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Can any help me identify this Bomb?

J

jfdet

New Member
Hi

I have been trying to identify this bomb, I only know that its 200mm in diameter and 1007mm in length. There is a hole in the base, possibly for a parachute. If anyone could help it would be much appreciated.
 

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This bomb resembles three Japanese bombs that I can find:

- Chemical Type 1 No. 6 Mk 1;
- Incendiary Type 98 No. 7 Mk 6 Mod 1; and
- Land Type 97 No. 6

A reason why I went with Japan is that they developed the canted tail fins which would likely have caused some sort of spin during descent.

My only objection to it being Japanese is that they normally rivetted and welded the different sections of their bombs together. This may have been taken care of in different Mk's and Mods though.

I can't explain the hole, which is very German, except that most Japanese bombs had a lifting/mounting lug in this position. Again this could be a Mod.

Try these three out and see if you can see the similarities.
 
Hmmm??? I am sure i posted that this could be a german bombcase because of the side pocket. I wonder where that disappeared too?

best

waff
 
Waff,

I looked all through ORDATA and some TM series pubs yesterday and today to try and match up a German bomb to this one. None of the dimensions even came close. That's when I went to Japan and looked there. There are a lot with these dimensions and the four I have mentioned here have the circular feature on them.

If you Google ORDATA II they have an online search tool that is pretty handy.

The line drawing for the Type 94 shows some pretty good measurements too.

I'm glad to know that I confirmed you hadn't gone squirrely.
 
Here are my references. I don't know if you have access to these or not:

TM E9-1901
TM 9-1985-4
TM 9-1985-5
NAVORD OP 1667 Vol 1
 
looks like a german SC50 from the size and the fuze pocket, apart from the tail and the indent down to them, interesting to note also to the angle on the vanes, designed to spin the bomb whilst in flight.
 
hi my friend has this bomb and we were thinking it might be a japanese "jet stream" balloon bomb, but based upon all of the research i've done on the web it appears that those bombs were way bigger than this one. P1030168.jpgSo if anyone could help us out in identifying it and if anyone has any idea what its value might be we'd really appreciate it.P1030191.jpg
 
kblowers,

Your friend's item is a Japanese submunition (cluster bomb) from WWII. There are 2 types of Jap submunitions and your friend's is the harder of the two to find.
 
It is a WW II Japanese 1/2 kg submunition. 66 were packed inside of a large container. The slots in the front are for the tail fins of the next bomblet to nest in which in turn serve to keep the arming vane from rotating until release. It appears to be in good condition with original paint. I would estimate the value in todays market at $400.00 to $600.00. As others have stated in previous posts the value can change dramatically on a day by day basis depending on who is bidding. This is only a rough estimate of value.
Pat
 
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HAZORD said:
kblowers,

Your friend's item is a Japanese submunition (cluster bomb) from WWII. There are 2 types of Jap submunitions and your friend's is the harder of the two to find.
Click to expand...


Correction John, at least 5 types of Japanese submunitions, though the 1/3rd kg and the 1/2 kg are the easiest to find.
 
P1030173.jpgP1030175.jpgP1030157.jpgP1030118.jpgP1030143.jpgP1030168.jpgHere are a few more images of the bomb. The writing appears to be japanese. ? To comment on the 2 close-up images of the underside of the nose piece...the detonation pin will only push up after spinning the propeller several times and then pushing it (i think falling from the sky might cause the propeller to spin which would cause the pin to be in a position to push upward when it hit the ground, causing it to detonate)??. Unfortunately I don't know proper bomb component terminology so I hope the above description is understandable. thank you P1030149.jpg for all the help... I will start researching the information everyone has provided.
 
US-Subs said:
Correction John, at least 5 types of Japanese submunitions, though the 1/3rd kg and the 1/2 kg are the easiest to find.
Click to expand...

Here is one that sold on Gunbroker just last night.

pix618649506.jpg
 
Hi everyone, this may be a stupid question, but I am curious... if my friend sells his cluster bomb,... can this type of item even be shipped via USPS, UPS? If anyone cares to elaborate on this, I'm all ears. Thanks again everyone for all your help.;)
 
It is preferred to never let the USPS ever touch any ordnance. Since they are federal, they have the rules written such that "when you turn a package over to them, it belongs to them, so if they decide it is dangerous, they can seize it, blow it up, or do whatever they want" and you have no recourse. If they deliver packages to you, then you can take posession of your property again. One of the BOCN members had this experience years ago, and his rare collector projectile was blown up by whoever the USPS gave it to. Always better to ship with anyone else such as UPS, FedEx, etc.
 
It is legal to ship by USPS. There are specific requirements, it must be specifically marked and it must be sent registered. To add to what Hazord says, there are risks - whomever you ship with. The risks are different with FedEx, DHS etc, but they are still there. Other than 1-2 "lost" packages over the years I have had no problems with anyone.
 
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