Development
See also: Tallboy bomb designWhen the success was proved, Wallis designed a yet more powerful weapon… This 22,000 lb. bomb did not reach us before the spring of 1945, when we used it with great effect against viaducts or railways leading to the Ruhr and also against several U-boat shelters.
On 18 July 1943, work started on a larger version of the Tallboy bomb, which became the Grand Slam. As with the original Tallboy, the Grand Slam's fins generated a stabilizing spin and the bomb had a thicker case than a conventional bomb, which allowed deeper penetration. After the hot molten Torpex was poured into the casing, the explosive took a month to cool and set. Like the Tallboy, because of the low rate of production and consequent high value of each bomb, aircrews were told to land with their unused bombs on board rather than jettison them into the sea if a sortie was aborted.
After release from the Avro Lancaster B.Mk 1 (Special) bomber, the Grand Slam would reach near-supersonic speed, approaching 320 m/s, and penetrate deep underground, with the explosion causing a camouflet (cavern) and shifting the ground to undermine a target's foundation.
Like Tallboy, Grand Slam had not been designed to directly penetrate concrete roofs and tended to detonate prematurely or break up, but nonetheless they were still far more effective than any existing bomb.
Read more about this topic: Grand Slam (bomb)
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