Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 56:19-56:50

Who first turned battleship shells into armour-piercing bombs

British First World War experiments are distinguished from Japan's later success in testing and deploying converted naval shells as bombs.

Armour Piercing BombsBattleship ShellsImperial Japanese NavyNaval AviationRoyal Navy
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Question

Was the Imperial Japanese Navy the first to convert armour-piercing battleship shells into bombs?

Short answer

Britain experimented with related ideas earlier, but Japan seems to have been first to carry the converted-shell concept through testing and deployment.

Notes

Britain explored many aerial attack ideas during the First World War, alongside torpedo-bomber development. It remains uncertain how far British work on converted battleship shells advanced. Japan appears to have been the first navy to push the concept through meaningful testing and operational deployment. This separates early experimentation from a fielded capability.