Got to thinking about bad designs and came across this journel entry.
During the Cold War, US tanks (M-60A1s) stationed close to the border carried a basic load of 50 rounds of main gun ammo, especially those units close to the Fulda Gap. At the time of this incident, the mix was 40 rounds of APDS and 10 rounds of HEAT.
Now the 105mm HEAT round looks sort of like a potato masher grenade right out of WWII, a flat nose clyinder with a pipe sticking out of the end. This pipe housed the point-detonating fuse and the fuse itself was protected with a screw on cap. Normally the round is loaded as is, since the inside of the cap has a small point designed to impact on the nose of the fuze and start the reaction. The screw cap had one flaw. Over time, the paint holding it in place starts to crack and the movement of the tank causes the cap to unscrew.
The main gun rounds were routinely downloaded for inspection as well as prior to any gunnery (being replaced with practice rounds). Part of the download process was for the loader to test the cap and if he found it loose, to pass it out to the tanker standing next to the turret, to be transported to a blast pit where an EOD specialist would refix the screwcap and paint it again.
A simple process, performed 2-3 times a year and always preceeded with a safety briefing so everyone is on the same track.
We had a brand new kid, straight out of Armor Basic. He was assigned to my tank as the loader, (I was a new PFC, driver), but due to his inexperience, I was inside the tank, removing the rounds, and passing them up to my tank commander to be handed down to the ground and moved to the ammo bay.
I found a HEAT round with a loose cap and passed it up to the TC, advising him, and he repeated back to me "Loose Cap!" He handed it down to our new man, and I heard the repeat "Loose Cap!" I was travesing the turret to get to a hull rack when my TC dove, head first through the loader's hatch, at almost the same moment, there was an explosion and the tank rocked sideways.
By the time I had helped my TC back up through the hatch, the rest of the platoon had gathered in stunned silence.
According to my TC, our new man had accepted the HEAT round and stepped back, as my TC started to turn back to the tank, he saw the new guy, take the round by the base and ram the projectile into the concrete to reset the screwcap, at this point my TC dove for cover. Since the screwcap only has to travel a quarter of an inch to impact the fuze....
Hell of a way to give your life for your country....
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