Dum Dum Arsenal

{{Short description|Former British military facility in West Bengal, India}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}

{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Dum Dum Arsenal

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| industry = Munitions

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| hq_location_city = Dum Dum in modern West Bengal

| hq_location_country = India

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| key_people = Captain Neville Bertie-Clay

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The Dum Dum Arsenal was a British military facility located near the town of Dum Dum in modern West Bengal, India.{{cite web |title=DUM-DUM CARTRIDGES. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1886/01/04/109311715.pdf |date=4 January 1886 |work=The New York Times |page= }}

The arsenal was at the centre of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, caused in part by rumours that the paper cartridges for their muzzle-loading rifles, which they were expected to bite open, were greased with pig lard (a problem for Muslims) or cow fat (a problem for Hindus).{{cite book

|title = Memoir of John Lovering Cooke, with a sketch of the Indian mutiny of 1857-58

|publisher=Oxford University

|year=1873

|page=29

|author=Charles Henry H. Wright, John Lovering Cooke}}

It was at this arsenal that Captain Neville Bertie-Clay developed the .303-inch Mark II Special cartridge, incorporating the original so-called "Dum-dum bullet", a soft-point bullet designed to mushroom on striking.{{cite web

|title = British Military Small Arms Ammunition

|url = https://sites.google.com/site/britmilammo/-303-inch/ball-page-2

|author = Tony Edwards and Richard Tordoff

}}{{cite web

|title = The .303 British Service Cartridge

|url = https://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/the-303-british-service-cartridge/

|author = Roy Tebbutt}}

This was the first in a series of expanding bullets developed by the British for military use. They were later banned in warfare by the Hague Convention as being "too inhumane."

On 7 December 1908, a serious, accidental explosion occurred at the Dum Dum arsenal, resulting in the death or serious injury to about 50 workers.{{cite encyclopedia| year = 2009 | title = Dum Dum | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | url = http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9031421| accessdate = }}{{EB1911 |wstitle=Dum-Dum |inline=1 |volume=8 |page=661}}