"Gord Beaman" wrote in message
...
"M. J. Powell" wrote:

In message
, Geoffrey
Sinclair writes

IIRC the fuse was inactive until fired. The shock of firing broke a
glass cell containing the battery acid, the battery then produced the
required voltage.

Mike

Jesus...I'd hate to be the second guy to accidentally drop the
damned thing...

If you think about it, the glass cell could be amazingly tough.
What would the acceleration of the initial firing be: a few thousand g'?
A piece of glass thick enough to be virtually unbreakable under
normal circumstances would shatter under its own weight if
bridging a hole.