Ranken dart
Encyclopedia
A Ranken dart was an air-dropped weapon developed during World War I for the purpose of destroying or damaging the German Zeppelins which were attacking Britain
at the time. It was a 1lb
explosive missile-shaped flechette
-type of bomb which was commonly carried in packs of 24 and could be dropped individually or all at once. Aircraft equipped with Ranken darts needed to climb above their targets, such as Zeppelins, before dropping them from above. The weapon was put into service in .
Ranken darts became obsolete with the advent of .303
incendiary ammunition
fired from Vickers and Lewis gun
s mounted on fighter aircraft.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
at the time. It was a 1lb
LB
-Codes:*.lb, the Internet country code top-level domain for Lebanon*Labrador's former postal abbreviation*Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano airline's IATA code*Luxembourgish language's ISO 639 alpha-2 code*Lebanon's ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code...
explosive missile-shaped flechette
Flechette
A flechette is a pointed steel projectile, with a vaned tail for stable flight. The name comes from French , "little arrow" or "dart", and sometimes retains the acute accent in English: fléchette.-Bulk and artillery use:...
-type of bomb which was commonly carried in packs of 24 and could be dropped individually or all at once. Aircraft equipped with Ranken darts needed to climb above their targets, such as Zeppelins, before dropping them from above. The weapon was put into service in .
Ranken darts became obsolete with the advent of .303
.303 British
.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...
incendiary ammunition
Incendiary ammunition
-World War I:One of the first uses of incendiary ammunition occurred in World War I. At the time, phosphorus—the primary ingredient in the incendiary charge—ignited upon firing, leaving a trail of blue smoke. They were also known as 'smoke tracer' for this reason. The effective range of...
fired from Vickers and Lewis gun
Lewis Gun
The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
s mounted on fighter aircraft.