From left to right:
- • APHE – armor-piercing, high-explosive
- • SAPHE – semi armor-piercing, high-explosive
- • HE – high-explosive
- • HEHC – high-explosive, high-capacity (mine shell)
A mine shell (from German: Minengeschoss, "mine shot") or high-explosive, high-capacity (HEHC)[a] in British military nomenclature,[1][2][3] is a military explosive shell type characterized by thin (usually steel) shell walls and a correspondingly high quantity of explosives, much higher than the traditional high-explosive shell type per caliber, meaning that mine shells trade fragmentation effect (due to the thinner shell walls) for a higher pressure wave effect when comparing to traditional high-explosive shells.
Mine shells were originally developed during the mid- to late 1800s against fortresses prior to rebar but got a new role during World War II against air targets as reinforced fortresses had made the original use of the type obsolete around World War I.
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- ^ "British shell types info sheet". Retrieved 2021-05-27.
- ^ Rollof, Yngve. "Artillerimaterielens utvecklingstendenser under senaste decenniet". Tidskrift i Sjöväsendet (7 1953) – via Kungliga Örlogsmannasällskapet.
- ^ Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations.