Front end of a BIG bomb !!!

[gerrythebomb]

What the hell is this off i've racked my brain and given up sorry its not a good picture but only had my phone with me, probably weighs 3/4 of a tonne and is approx 30" in diameter making it far to big for 1000/2000lb bombs. Any ideas? what you can not see is where it would bolt to the rest of the bomb there is a small conical in set just as if it would sit over a AP core but not likely.... Have fun!!!

 

[f4efxr]

Tall boy ?

 

[ANDY19422]

Hi Rich, so are you going to bid on them:tinysmile_grin_t:

 

[Rockteer]

Yep I rekon Tallboy, and hell yeah I would give that a home any day! looks like it is in a skip - aahh

 

[HAZORD]

I'm guessing that nose is at least 2 ton.

 

[glevum]

Tallboy and Grand Slam bomb casings were cast in one piece. The nose was not separate.

 

[millsbomber]

I think a long time ago I had a core that fitted into that. It was a experimental piece that I had and took 3 to lift. Nuclear capibilites as bonnex I'd it for me. I cannot remember what it's classification was but post war... Dave

 

[Rrickoshae]

I think a long time ago I had a core that fitted into that. It was a experimental piece that I had and took 3 to lift. Nuclear capibilites as bonnex I'd it for me. I cannot remember what it's classification was but post war... Dave

But surely nuclear bombs are air burst Dave. Would tactical nuclear be better served by conventional style ground penetration? There were experiments with Tallboy before the final design was chosen, not least to determine the type of metal required to withstand penetration to considerable depths before detonation, could it be from an early design? I think that trials Tallboy were dropped by aircraft flying from Boscombe Down which isn't too far from where this probably originated. Dave

 

[HAZORD]

In the early days of Nuclear weapons, there were a couple of additional design things that were added besides the end use on target. The Little Boy bomb had a one inch steel casing around it, so that it would not be damaged by antiaircraft or enemy fighter ammunition. In the U.S. during development, they actually made a very thick steel container to detonate the bomb inside of, so that if the bomb fizzled, all the fissile material would be captured inside the container, instead of being scattered across the countryside. The material was too hard to come by.

 

[smle2009]

But surely nuclear bombs are air burst Dave. Would tactical nuclear be better served by conventional style ground penetration? There were experiments with Tallboy before the final design was chosen, not least to determine the type of metal required to withstand penetration to considerable depths before detonation, could it be from an early design? I think that trials Tallboy were dropped by aircraft flying from Boscombe Down which isn't too far from where this probably originated. Dave

Judging by the black and white paint(or remains of) on it,it was used for experiments and photographed on the way down....no idea what it is but you are right Dave,tall boys were tested at Boscombe down to solve stability problems when dropped.

Tony

 

[BMG50]

If it has been used for nuclear experiments, have you check it for radioactivity, could be contaminated and dangerous.

 

[butterfly]

there appear to be a number of large nuclear bombs post war, some links below......
(Not to rule out tallboy, however as it is of one piece construction I think that it is unlikely)

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Uk/UKArsenalDev.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Beard_(nuclear_weapon)

http://grahamfarmelo.com/churchills-bomb/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Sun_(nuclear_weapon)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_Club

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Snow

the one below is worth reading if only for the last paragraph referring to 'live chickens' !!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Peacock



regards Kev

 

[Rrickoshae]

some interesting food for thought there kev (and I don't mean the chickens). Personally, I like the 'emergency capability' ones, the ones didn't bother too much with military niceties like safety, reliability, shelf life, efficiency - cheap & cheerful suits me.

 

[millsbomber]

I'm still racking my brains trying to think what the bit I had was off, it was not solely nuclear had other caperbilitys think it come from terrence writes collection and I sold to a guy from East Sussex who's name I cannot remember but I had to use a JCB loadall to put it in the back of his Suzuki jeep and it did make it sit down at the back.... Dave

 

[TimG]

With respect to "Blue Peacock" and the chickens, I've been priviliged to see the only remaining example and read the Climatic Trials report - Someone, somewhere was having a joke! The mine, which is how it was described, was supplied with the equivalent of electric blankets to maintain an operating temperature.

One of the many reasons it failed to enter service was that it was mounted on a trailer and whilst there wasn't a problem when it was being towed on a road, as soon as it left the road for an un-made surface, it became exceptional unstable due to its very high centre of gravity. Something you would have thought, would been realised very early in the design process.

TimG

 

[millsbomber]

Just been contacted by another member and we think the bit I had was from a Honest John missile,,,,,,,,,, not much help I'm afraid Jerry

 

[torch42]

Im not sure if the large battleship projectiles were capped but they certainly had AP shells...maybe from one of them??

 

[Bombdoc]

I think the Germans had some large fabricated bombs.. it may be from one of those..!

Early nuclear bomb construction used massive "tamping blocks" to try and increase the neutron flux density in the initial stages of fusion. They were often made from natural or depleted uranium to increase the mass. The Americans however worked out how to use shaped explosive charges to achieve the same effect allowing them to miniaturise their devices. The Russians took longer, hence they had to build larger delivery launchers, which later gave them an advantage in the space race...