Business Insider/We Are The Mighty: Here's why a modern torpedo sinks a ship with one hit
* In World War II, torpedos did the most damage by directly hitting the targeted ship, punching a hole in the hull and capsizing it.
* This was a problem — as defensive anti-aircraft capability developed, planes launching torpedoes needed to do so from higher altitudes, at faster speeds, and from further away in order to survive.
*Now, modern torpedos are equipped with magnetic exploders designed to explode below the ship and break it in two.
If you've seen any submarine-themed movie, whether it's Hunt for Red October, the classic Operation Pacific, or Crimson Tide, you understand the severity of an incoming torpedo.
Anyone who knows naval history knows that torpedoes are lethal to ships — just look at what they did to the liner Lusitania, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV 7), and a host of other ships.
Back through World War II, the primary way torpedoes did their damage was with a direct hit. The impact of the torpedo on a ship's hull would drive a firing pin that sets off a warhead.
The hope here is that the blast punches a hole in a ship, allowing water to flood in, causing the ship to list to one side or the other and, eventually, capsize. Generally, this approach worked well, but it could take many direct hits to do damage enough to sink a vessel.
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2 comments:
Look at all that rust getting blown out as the air escapes, pretty impressive!
No armour plate, aluminium bodies etc, l doubt a modern torpedo could break the back of a ww2 Bismarck in one hit.
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