World War II Database

Country of Origin	Japan
Type	Grenade
Diameter	50.000 mm
Weight	0.530 kg

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Japanese Army Technical Bureau began improving the Type 10 predecessor design in 1931, and the new grenades entered production in 1932 under the designation of Type 91. These new weapons were designed to serve in multiple ways; they could be thrown by hand, fired from launchers attached to rifles, or fired from mortars. In terms of appearance, Type 91 grenades are nearly identical to Type 10 grenades, except that the tops of the Type 91 grenades were of a dome shape. They were activated by pulling out the safety pins and striking the top of the caps, which initiated the delay mechanism, and the detonation of the TNT filling (65 grams in each grenade) occurred in about 7 to 8 seconds (some later examples had the delay time shortened to 4 to 5 seconds, which was more effective as hand-thrown weapons). Type 91 grenades were the standard grenades to all Japanese ground combatants, which included Japanese Army troops as well as Special Naval Landing Forces troops of the Japanese Navy. In 1937, the Type 97 grenades entered production and superseded the Type 91 grenades as the standard hand grenades of the Japanese Army, but the Army continued to use Type 91 grenades in all of their original intended roles through WW2, especially as ammunition for launchers; the Japanese Navy would continue to use Type 91 grenades as the standard grenades until 1945.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Jul 2011

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