British No. #15 ''Ball'' Hand Grenade

By Crusader1307

An advancement over previous models, The No. #15 was one of the first attempts to create a more practical hand thrown explosive device. Designed towards the end of World War I (1915), The “Ball” Grenade (so named for it's resemblance to a small hand held ball), was also a direct timed activation fuse weapons. The fusing system was located at the top of the steel container. By pulling to activating, the thrower had 20-seconds to deploy. The Ball Grenade had an impressive 10-meter blast range. They were very popular in Trench Warfare. Weighing roughly 1 pound, The Ball Grenade would set the design style for hand held explosive devices from this time forward.