These photos are taken of a bomb from Phil Eledge's (phil-at-xesi.com) personal collection.
Phil's comments: I have attached a folder of pictures of a piece of ordnance of mine. I was EOD in the US ARMY for 7 years and this piece was from a call that had two "Mills Bomb" grenades and this item. We were told by the police who seized this that it was a "WWI hand dropped bomb". This was what the family called it. We took the items because we could not identify if they had explosive residues still in them at the time. This piece is fully inert. Being an ordnance guy I have came up with a solution for explaining the function of the fuzing and use. Tell me what you think!
The pilot of a bomber would have a stack of these to the right or left of them in the cockpit. They would have a tube to drop these down between their legs. The tube is just slightly larger diameter than the safety pin on the back of the fuze. The fuze has two bore riding pins released from spring pressure. These are released when the safety pin is pulled out from the back of the fuze. When the bomb clears the tube the bore riding pins are free to fall away allowing the firing pin to function. The fuze functions from any angle when it strikes the target due to the two cupped parts of the fuze holding the steel ball. The cups separate and the firing pin hits the detonator. So this is a, "all ways acting fuze". The markings are clear in the picture. The fuze components are brass or copper, the main body of the fuze is possible nickel and the body is steel.
Thanks for any support. I would like to know if there might be more to add.
The following are the "three standard US Air Service HE demolition bombs, the 22-lb Mk II, the 50-lb Mk III, and the 260-lb Mk IV. The Mk IV normally had a suspension lug screwed into its nose for vertical carriage.
About 6 months ago I spoke to you about this bomb I have had for 48 years. I finally got to cleaning it up. Under the rust and paint was a U. S. A. Navy Blue. I knew it was of WW1 vintage. I know nothing more. Perhaps you can fill me in on it.