Nail car bomb.
"This is your classic old nail bomb. The simpler they are, the more effective they are."
- Peter Crowe IRA authority
A Nail Bomb is a homemade explosive packed with nails that delivered devastating injury and death. It was the special weapon of the Irish Republican Army.
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Description[edit | edit source]
Because the weapon is custom-made, it's size, materials, and explosive power varies from one bomb to another. As its name implies, it consists primarily of an explosive, such as Semtex, and copious amounts of nails or other metallic objects for fragmentation and shrapnel (the pipe of a pipe-bomb also becomes shrapnel). Throughout the episode, various versions were shown, from pipe bombs to remote charges. Larger variations can be used as Car Bombs.
Statistics[edit | edit source]
- First used: 1918
- Length: Custom
- Weight: Custom
- Nails, explosive, detonator
- Detonation: Timer or remote
Use[edit | edit source]
The Nail Bomb is an anti-personnel weapon, designed to inflict maximum damage where and whenever one is detonated. The Nail Bomb is also relatively cheap and easy to make, with the primary components available at any hardware store. In Deadliest Warrior, it is shown to be detonated via remote control.
The fact that most Nail Bombs are crudely made has caused them to be occasionally faulty and unreliable. The Ulster Volunteer Force (a terrorist organization fighting against the IRA) attempted to assassinate the Miami Showband (who were seen as Republican icons) with a timebomb on 31 July 1975. The explosive detonate prematurely, killing two UVF members.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- The Harvey's Resort Hotel bombing (August 27, 1980) was done by an improvised explosion so complex that the FBI's bomb squads trained with a replica of the bomb.
