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Massive Ordnance Air Blast

B

Big Gee

master brummie
Not sure if I'm putting this in the correct sub-forum, but with reference to the much-publicised dropping of the 'Mother Of All Bombs' in Afghanistan, not one single mention have I seen in the media of the fact that the genuine MOAB is the 22000lb 'Grand Slam' developed by Barnes Wallis and Vickers and first used in 1945. This weapon was free-fall, not laser-guided, and reached supersonic speeds with amazing accuracy. It was the bomb used to finally sink the Tirpitz, and also destroy other vital targets such as the Saumur rail-tunnel and the Bielefeld Viaduct. But unlike the publicity-conscious Americans we just got on with it....I'm a bit hot under the old collar this morning.

G
 
Big Gee said:
Not sure if I'm putting this in the correct sub-forum, but with reference to the much-publicised dropping of the 'Mother Of All Bombs' in Afghanistan, not one single mention have I seen in the media of the fact that the genuine MOAB is the 22000lb 'Grand Slam' developed by Barnes Wallis and Vickers and first used in 1945. This weapon was free-fall, not laser-guided, and reached supersonic speeds with amazing accuracy. It was the bomb used to finally sink the Tirpitz, and also destroy other vital targets such as the Saumur rail-tunnel and the Bielefeld Viaduct. But unlike the publicity-conscious Americans we just got on with it....I'm a bit hot under the old collar this morning.

G
Click to expand...
I wish they could drop a perfume bomb & put everybody in a good mood.
 
Big Gee,

Typical newspaper write-up:

Smoke rises from the mountains following an airstrike in Achin district, where the US deployed its largest non-nuclear bomb used in combat on Thursday.

No mention of it being the world's largest bomb, and as the Dambusters was a British effort, I don't think the reports were inaccurate in that respect.

Maurice
 
A similar thing about news media that irritates me slightly is when they keep nowadays referring to "battleships" in action, when the only battleships around are heritage ones
 
Sorry Sospiri, but the news report I saw referred to it as 'the world's largest non-nuclear bomb'. Which in fact it still isn't, as the Grand Slam was actually slightly heavier. Grand Slam wasn't the bomb used against the dams - that was known as Upkeep, the famous 'Bouncing Bomb'. The connection being that Tallboy and Grand Slam were dropped by 617 Squadron, a.k.a. The Dambusters. No big deal.

If anyone is interested, there's a Grand Slam at RAF Cosford Museum, and it's enormous!

G
 
I thought we'd gone all biblical when I read the title of this thread but apparently not. We live and learn don't we? I have certainly never heard of the MOAB mentioned above and learn something from this forum every day.
 
The MOAB doesn't mean 'mother of all bombs' that's just another press invention. The proper name is Massive Ordnance Air Blast.
 
Quite, and the Russians have one that is four times bigger - 44 tons of explosive - which the Press have now called the Father of all bombs!

Maurice
 
Quite right, Eric. Therein is the difference between MOAB and the WW2 Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs, which were deep penetration weapons.

G
 
The bouncing bomb has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. Found out on Saturday at the Seaside Museum in Herne Bay, Kent, that the bomb was originally tested for bouncing just off Reculver Beach, a couple of miles east of Herne Bay. The shallow waters at low-tide enabled the bombs to be recovered for inspection. At this stage of testing they were not actual bombs but cylinders filled with concrete and chalk to replicate the shape and weight of what would be a bomb. Dave
 
Hi farmerdave yes it had been done on here years ago and i recall your threads as well as others you have done
its been afew years since i seen your name on here
its great to see so many old time members coming back on here and look foreward to hearing more from you
and thanks fot that information you have just given us
i do not think for one moment that bit of info was never passed to usyears ago on here
but quite correctly in saying the thread had been done but saying that dave to me its seem alot of threads from the past are going around again the ones we had all those early days of the thread take care best wishes Astonian,,,,
 
Dave,

the 'Dam Busters' film has some brief footage of Upkeep being test-dropped at Reculver (by a Wellington, IIRC). Barnes Wallis apparently really did remove his shoes and socks to feel for bits of the mine following detonation! There is also a shot in the film of a Mosquito dropping a mine, but I think this may have been Highball, the smaller version designed for anti-shipping and never used in action. I once got a right telling-off from a retired RAF officer at Cosford for calling Upkeep a bouncing bomb.
"It was a mine, laddie, not a bomb!" Oh, very good, Sir!

G
 
The bouncing bomb mock-ups were also tested in the East Fleet behind Chesil Beach in Dorset and there are remnants still there.

Maurice
 
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