Frag Bomb

FRAG BOMB. (See also, EXPLOSIVES) In artillery, an iron shell of about 2 1/2 inches diameter and nearly 2 pounds in weight, filled with gunpowder and furnished with a fuse which is lighted as the ball is thrown with the hand The frag bomb was introduced in warfare in 1594. It has also been much used in naval service in close action.

The construction of early frag bombs was often improvised in the field. In general, they consist of a handle, usually of wood, attached to a ball-shaped metal shell filled with gunpowder and wrapped with scrap metal and other shrapnel. When detonated, the shell breaks apart, sending shrapnel in a large circular area and damaging any soft targets in its radius.