Blockbuster bomb


A blockbuster bomb or cookie was any of several of the largest conventional bombs used in World War II by the Royal Air Force. The term blockbuster was originally a name coined by the press and referred to a bomb which had enough explosive power to destroy an entire street or large building through the effects of blast in conjunction with incendiary bombs.

Design

The bombs then called Blockbusters were the RAF's HC bombs. These bombs had especially thin casings that allowed them to contain approximately three-quarters of their weight in explosive, with a 4000 lb bomb containing about of explosive. Most general-purpose bombs, termed "medium capacity'" by the RAF, contained 50% explosive by weight, the rest being made up of the fragmentation casing. Larger Blockbusters were made later in the war, from the original version, up to.
The 4000 lb High Capacity Mark I bomb - actual weight around - was a welded, cylindrical shell of thick steel. The body of the bomb was in diameter and long. The nose of the bomb was conical and a long lightweight, empty cylindrical tail with a closed end was fitted, for a total overall length of. A T-section steel beam was welded to the inner surface of the bomb to strengthen it. Subsequent Mark II and Mark III HC bombs differed in detail; the conical nose was replaced with a domed nose and the number of fuzes was increased from one to three to guarantee detonation. The Mark IV bomb did not have the T-section beam and the Mark V and Mark VI bombs were versions manufactured in the United States.
The larger bomb was constructed from two 4000 lb sections, of a larger diameter, that fitted together with bolts. A version was created by adding a third 4000 lb section.
The 4000-lb high-capacity design was little more than a cylinder full of explosives: it was unaerodynamic and did not have fins. By comparison the similar American "4,000 pound LC Bomb AN-M56" bomb was aerodynamically designed as other US bombs were, with a sheet metal tailfin assembly and shaped nose and aft sections. When fitted with a conical "nose piece" and a drum tail, the British "Blockbuster" bomb fell straight down. These bombs were designed for their blast effect, to cause damage to buildings, specifically to blow roof tiles off, so that the small incendiary bombs could reach the building interiors. In contrast to the American AN-M56 ordnance, the cylindrical "HC"-class British-design high capacity bombs were used only by the RAF, which was the only air force with bombers with bomb bays large enough to hold them.
In 1947 Alfred Cecil Brooks of Stourbridge was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for creating the Blockbuster, although his citation was worded "outstanding services to the King of a nature that cannot be revealed". The local newspaper referred to him as "Blockbuster Brooks".

Operational use

The first type of aircraft to carry 4000 lb bombs operationally was the Wellington during a strike on Emden in April 1941, but they later became part of the standard bomb load of the RAF's heavy night bombers, as well as that of the Mosquitoes of the Light Night Strike Force, whose aircraft would sometimes visit Berlin twice in one night carrying bombs, flown by two different crews. The 8,000-lb and the 12,000-lb could be carried only by the Avro Lancaster which needed to be slightly modified with bulged bomb-bay doors.
The first use of the 8000-lb HC was by 15 Squadron Lancasters against Berlin on 2 December 1943. Bad weather and other factors meant their effectiveness was not noted.
The 4,000 lb "cookie" was regarded as a particularly dangerous load to carry. Due to the airflow over the detonating pistols fitted in the nose, it would often explode even if dropped in a supposedly "safe" unarmed state. The Safety height above ground for dropping the "cookie" was ; any lower and the dropping aircraft risked being damaged by the explosion's atmospheric shock wave:

Post-war unexploded ordnance

An unusual dry period led to low river levels in the Rhine in December 2011, exposing a 4000 lb blockbuster in the riverbed near Koblenz. A radius of around the bomb site was evacuated while the bomb was defused. Another unexploded blockbuster was found in Dortmund in November 2013, requiring the evacuation of more than 20,000 people from the area.
Other bombs were found and defused in Vicenza on 29 April 2001 and 25 April 2014. In 2001, defusing operations required the evacuation of 70,000 within a radius of, while in 2014 defusing operations required the evacuation of 30,000 within a radius of.
On 19 December 2016, a British bomb identified as a 4,000 lb HC "blockbuster" was discovered in Augsburg, Germany. It was defused on Christmas Day, requiring evacuation of more than 54,000 people within a radius of 1.5 km.
On 29 August 2017, another British HC 4000 bomb was discovered during construction work near the Goethe University in Frankfurt, requiring the evacuation of approximately 65,000 people within a radius of. This was the largest evacuation in Germany since the Second World War.
On 8 April 2018, an HC 4000 bomb was discovered during gardening jobs in Paderborn, near the local university, leading to the evacuation of 26,400 people while the bomb was defused.

Bombs

4000 lb HC bomb

Filling was Amatol, RDX/TNT, Minol, or Torpex.
In 1943, 25,000 of these were used; this rose to 38,000 in 1944. In 1945 up to the end of the war a further 25,000 were used.

8,000 lb HC

Filling was Amatex or Torpex. Bombs were produced from 1942 to 1945.

12,000 lb HC

Filling was Amatex or Torpex. 170 were used in the last two years of the war.

Other uses

Air mines

During The Blitz the Germans used naval mines dropped with parachutes as improvised blockbusters. Their fuse was triggered by the shock of landing, with the bomb exploding after a 17-second delay. As the bomb was not in a crater, the force of the blast would disperse laterally, causing extensive damage. The large raid on Coventry on 14–15 November 1940 included the use of 50 parachute naval mines, which caused extensive blast damage. The British called these devices air-mines, a calque of the German term :de:Luftmine|Luftmine. These types were used also during air raids on Malta, especially on its harbour areas.