shrapnel shell

The Sailor's Word-Book

Invented by General Shrapnel to produce, at a long range, the effect of common case; whence they have been also called spherical case. They have a thickness of only one-tenth of their diameter; so that, on the action of the fuse, they are opened by a very small bursting charge, and allow the bullets with which they are filled to proceed with much the same direction and velocity that the shell had at the moment of explosion. They require, however, extremely nice management.

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