Torpedoes. Torpedo weapons Combat torpedoes

Torpedo (from lat. torpedo narke - electric stingray , abbreviated Lat. torpedo) - a self-propelled device containing an explosive charge and used to destroy surface and underwater targets. The appearance of torpedo weapons in the 19th century radically changed the tactics of warfare at sea and served as an impetus for the development of new types of ships carrying torpedoes as the main weapon.

Torpedoes of various types. Military Museum on the Bezymyannaya Battery, Vladivostok.

History of creation

Illustration from the book by Giovanni de la Fontana

Like many other inventions, the invention of the torpedo has several starting points. The idea of ​​using special shells to destroy enemy ships was first described in a book by the Italian engineer Giovanni de la Fontana (Italian. Giovanni de la Fontana) Bellicorum instrumentorum liber, cum figuris et fictitys litoris conscriptus(rus. “The Illustrated and Encrypted Book of the Instruments of War” or otherwise “The Book of Military Supplies” ). The book contains images of various military devices moving on land, water and air and driven by the reactive energy of powder gases.

The next event that predetermined the appearance of the torpedo was David Bushnell's proof. David Bushnell) the possibility of burning gunpowder under water. Bushnell later tried to create the first sea mine, equipped with a time-explosive mechanism he had invented, but the attempt combat use(like the Turtle submarine invented by Bushnell) was unsuccessful.
The next step towards the creation of torpedoes was taken by Robert Fulton. Robert Fulton), creator of one of the first steamships. In 1797, he suggested that the British use drift mines equipped with a time-explosive mechanism and for the first time used the word torpedo to describe a device that was supposed to explode under the bottom and thus destroy enemy ships. This word was used because of the ability of electric stingrays (lat. torpedo narke) remain unnoticed, and then with a swift throw paralyze their victim.

Pole mine

Fulton's invention was not a torpedo in the modern sense of the word, but a barrage mine. Such mines were widely used Russian fleet during the Crimean War in the Azov, Black and Baltic seas. But such mines were defensive weapons. The pole mines that appeared a little later became offensive weapons. The pole mine was an explosive attached to the end of a long pole and secretly delivered by boat to the enemy ship.

A new stage was the appearance of towed mines. Such mines existed in both defensive and offensive versions. Harvey's defensive mine Harvey) was towed using a long cable at a distance of approximately 100-150 meters from the ship outside the wake and had a remote fuse, which was activated when the enemy tried to ram the protected ship. An offensive option, the Makarov winged mine was also towed on a cable, but when an enemy ship approached, the tug headed straight for the enemy, at the last moment it sharply went to the side and released the cable, while the mine continued to move by inertia and exploded when it collided with the enemy ship.

The last step towards the invention of a self-propelled torpedo was the sketches of an unknown Austro-Hungarian officer, which depicted a projectile towed from the shore and filled with a charge of pyroxylin. The sketches went to captain Giovanni Biagio Luppis (Rus. Giovanni Biagio Luppis), who came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a self-propelled analogue of a mine for coastal defense (eng. coastsaver), controlled from the shore using cables. Luppis built a model of such a mine, driven by a spring from a clock mechanism, but he was unable to establish control of this projectile. In desperation, Luppis turned to the Englishman Robert Whitehead for help. Robert Whitehead), engineer at a shipbuilding company Stabilimeno Technico Fiumano in Fiume (currently Rijeka, Croatia).

Whitehead torpedo


Whitehead managed to solve two problems that stood in the way of his predecessors. The first problem was simple and reliable engine, which would make the torpedo autonomous. Whitehead decided to install a pneumatic engine on his invention, running on compressed air and driving a propeller installed in the stern. The second problem was the visibility of a torpedo moving through the water. Whitehead decided to make the torpedo in such a way that it would move at no great depth, but for a long time he was unable to achieve stability in the depth of immersion. The torpedoes either floated up, went to great depths, or generally moved in waves. Whitehead managed to solve this problem with the help of a simple and effective mechanism - a hydrostatic pendulum, which controlled the depth rudders. reacting to the trim of the torpedo, the mechanism deflected the depth rudders in the desired direction, but at the same time did not allow the torpedo to make wave-like movements. The accuracy of maintaining the depth was quite sufficient and amounted to ±0.6 m.

Torpedoes by country

Torpedo device

The torpedo consists of a streamlined body, in the bow of which there is combat unit with a fuse and an explosive charge. To propel self-propelled torpedoes, various types of engines are installed on them: compressed air, electric, jet, mechanical. To operate the engine, a supply of fuel is placed on board the torpedo: compressed air cylinders, batteries, fuel tanks. Torpedoes equipped with an automatic or remote guidance device are equipped with control devices, servos and steering mechanisms.

Classification

Types of Kriegsmarine torpedoes

Classification of torpedoes is carried out according to several criteria:

  • by purpose: anti-ship; anti-submarine; universal, used against submarines and surface ships.
  • by media type: ship; boats; aviation; universal; special (warheads of anti-submarine missiles and self-propelled mines).
  • by charge type: educational, without explosives; with a charge of ordinary explosive; with nuclear weapons;
  • by fuse type: contact; non-contact; remote; combined.
  • by caliber: small caliber, up to 400 mm; medium caliber, from 400 to 533 mm inclusive; large caliber, over 533 mm.
  • by type of propulsion: screw; reactive; with external propulsion.
  • by engine type: gas; steam-gas; electrical; reactive.
  • by type of control: uncontrollable; autonomously controlled straight forward; autonomously controlled maneuvering; with remote control; with manual direct control; with combined control.
  • by homing type: with active homing; with passive homing; with combined homing.
  • according to the homing principle: with magnetic guidance; with electromagnetic guidance; with acoustic guidance; with heat guidance; with hydrodynamic guidance; with hydro-optical guidance; combined.

Starters

Torpedo engines

Gas and steam-gas torpedoes

Engine Brotherhood

Robert Whitehead's first mass-produced self-propelled torpedoes used a piston engine powered by compressed air. Air compressed to 25 atmospheres from the cylinder through a reducer that reduced the pressure entered a simple piston engine, which, in turn, drove the torpedo propeller to rotate. The Whitehead engine at 100 rpm provided a torpedo speed of 6.5 knots at a range of 180 m. To increase the speed and range, it was necessary to increase the pressure and volume of compressed air, respectively.

With the development of technology and increasing pressure, the problem of freezing of valves, regulators and torpedo engines arose. When gases expand, a sharp drop in temperature occurs, which is stronger the higher the pressure difference. It was possible to avoid freezing in torpedo engines with dry heating, which appeared in 1904. The three-cylinder Brotherhood engines that powered Whitehead's first heated torpedoes used kerosene or alcohol to reduce air pressure. Liquid fuel was injected into the air coming from the cylinder and ignited. Due to fuel combustion, the pressure increased and the temperature decreased. In addition to engines that burned fuel, later engines appeared in which water was injected into the air, thereby changing the physical properties of the gas-air mixture.

MU90 anti-submarine torpedo with water jet engine

Further improvement was associated with the advent of steam-air torpedoes (torpedoes with wet heating), in which water was injected into the fuel combustion chambers. Thanks to this, it was possible to burn more fuel, as well as use the steam generated by the evaporation of water to feed the engine and increase the energy potential of the torpedo. This cooling system was first used on British Royal Gun torpedoes in 1908.

The amount of fuel that can be burned is limited by the amount of oxygen, of which the air contains about 21%. To increase the amount of fuel burned, torpedoes were developed in which oxygen was pumped into the cylinders instead of air. During World War II, Japan was armed with the 61 cm Type 93 oxygen torpedo, the most powerful, long-range and high-speed torpedo of its time. The disadvantage of oxygen torpedoes was their explosiveness. In Germany, during the Second World War, experiments were conducted with the creation of traceless torpedoes of the G7ut type, powered by hydrogen peroxide and equipped with a Walter engine. A further development of the use of the Walter engine was the creation of jet and water-jet torpedoes.

Electric torpedoes

Electric torpedo MGT-1

Gas and steam-gas torpedoes have a number of disadvantages: they leave an unmasking trail and have difficulties with long-term storage in a charged state. Electrically driven torpedoes do not have these disadvantages. John Ericsson was the first to equip a torpedo of his own design with an electric motor in 1973. The electric motor was powered via a cable from an external current source. Sims-Edison and Nordfeld torpedoes had similar designs, and the latter also controlled the torpedo's rudders by wire. The first successful autonomous electric torpedo, in which power was supplied to the engine from on-board batteries, was the German G7e, widely used during the Second World War. But this torpedo also had a number of disadvantages. Its lead-acid battery was sensitive to shock and required regular maintenance and recharging, as well as heating before use. The American Mark 18 torpedo had a similar design. The experimental G7ep, which became a further development of the G7e, was devoid of these shortcomings since its batteries were replaced with galvanic cells. Modern electric torpedoes use highly reliable, maintenance-free lithium-ion or silver batteries.

Mechanically propelled torpedoes

Brennan torpedo

A mechanical engine was first used in the Brennan torpedo. The torpedo had two cables wound on drums inside the torpedo body. Coastal steam winches pulled cables that turned the drums and rotated the torpedo propellers. The operator on shore controlled the relative speeds of the winches, so he could change the direction and speed of the torpedo. Such systems were used for coastal defense in Great Britain between 1887 and 1903.
In the USA in late XIX century, the Howell torpedo was in service, which was driven by the energy of a flywheel spun before launch. Howell also pioneered the use of the gyroscopic effect to control the course of a torpedo.

Jet-powered torpedoes

The bow of the M-5 torpedo of the Shkval complex

Attempts to use a jet engine in torpedoes were made back in the second half of the 19th century. After the end of World War II, a number of attempts were made to create missile-torpedoes, which were a combination of a missile and a torpedo. After launching into the air, the rocket-torpedo uses a jet engine, which propels the head part - the torpedo to the target; after falling into the water, a regular torpedo engine is turned on and further movement is carried out in the mode of a regular torpedo. The Fairchild AUM-N-2 Petrel air-launched missile-torpedoes and the RUR-5 ASROC, Grebe and RUM-139 VLA ship-based anti-submarine torpedoes had such a device. They used standard torpedoes combined with a rocket launcher. The RUR-4 Weapon Alpha complex used a depth charge equipped with a rocket booster. In the USSR, the RAT-52 aircraft missile-torpedoes were in service. In 1977, the USSR adopted the Shkval complex, equipped with an M-5 torpedo. This torpedo has a jet engine powered by hydro-reacting solid fuel. In 2005, the German company Diehl BGT Defense announced the creation of a similar supercavitating torpedo, and the HSUW torpedo is being developed in the United States. A special feature of jet torpedoes is their speed, which exceeds 200 knots and is achieved due to the movement of the torpedo in a supercavitating cavity of gas bubbles, thereby reducing water resistance.

Except jet engines, custom torpedo engines from gas turbines to single-fuel engines such as sulfur hexafluoride sprayed over a block of solid lithium are also now in use.

Maneuvering and control devices

Pendulum hydrostat
1. Pendulum axis.
2. Depth rudder.
3. Pendulum.
4. Hydrostat disc.

