Grenade

Lore & Background

It provides historical information about real-world grenades, including their use in the Byzantine Empire, Song China, ancient India, Joseon Korea, Catalonia, and various European and American conflicts. No fictional lore is present.

Reader's Guide

A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge, a detonator mechanism, an internal striker to trigger the detonator, and an arming safety secured by a transport safety. The user removes the transport safety pins before throwing, and once the grenade leaves the hand the arming safety gets released, allowing the striker to trigger a primer that ignites a fuze, which burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge. Grenades work by dispersing fragments, shockwaves, chemical aerosols, fire, or a jet of metal. Most anti-personnel grenades are designed to detonate after a time delay and/or on impact.

Did You Know?

• The origin of the English word grenade is disputed; some derive it from the French word meaning 'pomegranate', while others claim it is taken from the Latin meaning 'filled with grain'.
• The first use of the word for explosives comes from the August 1536 siege of Arles by the Emperor Charles V.
• Rudimentary incendiary grenades appeared in the Byzantine Empire not long after the reign of Leo III (717–741).
• In Song China (960–1279), weapons known as 'thunder crash bombs' were created when soldiers packed gunpowder into ceramic or metal containers fitted with fuses.
• A type of grenade called the 'flying impact thunder crash bomb' was developed in the late 16th century and first used on September 1, 1592 by the Joseon Dynasty during the Japanese invasions of Korea.