Was there such a thing as an exploding cannonball?

Question

I've seen lumps of metal that were hurled out of cannons, but not an explosive charge that detonates on impact or after a time (think modern shell). Outside Hollywood, Did such munitions exist?

Answer 1

Yes indeed. Solid Shot
For smoothbores, cast-iron solid shot is the familiar spherical cannonball; for rifles, the elongated projectile is called a "bolt". Both were useful for counter-battery fire or attacking fortifications; the superior power of the rifle bolt was the technological development that made masonry fortifications obsolete, a fact graphically demonstrated by the ease with which the walls of Fort Pulaski were breached early in the War.
Shell
Shell, as its name implies, is a hollow iron projectile filled with a bursting charge of black powder. All round shell, and some rifle shell, used a time fuse to ignite the bursting charge; Rifle shells could also use percussion fuses.

Case Shot
Also called shrapnel or shrapnel shell after its inventor, British artilleryman Henry Shrapnel, case shot was an improvement on the simple shell by the addition of small lead or iron balls to the interior of a thinner-walled projectile. The balls were embedded in a matrix of sulphur or coal-tar. Case shot was designed to explode in the air, so nearly always used time fuses.

Canister
Canister is simply a tinned-iron can full of iron or lead balls packed in sawdust. When fired, the effect is that of a giant shotgun blast. Canister is essentially short-range anti-personnel ammunition.

Grape Shot
Grape Shot is similar in concept to canister, but has fewer and larger balls, held together with iron rings or trussed up with fabric and twine. (The latter is "quilted grape shot", sometimes referred to as "quilted grape" or "quilted shot".) It is often erroneously stated that this was purely naval ammunition, but grape was at least occasionally issued to field and foot artillery.

God Bless You and Yours along with the Southern People.

Answer 2

Yes, there was. I'm not sure when the technology came into existence, but it was used in the American Civil war with devastating results. There are several accounts of problems with the Confederate munitions, especially where the quality of the fuses were concerned.

The exploding shell was used against Infantry at longer range and scattered shrapnel into its targets. The fuse was timed and the gun was aimed to have the device explode just above the target.

Some other types of cannon shot used in the Civil War was solid shot (usually fired enfilade with the muzzle depressed), canister (like a big shotgun blast), grapeshot (like canister, but smaller, similar sized balls) [both used at close range against Infantry] and even mace (two balls connected by a length of chain).

Answer 3

confident the militia has some. The 50. high quality rifle use for putting off gentle armor automobiles. The bullet has a phosphorous tip which could incinerate at 3,000 c. The bullet additionally travels at a excessive fee of speed and would shrink a individual in one million/2. I even have heard of excessive improve bullets, yet no longer exploding bullets a minimum of to my know-how

Answer 4

yes, there was a cannonball called " grapeshot " which was similar in construction to a shotgun shell. upon impact the shell exploded sending the grapeshot in all different directions. in the same manner a shotgun shell sends pellets in all different directions.

Answer 5

Yep. Generally it was a timed fuze hammered into a hole in a ball filled with powder. The fuze was a wooden plug with a core of time delay powder.

Answer 6

yes it explodes. its the sharpnel (pieces of metal) that kills.

just like a grenade.