Already during the first experiments with torpedoes, it became clear that during movement the torpedo constantly deviates from the initially specified course and depth of travel. Some torpedo samples received a remote control system, which made it possible to manually set the depth and course of movement. Robert Whitehead installed a special device on torpedoes of his own design - a hydrostat. It consisted of a cylinder with a movable disk and a spring and was placed in a torpedo so that the disk perceived water pressure. When changing the depth of the torpedo, the disk moved vertically and, using rods and a vacuum-air servo drive, controlled the depth rudders. The hydrostat has a significant time delay in response, so when using it, the torpedo constantly changed its depth. To stabilize the operation of the hydrostat, Whitehead used a pendulum, which was connected to the vertical rudders in such a way as to speed up the operation of the hydrostat.
While torpedoes had a limited range, no measures were required to maintain course. With increasing range, the torpedoes began to deviate significantly from the course, which required the use of special measures and control of vertical rudders. The most effective device was the Aubrey device, which was a gyroscope, which, when any of its axes is tilted, tends to take its original position. With the help of rods, the return force of the gyroscope was transmitted to the vertical rudders, thanks to which the torpedo maintained the initially set course with fairly high accuracy. The gyroscope was spun at the moment of the shot using a spring or a pneumatic turbine. By installing the gyroscope at an angle that did not coincide with the launch axis, it was possible to achieve movement of the torpedo at an angle to the direction of the shot.

Torpedoes equipped with a hydrostatic mechanism and a gyroscope began to be equipped with a circulation mechanism during the Second World War. After launch, such a torpedo could move along any pre-programmed trajectory. In Germany, such guidance systems were called FaT (Flachenabsuchender Torpedo, horizontally maneuvering torpedo) and LuT - (Lagenuabhangiger Torpedo, autonomously guided torpedo). Maneuvering systems made it possible to set complex movement trajectories, thereby increasing the safety of the firing ship and increasing the efficiency of firing. Circulating torpedoes were most effective when attacking convoys and internal waters of ports, that is, when there was a high concentration of enemy ships.

Guidance and control of torpedoes when firing

Torpedo firing control device

Torpedoes can have various guidance and control options. At first, the most widespread were unguided torpedoes, which, like artillery shell, after launch were not equipped with course-changing devices. There were also torpedoes controlled remotely by wire and man-controlled torpedoes controlled by a pilot. Later, torpedoes with homing systems appeared, which were independently aimed at the target using various physical fields: electromagnetic, acoustic, optical, as well as along the wake. There are also radio-controlled torpedoes that use a combination of different types of guidance.

Torpedo triangle

Brennan torpedoes and some other types of early torpedoes were remote-controlled, while the more common Whitehead torpedoes and their subsequent modifications required only initial guidance. In this case, it was necessary to take into account a number of parameters affecting the chances of hitting the target. With the increase in the range of torpedoes, solving the problem of their guidance became more and more difficult. For guidance, special tables and instruments were used, with the help of which the launch advance was calculated depending on the mutual courses of the firing ship and the target, their speeds, distance to the target, weather conditions and other parameters.

The simplest, but fairly accurate calculations of the coordinates and parameters of target motion (CPDP) were performed manually by calculating trigonometric functions. You can simplify the calculation by using a navigation tablet or using a torpedo firing director.
In the general case, solving the torpedo triangle comes down to calculating the angle of the angle α based on known target speed parameters V C, torpedo speed V T and target course Θ . In fact, due to the influence of various parameters, the calculation was made based on a larger number of data.

Torpedo Data Computer Control Panel

By the beginning of World War II, automatic electromechanical calculators had appeared that made it possible to calculate the launch of torpedoes. The US Navy used the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC). It was a complex mechanical device into which, before launching a torpedo, data about the torpedo carrier ship (course and speed), torpedo parameters (type, depth, speed) and data about the target (course, speed, distance) were entered. Based on the entered data, TDC not only calculated the torpedo triangle, but also automatic mode carried out target tracking. The received data was transmitted to the torpedo compartment, where the gyroscope angle was set using a mechanical pusher. TDC made it possible to enter data into all torpedo tubes, taking into account their relative position, including for fan launch. Since the carrier data was entered automatically from the gyrocompass and pitometer, during an attack the submarine could actively maneuver without the need for repeated calculations.

Homing devices

The use of remote control and homing systems significantly simplifies calculations when firing and increases the efficiency of using torpedoes.
Remote mechanical control was first used on Brennan torpedoes, and fly-by-wire control was also used on a wide variety of torpedo types. Radio control was first used on the Hammond torpedo during the First World War.
Among homing systems greatest distribution first they received torpedoes with acoustic passive homing. The G7e/T4 Falke torpedoes were the first to enter service in March 1943, but the next modification, the G7es T-5 Zaunkönig, became widespread. The torpedo used a passive guidance method, in which the homing device first analyzes the noise characteristics, comparing them with characteristic samples, and then generates control signals for the rudders mechanism, comparing the levels of signals received by the left and right acoustic receivers. In the USA, the Mark 24 FIDO torpedo was developed in 1941, but due to the lack of a noise analysis system, it was used only for drops from aircraft, since it could be aimed at the firing ship. After being released, the torpedo began to move, describing a circulation until it received acoustic noise, after which it was aimed at the target.
Active acoustic guidance systems contain a sonar, which is used to target a target based on the acoustic signal reflected from it.
Less common are systems that provide change guidance magnetic field, created by the ship.
After the end of World War II, torpedoes began to be equipped with devices that guided them along the wake left by the target.

Warhead

Pi 1 (Pi G7H) - fuze of German G7a and G7e torpedoes

The first torpedoes were equipped with a warhead with a pyroxylin charge and an impact fuse. When the bow of the torpedo hits the side of the target, the firing pin needles break the igniter caps, which, in turn, cause the explosive to detonate.

Triggering of the impact fuse was possible only when the torpedo hit the target perpendicularly. If the impact occurred tangentially, the striker did not fire and the torpedo went to the side. They tried to improve the characteristics of the impact fuse using special whiskers located in the bow of the torpedo. To increase the likelihood of an explosion, inertial fuses began to be installed on torpedoes. The inertial fuse was triggered by a pendulum, which, with a sharp change in the speed or course of the torpedo, released the firing pin, which, in turn, under the action of the mainspring, pierced the primers, igniting the explosive charge.

