Technology and Operations  
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Hydrogen peroxide
Posted by: SuperKraut ()
Date: March 21, 2002 12:07PM

Concentrated (70%) hydrogen peroxide is very difficult to handle and chemically unstable under many conditions. Once it starts to decompose, the whole lot goes up very quickly, so storing large amounts is extra dangerous. Attempts to use hydrogen peroxide as a submarine drive failed for two reasons, the drive could never be made reliable and the amounts required (up to 200 tons) were too dangerous to store in a submarine. The Kriegsmarine somehow never appreciated that the storage issue alone made large hydrogen peroxide drive (Walter drive) U-boats unfeasible.

Torpedoes are another story. The amounts of hydrogen peroxide are much smaller and the torpedo is a one way device, so the drive machinery does not have to last long. The Germans had a Walter drive torpedo (G 7 a Klippfisch) ready for production in 1942, but it never went into production because the follow on model (G 7 ut Steinbutt) was better and supposed to be available soon afterwards, but, of course, it was severely delayed so in the end they never produced any Walter drive torpedo.

Regards,
SuperKraut

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Subject Written By Posted
Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? Zloi 03/18/2002 11:10PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? Forest 03/19/2002 04:57AM
Hydrogen peroxide SuperKraut 03/21/2002 12:07PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? Natter 08/27/2011 06:55PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? Seeker 08/27/2011 10:24PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? u-boatnut 10/22/2011 03:42AM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? ROBERT M. 10/22/2011 08:59PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? DanOdenweller 10/23/2011 06:41PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? ROBERT M. 10/24/2011 04:12AM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? Natter 10/26/2011 10:45AM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? ROBERT M. 10/26/2011 04:02PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? Seeker 10/27/2011 07:40PM
Re: Hydrogen peroxide in torpedoes? Natter 10/26/2011 10:35AM


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