content_output-059_6 (Q6351): Difference between revisions

to the users, as in case of a misfire of the charge in the mortar, there was every probability of the shell bursting before the priming could be replaced or the shell extracted. The Germans improved upon this plan by the bomb with a single ignition. Senftenberg of Dantzic, in his book written in 1580, describes the new invention as consisting of a slow match composed of two different materials. The tube was capped on the outside of the shell by a coil of highly inflammable vegetable composition. The bomb was placed in the mortar, as shown, with the coiled cap of the shell projecting into the powder chamber. Upon the discharge of the mortar the powder ignited the cap, which fired the slow-match in the tube.