Hand grenade

"Pirates used them a lot; they were very effective in terrorizing the crew of a ship before you actually attacked."

- David Cordingly in the Below Deck/Weapons DVD(BD) featurette.

A Hand Grenade is a thrown weapon which was widely used in the 18th century both by regular armed forces as well as by pirates. An individual using grenades is called a grenadier.

Construction
An 18th century hand grenade was normally a ball made of iron, ceramic or thick glass and filled with black powder, nails and scatter were sometimes added to the powder in order to increase the number of fragments after the explosion. It had a hole (possibly with a neck) in which a fuse consisting of slowmatch going through a plug. In case of a lack of regulary manufactured grenades improvised grenades could be easily fabricated aboard a ship, by filling black powder or gunpowder into empty coconuts or reinforced gourds. However such grenades were less effective because the improvised hull easily broke when the grenade fell on the ground. Blackbeard had developed a new type of grenades, he filled empty bottles with gunpowder, scatter and small pieces of iron or lead.

Usage
"Not fair!"

- Jacoby after Will Turner planted a grenade inside him.

The grenadier lit the fuse and threw the grenade. When the fire reached the powder, the grenade exploded and the hull break apart, throwing bits of iron, which hurt and killed people, in all directions. In small rooms, even the pure explosion force could kill a person. Grenades were normally thrown on the enemy ship before boarding in order do reduce the number of enemy crewmen and to lower their morale. Since grenade explosions did not harm the ship very much, they were extremely useful for pirates. Many pirates including Jacoby and Hector Barbossa used grenades.

Behind the scenes

 * Prior to the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl pirates using grenades were almost never mentioned, but afterwards prate grenadiers became quite popular.
 * The grenade is one of the weapons in Pirates of the Caribbean Online. It is available after fulfilling the Weapon Unlock:Grende Quest, when you receive the Grenade Pouch you need for keeping them from bumping together from Jack Sparrow. The gamee features six grenade fighting skills and fife types of grenades: the ordinary Explosive grenade, the Flame Burst which is an flammable bomb that sets fire to it's surroundings, the ceramic Stink Pot filled with noxious gas and foul smelling gunk, the Smoke Cloud – a bomb filled with quick burning tar and rags which creates a blinding cloud of smokes and the Siege Chrage which is a heavy iron grenade that is strong enough to destroy walls.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End (video game)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean Online
 * Kingdom Hearts II