Hale's Bomb variants

[SimonJ]

I came to this site through looking up Hale's bombs and found a couple of interesting posts. It made me wonder how many variants there were. My late father is partly responsible for the rarity of these bombs. There was a stockpile of by then obsolete Hale's bombs on the base and my father was ordered to blow them up to get rid of them. He disposed of most of them but he preserved one as a curio after he had boiled out the explosive.



There is no stamping on the case, only on the fins. As there is no suspension lug on the body, only the loop on the tail, I assume it is an early model and they had not been used because they could not be dropped from racks. The nose of the bomb unscrews, unlike some which seem to have a one piece body. The paint, of course, is not original.


In the Air Ministry document “Particulars on Armament Used in Aircraft” (1923), the Cooper bomb has a section, but the Hale's bomb does not get a mention.

 

[Bonnex]

It could be a Hale's 10-Pound Bomb. A few measurements would confirm or otherwise.

 

[SimonJ]

Thank you, it just shows how you take things for granted (i grew up with the bomb in the house) and had never checked the dimensions. It is about 50cm long and 9cm diameter which I think makes it a 10 lbs bomb.

Again, thank you for setting me right.

 

[Bonnex]

The 10-lb version is particularly hard to find whereas the 20-lb is relatively common. The Cooper Bomb was still in service at the beginning of WW2 but the Hale was retired at the end of WW1.

You will find data on the Hale in the 1918 version of 'Manual of Aerial Bombs' (from memory - title may be slightly different) which has been reprinted by the Naval & Military Press.

 

[Burney Davis]

As far as I’m aware there are only two models. The 20 lb is circa 55cm long and the 10lb is 40cm long. Yours is I think the 20lb more common version.

 

[Millsman]

This bomb is covered by UK patent Number 22,602 of the 1th November 1914. The patent drawings do not cover the main body of the bomb just the rear part where the 'works' are, so it's not visible if a suspension ring was fitted (which I doubt in 1914 - probably later), so you may have a very early version.

Great to own.

John

 

[SimonJ]

Here are a couple of pictures with a ruler.

The bomb weighs 5lb 12oz or 2.61 kg as it stands with arming vane (kitchen scales).
Hope this helps!

 

[Burney Davis]

Hi Simon,

Those measurements are most useful. I have attached a picture of a 10lb next to a 20lb. You will notice the difference between the type of tail on each of the two bombs. These tails are not interchangeable having a completely different thread size. It appears that the body of yours is actually a 10lb fitted with a tail similar in style to that of the 20lb but modified using aluminium rather than steel for the fins and the thread and stem size reduced. Provenance is everything, so if the item came like that from your father in the circumstances you describe then the configuration must be correct. Very nice.

D

 

[SimonJ]

Unfortunately, while my father was alive there were not the resources available to research such things and to be quite frank, not many people were interested. Details such as how many bombs there were or where they were are lost. I don't know when my father acquired the piece, I only know it has been in the family for at least 70 years. It definitely seems to be a hybrid but why it was created I suspect we will never know.

 

[SimonJ]

I was reading through back copies of the "Illustrated War News" when I came across this picture in the April 7 1915 edition.

 

[Dreamk]

The Hale bomb patent including its detailed drawings:

These bombs were still in regular use in the Spanish Civil War