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RE: torpedos failures..?
Posted by: John R. ()
Date: December 08, 2000 02:17PM

<HTML>As well-documented in almost every book written about the US sub campaign in the Pacific, the problems with our fish were simular and for the same reasons as the German\'s. US torpedos had a faulty magnetic exploder, which was the brain-child of an Admiral who was transferrred to Freemantle, where he proceded to, at any cost, require the use of his \"baby\" , even over the objections of Uncle Charley, and long after it was discovered to be a piece of crap.
The frustration of the US commanders was as high as anyone in the U-Bootswaffen, driving one captain to break off his patrol w/one fish left so the armourers would have an example to work on.
The magnetic exploder was never made right in it\'s then-current form, and because of politics, new ones were not forthcoming.
The puzzling thing about the contact exploder was that while a straight-on hit would most likely be a dud, glancing shots and desperate \"Hail Mary\" hits often brough home the bacon. One boat, in a test, fired a full salvo at a Hawaiian cliff, with less than 50% explosions. In the recovered duds, (All in a days work for UXB divers, eh?) the firing pin was found to be bent. Further controlled tests involving dropping concrete-filled dummy warheads 90\' onto a steel plate confirmed that the firing pins, which once released had to travel transverse to the direction of travel, were getting folded around the guide pins. The fix was to make new firing pins out of tougher stuff. Where did the Navy get this tough steel?

From the propellors of Japanese Zeros shot down on 7 Dec., 1941.......</HTML>

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Subject Written By Posted
torpedos tony 12/07/2000 07:54PM
RE: torpedos Craig McLean 12/07/2000 10:31PM
RE: Japanese honor code and subs kurt 12/09/2000 11:30PM
RE: Japanese honor code and subs Roy Prince 12/10/2000 12:36AM
RE: Japanese honor code and subs Steve Cooper 12/11/2000 01:00PM
RE: Japanese honor code and subs kurt 12/12/2000 03:15AM
RE: torpedos kpp 12/07/2000 11:00PM
RE: torpedos failures..? Joe Brennan 12/08/2000 02:21AM
RE: torpedos failures..? John R. 12/08/2000 02:17PM
RE: torpedo failures..? j harvey 12/08/2000 05:51PM
RE: torpedo failures..? John R. 12/08/2000 06:03PM
RE: torpedo failures..? jharvey 12/08/2000 07:22PM
RE: torpedo failures..? John R. 12/08/2000 08:25PM
RE: Torpedo Exploder Mods Don Baker 12/08/2000 07:52PM
RE: Torpedo Exploder Mods John R. 12/08/2000 08:29PM
RE: torpedo failures..? John 12/09/2000 05:50PM
RE: torpedo failures..? kurt 12/09/2000 10:51PM
Japanese torpedoes kurt 12/09/2000 11:07PM


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