Torpex

Besides torpedoes, naval mines, and depth charges, Torpex was only used in the Upkeep, Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs as well as the drones employed in Operation Aphrodite.

Though very stable and serving as the reference point by which the sensitivity of other explosives are judged, it was too expensive for most military applications and reserved for use in the most important products, such as torpedoes.

Although both RDX and TNT have a negative oxygen balance, the superheated aluminium component tends to contribute primarily by extending the expansion time of the explosive product gases.

[8] Later, beeswax was replaced with paraffin wax, and calcium chloride was added as a moisture absorber to reduce the production of hydrogen gas under high humidity.

In July of that year government officials informed the plant to not exceed production quotas (as had been the practice to that point) since they knew that the atomic bomb was near completion.