Lieutenant Henry Shrapnel of the Royal Artillery invented 'a
spherical case shot' in 1784. This consisted of a circular missile, containing musket
balls, and detonated by a time fuze. Shrapnel remained in
service until the end of the Great War.
The nose of the shell contained time and percussion fuze. The
fuse
was set to detonate when the shell was just short of the target, and 15 to
20 feet (4.5 m
to 6 m) above it. The target for shrapnel was infantry in the open. The fuse detonated the bursting charge at the
base of the shell, which threw the shrapnel bullets, some 200 in number, forward
in a cone shape pattern.
The range of shrapnel was limited by the time fuze. For the 15 pounder,
the maximum range was 4,100 yards (3,750m). The shell could
be fired further, to 5,600 yards (5,120m) but would then explode on
percussion. Percussion detonation was not as effective as the shell casing prevented the
shrapnel bullets being ejected in the optimal pattern. The 'Blue Fuze'
(No 57) was later adopted. Fuse 57 increased the range to 5,800
yards (5,280 m).
This shell was fired in emergencies where there was the danger of
guns being overrun. The shell consisted of a flat topped cylinder, filled
with shrapnel bullets and with a bursting charge at the base. When
fired, the shell broke up at the muzzle of the gun, ejecting 290 metal bullets to a distance of 300 to 400 yards (270 to 360 m).
Case shot was fired four times during the war:
- At Stormberg by the 74th and 77th Batteries RFA in December 1899
- At Silikat's Nek by Q Battery RHA in July 1900
- At Buffelspoort by the 75th Battery RFA in December 1900
- At Long Tom Pass by Boer artillery in September 1900