The head compartment of a UGST torpedo with a homing antenna and proximity fuze sensors

Later, to increase safety, the fuses began to be equipped with a safety spinner, which spun up after the torpedo reached a given speed and unlocked the firing pin. This increased the safety of the firing ship.

In addition to mechanical fuses, torpedoes were equipped with electric fuses, the detonation of which occurred due to the discharge of a capacitor. The capacitor was charged from a generator, the rotor of which was connected to a turntable. Thanks to this design, the accidental detonation fuse and the fuse were structurally combined, which increased their reliability.
The use of contact fuses did not allow the full combat potential of torpedoes to be realized. The use of thick underwater armor and anti-torpedo boules made it possible not only to reduce damage from a torpedo explosion, but also in some cases to avoid damage. It was possible to significantly increase the effectiveness of torpedoes by ensuring that they were detonated not at the side, but under the bottom of the ship. This became possible with the advent of proximity fuses. Such fuses are triggered by changes in magnetic, acoustic, hydrodynamic or optical fields.
Proximity fuses are of active and passive types. In the first case, the fuse contains an emitter that forms a physical field around the torpedo, the state of which is controlled by the receiver. If the field parameters change, the receiver initiates detonation of the torpedo's explosives. Passive guidance devices do not contain emitters, but track changes in natural fields, such as the Earth's magnetic field.

Countermeasures

Battleship Eustathius with anti-torpedo nets.

The advent of torpedoes necessitated the development and use of means to counter torpedo attacks. Since the first torpedoes had low speed, they could be fought by firing torpedoes from small arms and small caliber guns.

Designed ships began to be equipped with special passive protection systems. On the outer side of the sides, anti-torpedo boules were installed, which were narrowly directed sponsons partially filled with water. When a torpedo hit, the energy of the explosion was absorbed by the water and reflected from the side, reducing damage. After World War I, a torpedo belt was also used, which consisted of several lightly armored compartments located opposite the waterline. This belt absorbed the torpedo explosion and minimized internal damage to the ship. A type of anti-torpedo belt was the constructive underwater protection of the Pugliese system, used on the battleship Giulio Cesare.

Jet anti-torpedo protection system for ships "Udav-1" (RKPTZ-1)

Anti-torpedo nets hung from the sides of the ship were quite effective in combating torpedoes. The torpedo, falling into the net, exploded at a safe distance from the ship or lost speed. Networks were also used to protect ship anchorages, canals and port waters.

To combat torpedoes using Various types homing, ships and submarines are equipped with simulators and sources of interference that complicate the operation of various control systems. In addition, various measures are taken to reduce the physical fields of the ship.
Modern ships are equipped active systems anti-torpedo protection. Such systems include, for example, the anti-torpedo defense system for ships "Udav-1" (RKPTZ-1), which uses three types of ammunition (diverter projectile, minelayer projectile, depth projectile), a ten-barreled automated launcher with tracking drives, fire control devices, loading and feeding devices. (English)

Video


Whitehead torpedo 1876


Howell 1898 torpedo

Encyclopedic YouTube

    1 / 3

    ✪ How do fish make electricity? - Eleanor Nelson

    ✪ Torpedo marmorata

    ✪ Ford Mondeo stove. How will it burn?

    Subtitles

    Translator: Ksenia Khorkova Editor: Rostislav Golod In 1800, naturalist Alexander von Humboldt observed a school of electric eels jumping out of the water to protect themselves from approaching horses. But elephantfish and other species of weakly electric fish do not generate enough electricity to attack prey. unsolved mystery: Why don’t they shock themselves?

It is possible that the size of highly electric fish allows them to withstand their own discharges, or that the current leaves their bodies too quickly.

Scientists think that special proteins may protect electrical organs, but in fact this is one of the mysteries that science has not yet solved. Origin of the term Russian language, like others ] .

There is no consensus on the first use of this term in English. Some authoritative sources claim that the first recording of this term dates back to 1776 and it was introduced into circulation by David Bushnell, the inventor of one of the first prototype submarines, the Turtle. According to another, more widespread version, the primacy of the use of this word in the English language belongs to Robert Fulton and dates back to the beginning of the 19th century (no later than 1810)

In both cases, the term “torpedo” did not designate a self-propelled cigar-shaped projectile, but an egg- or barrel-shaped underwater contact mine, which had little in common with the Whitehead and Aleksandrovsky torpedoes.

Originally in English, the word "torpedo" refers to electric stingrays, and has existed since the 16th century and was borrowed from Latin language(lat. torpedo), which in turn originally meant “numbness”, “rigidity”, “immobility”. The term is associated with the effect of the “strike” of an electric ramp.

Classifications

By engine type

  • On compressed air (before the First World War);
  • Steam-gas - liquid fuel burns in compressed air (oxygen) with the addition of water, and the resulting mixture rotates a turbine or drives a piston engine;
    a separate type of steam-gas torpedoes are torpedoes from the Walther gas turbine unit.
  • Powder - gases from slowly burning gunpowder rotate the engine shaft or turbine;
  • Jet - do not have propellers, they use jet thrust (torpedoes: RAT-52, “Shkval”). It is necessary to distinguish rocket torpedoes from rocket torpedoes, which are missiles with warheads-stages in the form of torpedoes (rocket torpedoes “ASROC”, “Waterfall”, etc.).
By pointing method
  • Uncontrolled - the first samples;
  • Upright - with a magnetic compass or gyroscopic semi-compass;
  • Maneuvering according to a given program (circulating) in the area of ​​​​the intended targets - used by Germany in the Second World War;
  • Homing passive - by physical fields targets, mainly by noise or changes in the properties of water in the wake (first use - in World War II), acoustic torpedoes "Zaukenig" (Germany, used by submarines) and Mark 24 FIDO (USA, used only from aircraft, as they could hit your ship);
  • Homing active - have a sonar on board. Many modern anti-submarine and multi-purpose torpedoes;
  • Remote-controlled - targeting is carried out from a surface or underwater ship via wires (fiber optics).

