Bomb used in

Fuzes used with

Material of construction

Over-all length

Over-all length of vanes

Width of fuze body

The fuze consists of three parts: a nose unit with arming mechanism; a mid-body with clock-work delay mechanism; and a base with an exploder system. Vanes are secured to the arming spindle, which fits into an inertia striker with twin strikers and two steel balls. A creep spring and sliding detonator holder fit below the striker. Below the detonator are powder pellets and a flat copper plate sealed with a gas-light joint by the raised rig. At-tached to the plate is another arming spindle, preventing movement of arming plates by engaging two steel balls. At the base of the clockwork, cushioned by rubber washers, is a timing disc graduated with 48 divisions representing 1/6 of a day each or 8 days total. The striker is mounted on the timing disc. The clockwork assembly is held under com-pression by a spring which prevents premature impact of the lower striker and detonator held in a brass fitting in the fuze base.

When the bomb is dropped, the vanes rotate and withdraw the arming spindle, and the balls roll inward, releasing the sleeve. There is no visual indication of arming, as the va-nes merely rotate, prevented from longitudinal movement by the screws. On impact, the detonator holder moves forward to hit the firing pins; the flash in turn ignites the powder pellets. When the pellets burst, the explosion causes the plate to become dome-shaped, forcing the spindle down in the channel and releasing the balls. The spring behind the clockwork presses against the plate, causing the arming rod to release the clockwork, and bringing the lower detonator nearer the striker. When the striker is released after the delay setting of the clockwork has elapsed, it impacts the detonator, setting off the ex-plosive train.

Figure 64
Clockwork Long-Delay Nose Fuze