Bangalore torpedo
| Bangalore torpedo | |
|---|---|
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| Place of origin | Bangalore, India |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1914-present |
| Used by | Indian Army, Pakistani Army, British Army, Canadian Army, United States Army, Peoples Liberation Army (China), Finnish Defense Forces, Philippine Army, Philippine Constabulary, Philippine Marine Corps |
| Wars | World War I, World War II, Korean War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Captain McClintock |
| Designed | 1912 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | up to 15 m (49 ft) in 1.5 m (4.9 ft) sections |
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| Filling | TNT, C4 |
A Bangalore torpedo is an explosive charge placed within one or several connected tubes. It is used by combat engineers to clear obstacles that would otherwise require them to approach directly, possibly under fire. It is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "Bangalore mine", "banger" or simply "Bangalore".
Per United States Army Field Manual 5-250 section 1-14, page 1-12 "b. Use. The primary use of the torpedo is clearing paths through wire obstacles and heavy undergrowth. It will clear a 3- to 4-metre wide path through wire obstacles."
The Bangalore torpedo was first devised by Captain McClintock, of the British Indian Army unit the Madras Sappers and Miners at Bangalore, India, in 1912. He invented it as a means of exploding booby traps and barricades left over from the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War. The Bangalore torpedo could be exploded over a mine without a sapper having to approach closer than about 3 m (10 ft).
Bangalore torpedoes are currently manufactured by Mondial Defence Systems of Poole, UK, for the UK and US armed forces. They have been used recently in operations in Afghanistan for actions such as clearing enemy supply dumps within deep cave systems.
By the time of World War I the Bangalore torpedo was primarily used for clearing barbed wire before an attack. It could be used while under fire, from a protected position in a trench. The torpedo was standardized to consist of a number of externally identical 1.5 m (5 ft) lengths of threaded pipe, one of which contained the explosive charge. The pipes would be screwed together using connecting sleeves to make a longer pipe of the required length, somewhat like a chimney brush or drain clearing rod.
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Wikipedia