UXB found in Tokyo, Japan

[reccetrooper]

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/10/21/WWII-Bomb-Unearthed-In-Tokyo

Is that really a firebomb, or have the Japanese EOD got it wrong?

 

[HAZORD]

It is the standard WWII size of a 500 Lb. Bomb, M64A1. There was an incendiary bomb that used the same casing. The video didn't show the color of the body very well, and the incendiary ones were painted differently than the HE filled GP bombs. One thing the video did show, was the huge dent in the side of the bomb, near the back end. Those bomb bodies are about 3/8 of an inch thick, and it would take a horrible impact to cause that dent. It could have been the reason the bomb dudded out, due to impacting so hard on the side and the fuzes not functioning. The dent could have been made by the construction equipment that discovered it. If it was filled with an incendiary mix, it would have dented easier than an solid explosive filled one, as the incendiary mix is much easier to move than the solid explosive.

 

[US-Subs]

The easiest way to tell on the incendiaries and the chemical bombs is by looking at the base plate. These bombs each have a (similar but different for the two) additional portion on the base plate that extends out from the base in an oblong/bent shape. The incendiary is the more simple of the two, with the chemical having an extra curve or two and a valve. In the photos you only get to see the base for about a second, and a side view at that, but along the very bottom you can see whe groove from the extended plate.

 

[HAZORD]

Here is a screen shot from the video. When you look at the base area of the bomb, on the left in the photo, you can see the threaded area where the fin retaining ring screws on. If the bomb were an explosive loaded GP bomb, the threaded section would extend all the way to the base plate. On this bomb, the threaded section is very short, with a grooved area between the threads and the baseplate, as Jeff has described above. You can also see the huge dent.

 

[US-Subs]

Here is a clear view of the distinctive base of the incendiary bomb, as seen on two examples. The third is the different base used on the chemical version (M78 500lb, M79 1000lb) Once you have the fin cup off it is a quick and easy ID.

 

[reccetrooper]

550lb UXB found at Sendai airport.

http://news.yahoo.com/airport-northern-japan-closed-workers-unexploded-wwii-bomb-080011238.html

 

[al'saad]

INC AN M76 has 115 cm long body which is 5 cm shorter than GP AN M64 or M43 body. Also it is not unusual to uncover 115cm long body with 2 red bends across but with a HE filling. I have recently disposed such a bomb-shown in ttachment. I have never in any publication seen similar GP 500lbs bomb. one of the explanations that I found in my search on these bombs is that due to the need for a large quantities of GP bombs their production had to be as rapid as possible so existing INC bomb bodies were filled with a HE filler. Explanations for a red bends on the body is that their position is right where transport rings should be so conclusion is that these bombs were painted green with a transport rings on which left unpainted bands of a red undercoat color.