gas shell

Artillery projectile carrying a chemical agent, first used during World War I. The explosive is contained in a central cylinder and the remaining space filled with liquefied gas so that the explosion is sufficient to release the gas and allow it to disperse without disintegrating it.

Early designs used an ordinary high explosive shell with a lead cylinder containing the liquid gas buried centrally in the explosive so that it would be shattered and thus disperse the gas. This was gradually replaced by shells in which the explosive was placed in a central cylinder and the remaining space filled with the liquid, so that the explosion was sufficient to break open the shell and release the gas but not so violent as to disintegrate the liquid before the gas could be generated. This design also permitted larger quantities of gas to be loaded into each shell.