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naval charges ?
- Thread starter roller63
- Start date
paul the grenade
Well-Known Member
HI.
These are charges for the explosive (or acoustic)
sweep which was used in the Navy for mine
countermeasures. The inert version is an operational
store. There were three loadings, something like 2oz, 1 oz and
1/2 oz of HE and they were set up in a
magazine of say (cos I cannot remember the actual
number) 20 grenades and they were dispensed to give a
particular explosive/acoustic signature. It shouldn't
have a lever as the magazine held off the striker.
The contraption was called an
Explosive Sweep Mark III - the Marks I & II used No 36
grenades I believe.
Cheers, Paul.
These are charges for the explosive (or acoustic)
sweep which was used in the Navy for mine
countermeasures. The inert version is an operational
store. There were three loadings, something like 2oz, 1 oz and
1/2 oz of HE and they were set up in a
magazine of say (cos I cannot remember the actual
number) 20 grenades and they were dispensed to give a
particular explosive/acoustic signature. It shouldn't
have a lever as the magazine held off the striker.
The contraption was called an
Explosive Sweep Mark III - the Marks I & II used No 36
grenades I believe.
Cheers, Paul.
Hi Paul, Many thanks for that, pretty much what I knew about them but I was not sure what their purpose was. I have some that were converted by the Belgian Army and used as offensive hand grenades on land. There is a post here smoewhere about them. Nice to see you on the Forum, I check your website regularly and we have had dealings before, regards, Tony.
Just found this thread whilst looking for info on this item... Were these ever intended for/used in an anti-diver/swimmer role (in British service)?
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Not as far as I am aware. In British Service I believe they were just used in the acoustic sweep apparatus. They were held in a magazine with the rat trap mechanism held safe by a runner in the magazine (ie there was no fly-off lever on these charges). Incidentally the INERT loaded charge was an Operational store used to create a sound signature 'space'.
The Royal Navy had charges based on the GP Grenades which were available for anti-swimmer purposes. The 'Scare Charge' contained nearly a pound of TNT which may suggest that the AX/ES charges were of inadequate payload for anti saboteur devices however I would be interested to hear if the AX/ES charges were used by the RN as hand grenades, it must have been very tempting.
Whole system ,,,,,, Dave
I don't know if they were used by the RN as handgrenade, but they were for sure used in Belgian army as Offensive sweep grenade in the late 60's (but only for a short time)
A special adaptor screw was placed on them, so they would accept a PRB M60 fuze mechanism
The AX Mk3 1/2 oz was designated "M67 Off Gr Sweep" and the AX Mk3 2 oz was designated "M67A1 Off Gr Sweep"
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Thanks guys... Bonnex - any pics of the Brit anti-swimmer devices you mention?
Aha!
So was this the forerunner of the plastic grenades sold by GerrytheBomb on Specialist Auctions?
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PS have just listed mine for sale in Classifieds.