USE

S.A.P.

There are two British S.A.P. bombs in present ser-vice use. They are designed for penetration of re-sistant targets, such as reinforced concrete or medium armored targets, where penetration is re-quired before the bomb is detonated.

A.P.

Only one A.P. bomb is used by the British, the 2000 lb. It is used for attack against heavily ar-mored targets, such as capital ships and is so constructed and fuzed that the bomb does not break up on impact, and detonation does not oc-cur until after the target is penetrated. A 450 lb. bomb was used earlier in the war, constructed along the same lines as the 2000 lb., but is now obsolete.

FUZING

S.A.P. & A.P.

These bombs are fuzed in the tail only. Earlier marks were designed to receive a tail fuze, but later marks are fitted for a pistol/ detonator com-bination. In later marks, the pistol used for fuzing is supplied, without detonators, in position in the bomb, where it acts as a tail transit plug.

CHARACTERISTICS

S.A.P.

The color is dark green overall, with a white band on the nose, just forward of a red band. The ac-tual construction is similar to the G.P. bombs, but the case is thicker, and they are even more streamlined. They are normally filled with T.N.T., with a loading factor of about 20 per cent.

Mks I, II, III and IV have tails secured by a fuze locking ring which is threaded left-handed; Mk V has a clip-on tail.

A.P.

A.P. bombs are dark green in cover over most of the Bomb. The nose is painted light green to the point of widest diameter. Two white bands separa-ted by a red band are painted around the nose. They are of one piece construction, filled with Shellite, consisting mainly of picirc and very insen-sitive. The loading factor is about 10 per cent.