TNT was first prepared by
Julius Wilbrand in 1863. Germany began manufacturing TNT in 1891 and aluminium was first mixed with TNT in 1899 to produce an explosive compound. In 1902, the
German Army began to use TNT, replacing
picric acid, and in 1912, the
US Army also started to use TNT. TNT production was limited by the availability of toluene which came from coal tar. Therefore, mixtures of TNT with other compounds became widespread to relieve the shortage of TNT. Modern tritonal was developed as a cheaper substitute for
Torpex and
HBX under UWE designation (UnderWater Explosive) before it turned out Allies could produce enough
RDX to cover all naval requirements late in WWII. ==See also==