Naval History Forums

Was just reading 'The Design and Construction of the Battleship Dreadnought' by DK Brown in Warship Vol 4, and at the end, he mentions that after the trias of the 1881 battleship Inflexible, there was a proposal to build a 4 twin 16 inch gunned turret version of the Inflexible--sort of a combinatio...

The sonic boom. Yes, every object moving at the speed of sound produces it. But you have to be behind the passing object to feel it. Sailors on board for sure did not.

If target angle = 0 means the target is on a parallel course to the sub, than target angle = 80, means the target is moving almost directly away from the sub. If Target angle = 90 means that the target is on a parallel course with the sub, then target angle 80 means that the range is opening slowly...

That doesn't make sense. What does make sense is that target angle = 80deg actually states that the target is moving rapidly away from the Uboat. Forget the U202 KTB and the Rio Tercero sinking. Generically speaking, could you draw the geometry of an 80° angle on the bow and explain how in this sit...

The USN's Arma Mk3 TDC was an excellent WW2 torpedo fire control system. Many argue that a valid argument can be made that it was the finest such device of the war. The Mark XIV torpedo, not so much. Multiple design flaws plagued it until 1943 - bad depth sensor design, badly designed contact fuze,...

That doesn't make sense. What does make sense is that target angle = 80deg actually states that the target is moving rapidly away from the Uboat. Could you draw the geometry of this and explain how an angle on the bow/inclination/target aspect angle of 80° means a retiring vehicle? Regards

Hi Marcelo, -target bearing -target speed -angle on the bow, inclination or target aspect angle, anyway you call it One can be measured the others are mere estimates. The estimates generate the future position to which the torpedo must travel. If the torpedo arrives too early or too late it's a mis...

This is the KTB entry: Three fan from tube I, II, IV fire! Shooting data: Bow right, target angle 80°, speed 11 knots, range = 2000 meters , spread angle 2, depth 3 meters, aim point center. Hit after 4 minutes 43 seconds = 4350 meters. Hit center. High detonation cloud, afterwards white smoke from...

FC computer only needs:

-target bearing
-target speed
-angle on the bow, inclination or target aspect angle, anyway you call it

Optionally:

-for large gyro angle target range
-target length for dispersion

Nooo, do you think that an 11 knot ship would sail 2300 m in 4 minutes? Moreover, look at the geometry of the attack, there is no way range could have changed so much during runtime.

Hi All, On these figures, Rio Tercero subtends only 0.22 of a degree at 4300m ( if beam on to the U-boat) so spreading by 2 whole degrees between shots as shown indicates how much luck was involved in this circumstance. I am sure I have read an account saying U-boat commanders frequently overrode a...

In the case of the Rio Tercero (nothing special with this case except that it was a neutral vessel) the shot was at 4300 m and was steaming at 11 knots, it may rank high between the longest ranged torpedo hits in the war. The running time was 4 min 43 sec. The range at the moment of firing was ~200...

A crude estimate:

Germany fired:

7000 G7e
2300 G7a
640 T5

Total 9940

(Naval weapons of WWII)

Ship sunk with them:

2673

(https://uboat.net/special/analysis.htm)

Effectivity

27%


UK fired:

5121 (presumably all Mk VIII)

(Naval weapons of WWII)

Ship sunk with them:

?

Director angle, yes, I should have known, as the RN computer was so called. In the case of the Rio Tercero (nothing special with this case except that it was a neutral vessel) the shot was at 4300 m and was steaming at 11 knots, it may rank high between the longest ranged torpedo hits in the war. Th...

Thanks! At first sight some numbers don´t look good, a salvo of 4 torpedoes at 1000 yards on a 6 kt target and hitting with only one is, I must say,...poor. It seems that the technique was firing the torpedoes as the selected parts of the ship were coming into the periscope pip, so the long delays b...