WW1 italian bomb ?

[sgdbdr]

Hi,


Found on http://bibliotecavirtualdefensa.es
Legend says (translated from spanish by Google) : The bomb has at its bottom a capsule to house poisonous gas.

Does somebody has infos ?



Regards,

S.

 

[Dreamk]

This is a well known photo that raises a number of hard questions that still look for answer:
First this is apparently not an Italian bomb (even if the Spanish legend at the back of the photo says elsewise) but an AustroHungarian one.

Italian bombs were built very differently, in a very typical way, with a shaft connecting the shell body with the fin/ring assembly
The ultimate reference for Italian ww1 bombs is the "Gli Artigli delle Aquile" by Capellano, Di Martino and Marcuezzo edited by the Ufficio Storico dell'Aeronautica Militare, and it repertoriates (almost) all the bombs developed by the Italians (except a couple of instances of incendiary bombs developed in the field by Naval squadrons) .

The fin assembly seems very close to the very typical one of the Austro Hungarian TNB (Traisen-Nacheilbombe) bombs but this bomb is neither the one of the 25kg nor the 60kg TNB bomb.

On the other hand it is very similar to the 50kg Skoda bombs that fell on the Venetian area in ww1

 

[Dreamk]

I think (but not yet 100% sure of that) I have found an indentification for this bomb: the 150kg Skoda Durchschlagsbombe - a SAP Austrian bomb Length 1420 mm Dianeter 320 mm Overall weight 172kg including 60kg explosive (ratio~30%)

 

[Dreamk]

Identification apparently confirmed - This is a 150kg Skoda S (Swere) bomb also denominated Skoda S.S.B. 150 (I have not the least idea what's the meaning of "swere" as it seems to be an archaic german form, as sometimes found in Austrian language - but may be it is a deformation of "Schwere" which would indicate an "heavy case" bomb) or what S.S.B. stands for (B. , I suppose is "Bombe")
There was alaso an identical shaped 50kg Skoda S or S.S.B 50.
Interestingly enough this last one is sometimes designated in Italian documents as "pisciform Carbonit da 50 kg".