M26 (Lemon Grenade)

History

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, it lacked modern weapons of war. Various foreign goods were supplied to the army to advance and wage war. These devices include fragmentation grenades.

The U.S. military procured the British "Mills Bomb" and the French F1 series, and made a timely decision to develop American homegrown shells. To develop their new grenade, the Americans followed the French F1 design, culminating in the Mk 1, a time-melted grenade with the standard "pineapple" look of the time.

In practice, however, the Mk 1 leaves a lot to be desired. It proved cumbersome in the field due to its complex ignition system, which often involved throwing grenades out of focus. The Mk 1 proved so bad that a new initiative was launched to produce a successor. So, even before the war ended in November 1918, the Mk 1 was discontinued and declared obsolete.

The improved Mk 2 production model was in production at this point, closing the forgotten chapter, the Mk 1. [ /p]

The operation of the grenade is simple - the safety pin needs to be pulled, thereby releasing the lever. The user can then throw a grenade at the target area. When thrown, the lever disengages from the grenade and activates the firing pin, which in turn hits the primer.

This sequence then triggered the timed fuze (approximately 4 to 5 seconds), which eventually caused it to detonate. After the explosion, the shell of the shell is shattered and thrown over the target area, producing the necessary fragments and causing maximum damage to the area. When the fragments didn't maim or kill the enemy outright, the explosion served a psychological effect.

Users can pull on their M26's pin and still hold the lever firmly - as long as the lever is intact against the grenade body, the grenade's fuze will not activate.

The M26 entered service in the 1950s and was used primarily by the United States and its allies Australia, Canada (M61), Great Britain (L2), Israel (M26A2), Portugal (M312), South Africa and South Vietnam.

The M26 was further developed into the M26A1 and M26A2 production forms, the former with added sawtooth for explosives and the latter modified to use shock fuzes. Another major iteration of the M26 series is the M61, which is based on the M26A1 production model. The M61 was developed after jungle warfare in Vietnam showed that the M26 was prone to jamming, causing accidental explosions.

Therefore, an additional safety clip - also known as a "jungle clip" - was added to the design of the M26. The user must then pull the original safety ring pin and jungle clip before throwing the grenade.

The Canadian Army also used the M61 form, but this, like the M26 in American service, was replaced by the modernized M67 series (made in Canada as the C13).

Specification

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Changes