The Type 3 "anti-tank" hand grenade is a Japanese grenade produced from 1943 to 1945 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 ...

. It was designed to destroy the

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' tanks. There are three variants (sub-types) of the weapon: ''Ko'' (Type A), ''Otsu'' (Type B), and ''Hei'' (Type C).

History

Throughout

, the U.S bombings gradually degraded the Japanese munition manufacturing base. Manufacturers were soon forced to find new, inexpensive and creative ways to produce grenades. Contrary to the Russians or Germans, the heavy armour threat was not very present, thus explaining the late development of the hollow charge. The Type 3 had a simplistic design and was made from expendable materials. This made the weapon relatively easy to produce. Examples of this Japanese grenade are extremely hard to find today.

Design

The Type 3 grenade had a tear drop-like shape. It consisted of a thin steel or aluminium cone mounted on a wooden head. The purpose of the head was to provide the correct stand-off distance when the weapon detonated, as shaped charges are ineffective if they detonate too close to the target. The explosive was cast around the cone and covered by a cloth bag made of either silk or hemp twine. The upper extremity was made of a very basic impact firing mechanism, that detonated the grenade if it struck a hard surface at a speed of around . A tail made from hemp strands served to stabilize the grenade in flight, and ensured the target was struck successfully. The grenade would be used by first removing the safety pin, then throwing it by hand from a distance of around . The grenade had a penetration power of . This shows that it exceeds the penetration of the Type 99 magnetic grenade.

Sub-Types

There were three official variants of the Type 3 hand grenade: ;''Ko'' (Type A): This variant had a length of , a diameter of and a weight of . The explosive filling was of

RDX RDX (abbreviation of "Research Department eXplosive") or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (O2N2CH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified as a n ...

/ TNA. The colour of the outer cloth covering was either white or brown-yellow. ;''Otsu'' (Type B): These had a length of , a diameter of and a weight of . The explosive filling was

PETN Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian) TEN, corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material. It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythri ...

and TNT with a weight of . The outer covering was either white or brown-yellow. ;''Hei'' (Type C): This variant was identical in size and weight to the ''Otsu'' Type B, however the explosive filling was

Picric acid Picric acid is an organic compound with the formula (O2N)3C6H2OH. Its IUPAC name is 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP). The name "picric" comes from el, πικρός (''pikros''), meaning "bitter", due to its bitter taste. It is one of the most acidic ...

. The colour was yellow.

Sources

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 99 43 Anti-tank grenades Hand grenades of Japan Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1943