The body of this bomb is made of 1/32-inch sheet metal rolled and lap welded into a
cylindrical shape 8-inches in diameter. The nose is hemispherical and welded to the body as is
the box type tail fin assembly, which forms the tail taper of the bomb body. The over-all length
is-45 inches excluding fuze. The burster well is screwed into the bomb body by means of pipe
threads to make a gas-tight seal at the nose. It is held in place at the tail of the bomb body by an
attached cone in the inner side of the fin assembly. It is internally threaded to receive a sleeve,
which has a groove in its lower portion to seat the fuze, which is pressed in place. Around the
bomb body are two suspension bands 14-inches apart which provide suspension lugs for
horizontal suspension. One blade of the fixed box type tail assembly is in line with the
suspension lug.(...)
The Bomb may be loaded with an incendiary filler of rubber and gasoline in the field. The
base filling is gasoline supplemented by one of the four different incendiary ingredients as
follows:
1. LA-60. Consists of crude latex or sap in combination with caustic soda, coconut oil, and
water
2. Crepe rubber (CR). This is crude latex but is reduced to a solid by precipitation and
kneading.
3. LA-100. This is crude latex dried until it is approximately 100 percent solid.
4. Smoked rubber sheets (SR) a crude latex, which has been dried over a smoky fire until it is
approximately 100 percent solid.
When loaded with the incendiary filler the Bomb Fuze M108 (Nose) with a 1-pound black
powder Burster Charge M7 is used. This burster charge bursts the bomb and scatters and ignites
the filler. When filled, the body weighs 85 pounds of which 65 pounds is incendiary filler. This
is a typical example of the scatter type of incendiary filler.
(...)
The M47A1 was designed to replace the 100-pound M47. The M47 was found to
have too thin a wall section, and in handling and storage, it developed leaks due to corrosion and
rough treatment. Consequently, the wall thickness was increased from 1/32 inch to 1/16 inch, and
coating inside with acid-proof black paint protected the case. This special inside coat of paint
was to provide a resistance of 100-pound pressure.(...)When loaded with Incendiary Oil, it weighs
94 pounds, of which 65 pounds is incendiary oil.
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