and how exactly does an ap bomb work does it use shear force to punch though a ship or does it use a a shaped charge?
There had been bombs using shaped charge warheads, mostly in use in small bombs / bomblets meant to destroy armored vehicles and being introduced later during the war.
But the classic "AP" bomb was indeed depending on kinetic energy to penetrate armor and had been in use long before WW2. They did differ from general purpose bombs by having much thicker shell cases, less explosive filling(1), were often made of higher grade metals and frequently had a more aerodynamic shape to allow for higher terminal velocities. Some bombs did utilize additional rocket boosters for even higher speeds, which eventually lead to the first guided bombs.
(1) for example the German general purpose SC 500 was filled with ~260 kg of explosives, the anti-armor PC 500 had only 32kg.