Shrapnel shell
Proyectil shrapnel
- Date
- 1784 (concepto) / 1803 (adopción por el ejército británico) · confidence high
- Place
- Woolwich, London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Henry Shrapnel
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
Artillery lieutenant Shrapnel combined the scattershot effect of canister shot with a time fuze, so the shell burst in mid-air and scattered balls over enemy troops well beyond the range of conventional artillery. The British Army formally adopted the design in 1803 and officially named it after him in 1852.
What it led to
- Modern anti-personnel artillery
- 20th-century fragmentation munitions
Built on
- Canister shot