By purpose

  • Anti-ship (initially all torpedoes);
  • Universal (designed to destroy both surface and submarine ships);
  • Anti-submarine (intended to destroy submarines).

“In 1865,” writes Aleksandrovsky, “I presented... to Admiral N.K. Krabbe (manager of the Naval Ministry of Autonomous Republic) a project for a self-propelled torpedo that I had invented. The essence... the torpedo is nothing more than a miniature copy of the submarine I invented. As in my submarine, so in my torpedo, the main engine is compressed air, the same horizontal rudders for direction at the desired depth... with the only difference that the submarine is controlled by people, and the self-propelled torpedo... by an automatic mechanism. Upon presentation of my project for a self-propelled torpedo, N. K. Krabbe found it premature, because at that time my submarine was just being built.”

Apparently the first guided torpedo was the Brennan Torpedo, developed in 1877.

World War I

The Second World War

Electric torpedoes

One of the disadvantages of steam-gas torpedoes is the presence of a trace (exhaust gas bubbles) on the surface of the water, unmasking the torpedo and creating the opportunity for the attacked ship to evade it and determine the location of the attackers, therefore, after the First World War, attempts began to use an electric motor as a torpedo engine. The idea was obvious, but none of the states, except Germany, could implement it before the start of World War II. In addition to the tactical advantages, it turned out that electric torpedoes are relatively simple to manufacture (for example, the labor costs for the manufacture of a standard German steam-gas torpedo G7a (T1) ranged from 3,740 man-hours in 1939 to 1,707 man-hours in 1943; and for the production of one electric torpedoes G7e (T2) required 1255 man-hours). However, the maximum speed of the electric torpedo was only 30 knots, while the steam-gas torpedo reached a speed of up to 46 knots. There was also the problem of eliminating hydrogen leakage from the torpedo’s battery, which sometimes led to its accumulation and explosions.

In Germany, an electric torpedo was created back in 1918, but they did not have time to use it in combat. Development continued in 1923, in Sweden. In the city, the new electric torpedo was ready for mass production, but it was officially put into service only in the city under the designation G7e. The work was so secret that the British learned about it only in 1939, when parts of such a torpedo were discovered during an inspection of the battleship Royal Oak, torpedoed in Scapa Flow on the Orkney Islands.

However, already in August 1941, fully serviceable 12 such torpedoes fell into the hands of the British on the captured U-570. Despite the fact that both Britain and the USA already had prototypes of electric torpedoes at that time, they simply copied the German one and adopted it for service (though only in 1945, after the end of the war) under the designation Mk-XI in British and Mk -18 in the US Navy.

Work on the creation of a special electric battery and electric motor intended for 533 mm torpedoes began in 1932 in the Soviet Union. During 1937-1938 two experimental electric torpedoes ET-45 with a 45 kW electric motor were manufactured. It showed unsatisfactory results, so in 1938 a fundamentally new electric motor was developed with an armature and a magnetic system rotating in different directions, with high efficiency and satisfactory power (80 kW). The first samples of the new electric torpedo were made in 1940. And although the German G7e electric torpedo fell into the hands of Soviet engineers, they did not copy it, and in 1942, after state tests, the domestic ET-80 torpedo was put into service . The first five ET-80 combat torpedoes arrived in the Northern Fleet at the beginning of 1943. In total, Soviet submariners used 16 electric torpedoes during the war.

Thus, in reality, in World War II, Germany and the Soviet Union had electric torpedoes in service. The share of electric torpedoes in the ammunition load of Kriegsmarine submarines was up to 80%.

Proximity fuses

Independently, in strict secrecy, and almost simultaneously, the navies of Germany, England, and the United States developed magnetic fuses for torpedoes. These fuses had a great advantage over simpler contact fuses. Mine-resistant bulkheads located below the armored belt of the ships minimized the destruction caused when a torpedo hit the side. For maximum effectiveness of destruction, a torpedo with a contact fuse had to hit the unarmored part of the hull, which turned out to be a very difficult task. The magnetic fuses were designed in such a way that they were triggered by changes in the magnetic field of the Earth under the steel hull of the ship and exploded the warhead of the torpedo at a distance of 0.3-3.0 meters from its bottom. It was believed that a torpedo explosion under the bottom of a ship caused two or three times more damage than an explosion of the same power at its side.

However, the first German static magnetic fuses (TZ1), which responded to the absolute strength of the vertical component of the magnetic field, simply had to be withdrawn from service in 1940, after the Norwegian operation. These fuses were triggered after the torpedo had passed a safe distance even when the sea was lightly rough, during circulation, or when the torpedo’s movement in depth was not stable enough. As a result, this fuse saved several British heavy cruisers from certain destruction.

New German proximity fuses appeared in combat torpedoes only in 1943. These were magnetodynamic fuses of the Pi-Dupl type, in which the sensitive element was an induction coil fixedly mounted in the fighting compartment of the torpedo. Pi-Dupl fuses responded to the rate of change in the vertical component of the magnetic field strength and to the change in its polarity under the ship’s hull. However, the response radius of such a fuse in 1940 was 2.5-3 m, and in 1943 on a demagnetized ship it barely reached 1 m.

Only in the second half of the war did the German fleet adopt the TZ2 proximity fuse, which had a narrow response band that lay outside the frequency ranges of the main types of interference. As a result, even against a demagnetized ship, it provided a response radius of up to 2-3 m at angles of contact with the target from 30 to 150°, and with a sufficient travel depth (about 7 m), the TZ2 fuse had practically no false alarms due to rough seas. The disadvantage of TZ2 was its requirement to provide a sufficiently high relative speed torpedoes and targets, which was not always possible when firing low-speed electric homing torpedoes.

In the Soviet Union it was an NBC type fuse ( proximity fuse with stabilizer; This is a generator-type magnetodynamic fuse, which was triggered not by the magnitude, but by the speed of change in the vertical component of the magnetic field strength of a ship with a displacement of at least 3000 tons at a distance of up to 2 m from the bottom). It was installed on torpedoes 53-38 (NBC could only be used in torpedoes with special brass combat charging compartments).

