World War II Database

Country of Origin	Japan
Type	Grenade
Diameter	50.000 mm
Length	98.000 mm
Weight	0.450 kg

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Type 97 fragmentation hand grenades were designed by the Japanese Army Technical Bureau in 1936 and made as standard in 1937 to provide better hand grenades than the Type 91 predecessor design, which was meant to be a multi-role weapon (hand-thrown or as ammunition for launchers). Their appearance was very similar to Type 91 grenades except they had no attachment on the base for propellant canisters. They were activated by screwing down the firing pins to reveal the safety pins, which could be removed to allow the protective cap of the strikers, thus allow the operator to hit against hard surfaces to begin the 4 to 5 second delay before detonation of the TNT filling (65 grams in each grenade). Type 97 grenades were used alongside of the earlier Type 91 grenades throughout WW2.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Jul 2011

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