Hexanite was a castable German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 military explosive developed early in the 20th century before the First World War for the Kaiserliche Marine

Kaiserliche Marine

The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...

, intended to augment supplies of trinitrotoluene (TNT), which were then in short supply. Hexanite is significantly more powerful than TNT on its own. The most common hexanite formula (by weight) was 60% TNT and 40% hexanitrodiphenylamine

Hexanitrodiphenylamine

Hexanitrodiphenylamine , is an explosive chemical compound with the formula C12H5N7O12. HND was used extensively by the Japanese during World War II but was discontinued due to its toxicity.-Preparation:...

.

Typically, hexanite was used in underwater naval weapons e.g. warhead

Warhead

The term warhead refers to the explosive material and detonator that is delivered by a missile, rocket, or torpedo.- Etymology :During the early development of naval torpedoes, they could be equipped with an inert payload that was intended for use during training, test firing and exercises. This...

s for the G7a

G7a torpedo

The G7a or G7a/T1 was the standard issue Kriegsmarine torpedo during the early years of World War II.- Design :The torpedo was 53.3cm in diameter, 7.163 m in length, and with a warhead of 280 kg of Hexanite, and was standard issue for all U-boats of the war.The torpedo was of a straight-running...

 and G7e

G7e torpedo

The G7e or more appropriately the G7e/T2, G7e/T3, and G7e/T4 Falke torpedoes were, with the exception of the T4 model, the standard torpedoes for Germany during World War II...

 series torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

es and the 300 kilogram

Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...

 main explosive charge in aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

-cased buoyant, moored "EMF" magnetic mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

s capable of being laid by U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

s in 200, 300 or 500 metres of water.

This explosive is regarded as obsolete, so any hexanite-filled munitions encountered will be in the form of unexploded ordnance

Unexploded ordnance

Unexploded ordnance are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk of detonation, potentially many decades after they were used or discarded.While "UXO" is widely and informally used, munitions and explosives of...

 dating from the Second World War.

The Japanese used this in World War II as explosive compound type 97 & 98.