-33 hand grenade with fragmentation jacket (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Soviet_RGD-33_hand_grenade_with_fragmentation_jacket_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Before arming, a locking catch on the outer handle must be released by flipping it to the left, exposing the white dot in the cutout. (This unlocks the inner and outer handles; the inner handle remains fixed and the outer handle rotates.) The operator then grasps the warhead with their offhand and grips the handle with their throwing hand. The handle is then pulled back, rotated clockwise to the right and pushed in; a red dot will appear in the window to indicate it was now cocked. The thumb safety is now pushed to the right to cover the red dot in the cutout, making it safe. The top of the warhead had a metal cover over the fuze well that was pushed aside, allowing the fuse to be inserted; it is disarmed by pushing the catch open, causing the fuze to pop out and be retrieved.
The operator arms the fuze by flipping the switch to the left, exposing the red dot. The operator then throws the grenade; a good throw could send the grenade 30 to 40 metres. The forward momentum of the head and the spring-loaded handle cause the fuze clip to drop back and then move forward, striking the fuze and beginning the time delay.
Upon detonation the shell fragments in rectangular, thin fragments, which, along with the casing and detonator fragments, decelerate rapidly in air. Due to the fragments' rapid loss of velocity, the kill radius is small, making this grenade an "offensive" type. The fragmentation kill radius was approximately 15 metres with the sleeve and 10 metres without. As with most grenades of this era, there is potential for large fragment projection a great distance further than the throw.
The grenade was unusual but not unique, in that it had an optional "jacket" – a thick metal fragmentation sleeve weighing an average of 270 grams. When fitted over the grenade the sleeve improves the kill radius by producing a number of diamond-shaped, heavier fragments. With the jacket installed the grenade was said to be in "defensive" mode.
History
It was designed to replace the ageing
Model 1914 grenade
The Model 1914 grenade (''Ручная граната образца 1914 года'' > ''Ruchnaya granata obraztsa 1914 goda'', "Hand Grenade Pattern of year 1914") is a Russian stick concussion grenade (fragmentation grenade via an optional jacke ...
and was used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The grenade was complicated to use and manufacture. After the
German invasion of the USSR
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
, the simple and crude
RG-42
The Soviet RG-42 (Ручная Граната образца 42 года > ''Ruchnaya Granata obraztsa 42 goda'', "Hand Grenade pattern of 92 year") was a fragmentation grenade designed by S.G. Korshunov.
It was originally introduced during Wo ...
was developed to slowly replace it.
Axis forces used captured stores as the HG 337(r), or ''Handgranate 337'' (''russische'').
See also
*
Model 24 grenade
''Stielhandgranate'' is the German term for "stick hand grenade" (translation: "shaft hand grenade") and generally refers to a prominent series of World War I and World War II-era German stick grenade designs, distinguished by their long wood ...
*
List of Russian weaponry
The following is a list of modern Russian small arms and light weapons which were in service in 2016:
Handguns
Revolvers
Pistols
Special purpose
Submachine guns
Special purpose
Shotguns
Rifles
Bolt-action
Semi-a ...
External links
Finnish Junkyard
{{WWIIUSSRInfWeapons
Hand grenades of the Soviet Union
World War II infantry weapons of the Soviet Union
Fragmentation grenades
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s