Maneuvering devices

During the Second World War, work continued on the creation of maneuvering devices for torpedoes in all leading naval powers. However, only Germany was able to bring prototypes to industrial production (exchange rate systems guidance FaT and its improved version LuT).

FaT

The first example of the FaT guidance system was installed on a TI (G7a) torpedo. The following control concept was implemented - the torpedo in the first section of the trajectory moved linearly over a distance from 500 to 12,500 m and turned in any direction at an angle of up to 135 degrees across the movement of the convoy, and in the zone of destruction of enemy ships, further movement was carried out along an S-shaped trajectory (“ snake") at a speed of 5-7 knots, while the length of the straight section ranged from 800 to 1600 m and the circulation diameter was 300 m. As a result, the search trajectory resembled the steps of a ladder. Ideally, the torpedo should have searched for a target at a constant speed across the direction of movement of the convoy. The probability of being hit by such a torpedo, fired from the forward heading angles of a convoy with a “snake” across its course of movement, turned out to be very high.

Since May 1943, the next modification of the FaTII guidance system (the length of the “snake” section is 800 m) began to be installed on TII (G7e) torpedoes. Because of short range during the course of the electric torpedo, this modification was considered primarily as a self-defense weapon, fired from the stern torpedo tube towards the pursuing escort ship.

LuT

The LuT guidance system was developed to overcome the limitations of the FaT system and entered service in the spring of 1944. Compared to the previous system, the torpedoes were equipped with a second gyroscope, as a result of which it became possible to set turns twice before the start of the “snake” movement. Theoretically, this made it possible for the submarine commander to attack the convoy not from the bow heading angles, but from any position - first the torpedo overtook the convoy, then turned to its bow corners, and only after that began to move in a “snake” across the convoy’s course of movement. The length of the “snake” section could be changed in any range up to 1600 m, while the speed of the torpedo was inversely proportional to the length of the section and was for G7a with the initial 30-knot mode set to 10 knots with a section length of 500 m and 5 knots with a section length of 1500 m .

The need to make changes to the design of the torpedo tubes and the computing device limited the number of boats prepared to use the LuT guidance system to only five dozen. Historians estimate that German submariners fired about 70 LuT torpedoes during the war.

In the fall of 1984, events occurred in the Barents Sea that could lead to the outbreak of a world war.

In the combat training area of ​​the Soviet northern fleet, unexpectedly full speed ahead An American missile cruiser burst in. This happened during a torpedo attack by a flight of Mi-14 helicopters. The Americans launched a high-speed motor boat and sent a helicopter into the air for cover. The Severomorsk aviators realized that their goal was to capture the newest Soviet torpedoes.

The duel over the sea lasted almost 40 minutes. With maneuvers and air flows from the propellers, the Soviet pilots did not allow the annoying Yankees to get closer to the secret product until the Soviet pilots safely lifted it on board. The escort ships that arrived in time by this time pushed the American ships out of the training ground.

Torpedoes have always been considered the most effective weapon domestic fleet. It is no coincidence that NATO intelligence services regularly hunt for their secrets. Russia continues to be the world leader in the amount of know-how used in the creation of torpedoes.

Modern torpedo formidable weapon modern ships and submarines. It allows you to quickly and accurately strike the enemy at sea. By definition, a torpedo is an autonomous, self-propelled and guided underwater projectile, which contains about 500 kg of explosive material or a nuclear warhead. The secrets of the development of torpedo weapons are the most protected, and the number of states that own these technologies is even less than the number of members of the “nuclear club”.

During the Korean War in 1952, the Americans planned to drop two atomic bombs each weighing 40 tons. At this time, a Soviet fighter aviation regiment was operating on the side of the Korean troops. The Soviet Union also had nuclear weapons, and local conflict could develop into a real nuclear disaster at any moment. Information about the Americans' intentions to use atomic bombs has become available Soviet intelligence. In response, Joseph Stalin ordered the development of more powerful thermonuclear weapons to be accelerated. Already in September of the same year, the Minister of Shipbuilding Industry Vyacheslav Malyshev presented a unique project to Stalin for approval.

Vyacheslav Malyshev proposed creating a huge nuclear torpedo T-15. This 24-meter 1550 millimeter caliber projectile was supposed to weigh 40 tons, of which only 4 tons were the warhead. Stalin approved the creation torpedoes, the energy for which was produced by electric batteries.

This weapon could destroy large US naval bases. Due to increased secrecy, builders and nuclear engineers did not consult with representatives of the fleet, so no one thought about how to maintain and shoot such a monster, in addition, the US Navy had only two bases available for Soviet torpedoes, so they abandoned the T-15 supergiant.

In replacement, the sailors proposed creating a conventional-caliber atomic torpedo that could be used on all. It is interesting that the caliber of 533 millimeters is generally accepted and scientifically proven, since the caliber and length are actually the potential energy of the torpedo. Hit covertly probable enemy it was possible only at long distances, so designers and sailors gave priority to thermal torpedoes.

On October 10, 1957, the first underwater nuclear tests were carried out in the Novaya Zemlya area. torpedoes caliber 533 millimeters. The new torpedo was fired by the submarine S-144. From a distance of 10 kilometers, the submarine fired one torpedo salvo. Soon, at a depth of 35 meters, a powerful nuclear explosion, its damaging properties were recorded by hundreds of sensors located on the test area. It is interesting that the crews during this most dangerous element were replaced by animals.

As a result of these tests, the navy received the first nuclear torpedo 5358. They belonged to the thermal class, since their engines ran on vapors of a gas mixture.

