Amatol

152 mm artillery shells being filled with liquid amatol. Finland, 1942

Amatol is a highly explosive material made from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate.[1] The British name comes from the words ammonium and toluene. Toluene is a precursor of TNT. Similar mixtures (one part dinitronaphthalene and seven parts ammonium nitrate) were known as Schneiderite in France. Amatol was used extensively during World War I and World War II. Typically it was used as an explosive in military weapons such as aircraft bombs, shells, depth charges, and naval mines.[2] It was eventually replaced with other explosives such as Composition B, Torpex, and Tritonal.

References

  1. ↑ US Explosive Ordnance. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Ordnance, United States Department of the Navy. 1947. p. 580.
  2. ↑ Brown, G. I. (1998). The Big Bang: A History of Explosives. Sutton Publishing ISBN 0-7509-1878-0. pp. 158-163.


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