Type 98 grenade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Type 98 grenade
File:Jap type 98 stick grenade.jpg
Type 98 grenade
TypeHand grenade
Place of originEmpire of Japan
Service history
WarsSecond Sino-Japanese War
World War II

The Type 98 hand grenade (九八式柄付手榴弾, Kyūhachi-shiki etsuki teryūdan) was a fragmentation hand grenade deployed by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

History

[edit | edit source]

In 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army copied the Chinese Stielhandgranate 24 and produced them at a Japanese factory in Manchuria (then Japanese Manchukuo).[1]

In 2015, Type 98s were documented to have been found in the Democratic Republic of Congo.[2]

Design

[edit | edit source]

The weapon operated identically to the Chinese versions of the German Model 24 stick grenade, which had been encountered in the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was based on these grenades, except that a pull ring was attached to the igniting cord, and the actual fuse delay itself was reduced to four to five seconds (varying from grenade to grenade).[3]

The explosive charge contained 3 oz (85 g) of picric acid (a cheaper and more powerful but less safe explosive than TNT). The Type 98 is much smaller than the Model 24 and the charge is less than half from the same grenade.[4]

Like the Chinese grenades, it was a crude copy of the Model 1924 and a number of issues plagued its effectiveness.[5]

Users

[edit | edit source]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Rottman (2015), p. 34.
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Type 98 (A&B) Grenades Archived August 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Rottman (2009), p. 23.

Bibliography

[edit | edit source]
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).