The atomic epic is only one page from the history of Russian torpedo production. More than 150 years ago, the idea to create the first self-propelled sea mine or torpedo was put forward by our compatriot Ivan Aleksandrovsky. Soon under command, a torpedo was used for the first time in the world in a battle with the Turks in January 1878. And at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War Soviet designers created the highest speed torpedo in the world, 5339, which means 53 centimeters and 1939. However, the true dawn domestic schools torpedo construction occurred in the 60s of the last century. Its center was TsNI 400, later renamed Gidropribor. Over the past period, the institute has transferred 35 different samples to the Soviet fleet torpedoes.

In addition to submarines, naval aviation and all classes of surface ships of the rapidly developing USSR fleet were armed with torpedoes: cruisers, destroyers and patrol ships. Unique torpedo boats carrying these weapons also continued to be built.

At the same time, the NATO bloc was constantly replenished with ships with more high performance. So in September 1960, the world's first nuclear-powered Enterprise was launched, with a displacement of 89,000 tons, with 104 nuclear weapons on board. To combat carrier strike groups with strong anti-submarine defenses, the range of existing weapons was no longer sufficient.

Only submarines could approach aircraft carriers undetected, but targeted shooting It was extremely difficult to cover the guard ships. In addition, during the Second World War, the American fleet learned to counter the torpedo homing system. To solve this problem, Soviet scientists, for the first time in the world, created a new torpedo device that detected the wake of a ship and ensured its further destruction. However, thermal torpedoes had a significant drawback: their characteristics dropped sharply at great depths, while their piston engines and turbines made loud noise, which unmasked the attacking ships.

In view of this, designers had to solve new problems. This is how the aircraft torpedo appeared, which was placed under the body of a cruise missile. As a result, the time it took to destroy submarines was reduced several times. The first such complex was called “Metel”. It was designed to fire against submarines patrol ships. Later, the complex learned to hit surface targets. Submarines were also armed with missile torpedoes.

In the 70s, the US Navy reclassified its aircraft carriers from attack carriers to multi-purpose ones. To achieve this, the composition of the aircraft based on them was replaced in favor of anti-submarine ones. Now they could not only carry out air strikes on the territory of the USSR, but also actively counter the deployment of Soviet submarines in the ocean. To break through defenses and destroy multi-purpose carrier strike groups, Soviet submarines began to arm themselves with cruise missiles launched from torpedo tubes and flying hundreds of kilometers. But even this long-range weapon could not sink the floating airfield. More powerful charges were required, so the Gidropribor designers created a torpedo with an increased caliber of 650 millimeters, which carries more than 700 kilograms of explosives, especially for nuclear-powered ships of the “Gidropribor” type.

This sample is used in the so-called dead zone of its anti-ship missiles. It aims at the target either independently or receives information from external target designation sources. In this case, the torpedo can approach the enemy simultaneously with other weapons. It is almost impossible to defend against such a massive attack. This earned her the nickname “aircraft carrier killer.”

In their daily affairs and worries, Soviet people did not think about the dangers associated with the confrontation between the superpowers. But the equivalent of about 100 tons of US military equipment was aimed at each of them. The bulk of these weapons were carried into the world's oceans and placed on underwater carriers. The main weapon of the Soviet fleet against were anti-submarine torpedoes. Traditionally they were used electric motors, the power of which did not depend on the depth of travel. Not only submarines, but also surface ships were armed with such torpedoes. The most powerful of them were. For a long time The most common anti-submarine torpedoes for submarines were SET-65, but in 1971, designers first used telecontrol, which was carried out underwater by wire. This dramatically increased the submarine's shooting accuracy. And soon the universal electric torpedo USET-80 was created, which could effectively destroy not only surface ships, but also surface ships. She developed a high speed of more than 40 knots and had a long range. In addition, it struck at a depth inaccessible to any NATO anti-submarine forces - over 1000 meters.

In the early 90s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the factories and testing grounds of the Gidropribor Institute ended up on the territory of seven new sovereign states. Most businesses were looted. But scientific works there was no interruption in the creation of a modern underwater gun in Russia.

ultra-small combat torpedo

Like drones aircraft torpedo weapons will be in increasing demand in the coming years. Today Russia is building fourth-generation warships, and one of their features is an integrated weapons control system. Small-sized thermal and universal deep-sea torpedoes. Their engine runs on unitary fuel, which is essentially liquid gunpowder. When it burns, colossal energy is released. This torpedo universal. It can be used from surface ships, submarines, and also be part of the combat units of aviation anti-submarine systems.

Technical characteristics of a universal deep-sea homing torpedo with remote control (UGST):

Weight - 2200 kg;

Charge weight - 300 kg;

Speed ​​- 50 knots;

Travel depth - up to 500 m;

Range - 50 km;

Homing radius - 2500 m;

IN Lately The US fleet is being replenished with the latest Virginia-class nuclear submarines. Their ammunition includes 26 modernized Mk 48 torpedoes. When fired, they rush to a target located at a distance of 50 kilometers at a speed of 60 knots. The working depths of the torpedo for the purpose of invulnerability to the enemy are up to 1 kilometer. The Russian multi-purpose submarine of Project 885 “Yasen” is intended to become an opponent of these submarines under water. Its ammunition capacity is 30 torpedoes, and its currently secret characteristics are in no way inferior.

And in conclusion, I would like to note that torpedo weapons contain a lot of secrets, for each of which a potential enemy in battle will have to pay a high price.

Power plants (EPS) of torpedoes are designed to give torpedoes movement at a certain speed over a set distance, as well as provide energy to the systems and assemblies of the torpedo.

The operating principle of any type of ECS is to convert one or another type of energy into mechanical work.

Based on the type of energy used, ESUs are divided into:

For steam-gas (thermal);

Electrical;

Reactive.

Each ESU includes:

Energy source;

Engine;

mover;

Auxiliary equipment.

2.1.1. Steam-gas torpedo systems

PGESU torpedoes are a type of heat engine (Fig. 2.1). The source of energy in thermal ECS is fuel, which is a combination of fuel and oxidizer.

