Home > Depth charge

The first effective depth charge, the "Type D," developed in 1916, was a 300-pound (140 kg) barrel-like casing containing a high explosive, usually TNT. A "pistol" actuated by water pressure at a pre-selected depth detonated the charge. The "Type D" could be detonated as deep as 300 feet (100 meters).

The first delivery mechanism was to simply roll the "barrels" off racks at the stern of the attacking vessel. Later, special depth-charge projectors or "K-guns" were developed, which used an explosive propellant charge to hurl charges about 150 feet (50 meters) to the sides of the attacker. K-guns were often used together with stern racks to create patterns of six to ten charges. The attacking ship needed to be moving above a certain speed or it would be damaged by its own weapons.

Conventional delivery of depth charges had other problems too, most of which were solved by the use of ahead-thrown weapons such as the hedgehog. Some Royal Navy trawlers used for anti-submarine work during 1917-1918 had a thrower on the forecastle for a single depth charge, but there do not seem to be any records of it being used in action.

In 1943, Torpex , an explosive 50% more powerful than TNT, was introduced along with a more streamlined depth charge casing that sank faster.

Although the explosions of the standard 600-pound depth charge used in World War II were nerve-wracking to the target, an undamaged U-boat's pressure hull would not rupture unless the charge detonated closer than about five meters. Placing the weapon within this range was entirely a matter of chance and quite unlikely as the target maneuvered evasively during the attack. Most U-boats sunk by depth charges were destroyed by damage accumulated from a long barrage rather than by a single carefully-aimed attack. Many survived hundreds of depth charge detonations over a period of many hours; 678 depth charges were dropped onto U-427 in April, 1945Events January January 5 The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland. January 7 British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge. January 12 World War II:. The U-boat survived.

More effective anti-submarine weapons included the hedgehog forward-throwing charges and the "Fido" Mk.24 acoustic torpedoA modern torpedo is a self-propelled guided projectile that operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. Torpedoes are weapons that may be launched from submarines, surface ships, helicopters and fixed-wing aircr or the ASROCASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an antisubmarine missile system, developed by the United States Navy, and installed on over 200 surface ships, generally cruisers and destroyers. A surface ship first detects an enemy submarine by using sonar, then f. The USSR and the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in also developed anti-submarine systems using nuclear weaponmushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 60,000 feet (18 km) above the epicenter. A nuclear weapon is a weapon that derives its energy from nuclear reactions and has enormous destructive power a single ns.