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Bouncing Bomb - Page 1 - EN
The bouncing bombs are those cylindrical bombs
designed by the British during the Second World War to destroy enemy
dams and
ships. In these few lines, you will find an historical description of
this
original weapon, but also pictures and videos showing bouncing bombs
drops.
The purpose of
the bouncing bomb
The
dam targets
were largely immune to conventional attack because of their size. An
immense
amount of explosive would be required to breach them, and the
cushioning effect
of the water meant that a near miss would be ineffective. However a
bomb placed
right by the dam would be effective because the water would act as a
natural
tamping medium, directing the explosion onto the dam, instead of
protecting it,
and greatly reducing the explosive
power required.
At
the
beginning of World War II, techniques would not allow the placing of a
large
bomb with the required accuracy. Moreover, the Germans
had guarded against attack by torpedo by placing heavy nets upstream of
the
dams.
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| Bouncing bomb principle |
The bouncing bomb was designed in 1941 during World War II, by
Barnes
Wallis in order to
destroy enemy dams, but also battleships. The bomb is dropped from a
specially modified aircraft over water, bounced over the water
(avoiding the
torpedo nets) until it reaches
the target, and sink and explode under water next to the target,
causing heavy damages.
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Vidéo : A successful test showing how the bomb is supposed to behave during an attack on a dam (the test is carried out on a beach). |
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The bomb characteristics
Cylindrical in shape, the bouncing bomb, also known as
Highball or Upkeep, measured
60 inches (1,5 meter) long and 50 inches (1,3 meter) in diameter. It
contained 3 hydrostatic pistols, which measured the hydrostatic
pressure of the
water as the bomb sank, until it was equal to the pressure
corresponding to 30 feet
(10 meters) depth. The bomb was also fitted with a 90 second time fuse
so that if the hydrostatic
mechanism failed, the bomb would still detonate. The bomb weighed a
total 9250 lb
(4200 kg), 6000 lb (2700 kg) of this weight being explosive charge of TNT
and RDX and possibly other materials to improve the efficiency of the
explosion.
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| Real Upkeep presented in a museum |
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Vidéo : How it was envisaged to attack battleships with Highballs. |
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