British Wood Crate W76 ?

[Big Dave]

Hi anyone know anything about this one ,bought recently with original labels ,stamped RCD 1935 ,large N [naval?], W76 , 1 .Stencilled on the top ,EXPLOSIVES 10/44 ,Any info please ,regards Dave

 

[Weasel]

Very nice Dave, I got one of these about 20 years ago minus it labels and had never knew what it contained. Does yours have a circular cut out on the underside of the lid ? Thank you for showing this, Best regards Weasel.

 

[Big Dave]

Hi Weasel ,yes mine has 2 circular cuts in the underside of the lid [looks to be made with a cutter with a mandrill in the middle ,there about 3 1/4" across] Been looking through a few books and cant find mention of Blocks T.N.T 1 1/4 LB ,Demolition ,Mark 1.Guncotton came in a wood crate W56 , T.N.T came in slabs that usually weighed 1 1/8 LB and C.E /T.N.T came in slabs that weighed 1 LB and P.E and Nobels 808 in 4oz and 8 oz sticks

 

[Richard709]

Very Nice box Dave, The Standard loading for the W76 was 30 x 14 oz blocks TNT for Naval use, your box appears to be loaded as part of a ships demolition kit. These kit's varied in size dependent upon the size of the ship, the bigger the ship the larger the kit. Most of the worlds major Navy's ships carry a demolitions self demolition kit in one form or another.
Richard

 

[hangarman]

Nice box you have there Dave, did it come via ebay?
Hangarman

 

[Big Dave]

Thamks Richard for the information ,i bought the box mainly because of the labels and dont usually collect Naval stuff,do you know if the W76 box was used for anything else?
Hi Hangarman ,yes the box came via e-bay,my first success there for a long time

 

[Yodamaster]

I Big Dave,
I found a possibility of answer in the book that Bougainville posted last month.
http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threa...eers-in-Chief-s-Intelligence-Summary-May-1944

Australian used (look in first book, chap II, Explosives and demolition, 64) TNT slabs 1 1/4 lb, Aust Mk I and Mk II.

That can explain the british box and the australian TNT slabs. :shakehands: Thanks Bougainville

Yoda

Hi Weasel ,yes mine has 2 circular cuts in the underside of the lid [looks to be made with a cutter with a mandrill in the middle ,there about 3 1/4" across] Been looking through a few books and cant find mention of Blocks T.N.T 1 1/4 LB ,Demolition ,Mark 1.Guncotton came in a wood crate W56 , T.N.T came in slabs that usually weighed 1 1/8 LB and C.E /T.N.T came in slabs that weighed 1 LB and P.E and Nobels 808 in 4oz and 8 oz sticks

 

[Big Dave]

Hi Yoda ,thanks for the link ,i took the T.N.T slabs at 1 1/8 pounds from David Gordon book but just found a reference in Gordon L Rottmans "World War 2 Infantry Assault Tactics"[Osprey ,2008] that they weigh 1 1/4 pound ? i cant see the services in WW2 making 2 different charges with only a 1/4 pound difference ,seems a waste of time /material,thanks again Dave

 

[Richard709]

i bought the box mainly because of the labels and dont usually collect Naval stuff,do you know if the W76 box was used for anything else?

Dave, The W76 appears to have been used at first for CE/TNT and later for RDX/TNT Blocks, It remained in service till the early 90's for Mine sweepers being wooden and having a low metal content, I have an AS drawing number for it dated 95, tried to find the drawing but it appears to have been deleted. Its replacement is the Container N53 which held 50 x 1lb charges.