The types of fuel used in modern torpedoes can be:

Multicomponent (fuel – oxidizer – water) (Fig. 2.2);

Unitary (fuel mixed with oxidizer - water);

Solid powder;

-
solid hydro-reacting.

The thermal energy of fuel is generated as a result of a chemical reaction of oxidation or decomposition of substances included in its composition.

The fuel combustion temperature is 3000…4000°C. In this case, there is a possibility of softening of the materials from which individual components of the ESU are made. Therefore, water is supplied into the combustion chamber along with fuel, which reduces the temperature of combustion products to 600...800°C. In addition, injection

fresh water

increases the volume of the vapor-gas mixture, which significantly increases the power of the ESU.

Solid fuels, which are unitary, can be monomolecular or mixed.

The latter are more often used. They consist of organic fuel, solid oxidizer and various additives.

The amount of heat generated can be controlled by the amount of water supplied. The use of such types of fuel eliminates the need to carry a supply of oxidizer on board the torpedo. This reduces the mass of the torpedo, which significantly increases its speed and range.

The engine of a steam-gas torpedo, in which thermal energy is converted into mechanical work of rotation of the propellers, is one of its main units. It determines the basic tactical and technical data of a torpedo - speed, range, tracking, noise.

Torpedo engines have a number of features that are reflected in their design:

Short duration of work;

Minimum time to enter the regime and its strict consistency;

Work in an aquatic environment with high exhaust back pressure;

Minimum weight and dimensions with high power;

Minimum fuel consumption.
Torpedo engines are divided into piston and turbine engines. Currently, the latter are most widespread (Fig. 2.3).

The energy components are fed into a steam and gas generator, where they are ignited with an incendiary cartridge.

The resulting vapor-gas mixture under pressure

energy flows to the turbine blades, where, expanding, it does work. The rotation of the turbine wheel is transmitted through a gearbox and differential to the internal and external propeller shafts, rotating in opposite directions. Most modern torpedoes use propellers as propellers. The front screw is on the outer shaft with right rotation, the rear one is on the inner shaft with left rotation. Thanks to this, the moments of forces that deflect the torpedo from the given direction of movement are balanced. 1 . The efficiency of the engines is characterized by the magnitude of the efficiency factor, taking into account the influence of the hydrodynamic properties of the torpedo body. The coefficient decreases when the propellers reach the rotation speed at which the blades begin to
cavitation

I

One of the ways to combat this harmful phenomenon was to the use of attachments for screws, which makes it possible to obtain a water-jet propulsion device (Fig. 2.4). The main disadvantages of the ECS of the type considered include:

A decrease in engine power and, as a consequence, a decrease in torpedo speed with increasing depth, due to an increase in back pressure to the exhaust gases;

A gradual decrease in the mass of the torpedo during its movement due to the consumption of energy components;

Aggressiveness of fuel energy components.

The search for ways to eliminate the listed disadvantages led to the creation of electric ECS.

Performance characteristics
Type 53-56
Type: homing or remote-controlled ship/boat torpedo.
Dimensions: diameter 533 mm (21 inches); length 7.7 m (25 ft 1/4 in).
Total weight: 2,000 kg (4,409 lb); warhead weight 400 kg (882 lb).
Additional data: range/speed 8000 m (8750 yd) at 50 kts. and 13,000 m (14,215) at 40 knots.

Type 65-73
Type: homing boat anti-ship torpedo
Dimensions: diameter 650 mm (26.6 in); length 11 m (36 ft 1 in).
Total weight: over 4,000 kg (8,818 lb); warhead with a nuclear charge.
Additional data: range/speed 50 km (31 miles) at 50 knots.

Soviet torpedoes, like Western ones, can be divided into two categories - heavy and light, depending on their purpose. Firstly, two calibers are known - the standard 533 mm (21 inches) and the later 650 mm (25.6 inches). It is believed that the 533 mm torpedo weapon developed on the basis of German design solutions during the Second World War and included straight-running and maneuvering torpedoes with a steam-gas or electric power plant, designed to destroy surface targets, as well as torpedoes with acoustic passive homing in anti-submarine and anti-ship versions. Surprisingly, most modern large surface combatants were equipped with multi-tube torpedo tubes for acoustic-guided anti-submarine torpedoes.

A special 533-mm torpedo with a 15-kiloton nuclear charge was also developed, which did not have a terminal guidance system, was in service with many submarines and was designed to hit important surface targets such as aircraft carriers and supertankers. Later generation submarines also carried huge 9.14-meter (30-foot) Type 65 650mm anti-ship torpedoes. It is believed that their guidance was carried out along the wake of the target, it was possible to choose a speed of 50 or 30 knots, and the range was 50 and 100 km (31 or 62 miles), respectively. With such a range, Type 65 torpedoes complemented the surprise use of anti-ship cruise missiles carried by Charlie-class missile submarines and, for the first time, allowed Soviet nuclear submarines to fire torpedoes from areas outside the anti-submarine escort zone of a convoy.


Anti-submarine forces, including aircraft, surface ships and submarines, long years used a lightweight 400 mm (15.75 in) electric torpedo with a shorter range. It was later supplemented and then supplanted by the torpedo used by anti-submarine aircraft and helicopters larger caliber 450 mm (17.7 in), which was believed to have a larger charge, increased range and an improved guidance unit, which together made it a more lethal weapon.
Both types of torpedoes used from air carriers were equipped with parachutes to reduce the speed of entry into the water. According to a number of reports, a short 400-mm torpedo was also developed for the stern torpedo tubes of the first generation of nuclear submarines of the Want, Echo and November types. On subsequent generations of nuclear submarines, apparently a number of standard 533 mm torpedo tubes were equipped with internal bushings for their use.

The typical detonation mechanism used on Soviet torpedoes was a magnetic remote fuze, which detonated a charge under the target's hull to destroy the keel, supplemented by a second contact fuze that was activated on a direct hit.



Similar articles