RE: [FT] Re: Small vessels and the Line of Battle

The Royal Australian Navy uses this sort of 'backbreaker' torpedo. 
There
was a publicity test about 2 months ago here, where the fired a torpedo
over
the horizon from our new Collins class submarine in trials (they're
still
not as good as the ol' reliable Oberon class yet, which FYI has sunk US
carriers in wargames & escaped the fleet).  
The frigate which was targetted broke it's back from the single
detonation
underneath the keel.  It sank in about 4 minutes.  Although a few of my
ex-military friends reckon that they had a demolition charge in the
engine
room just to make sure it DID sink... (embarrassing if it it didn't
work).

'Neath Southern Skies - http://users.mcmedia.com.au/~denian/

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oerjan Ohlson [SMTP:oerjan.ohlson@telia.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 1999 3:49 AM
> To:	gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
> Subject:	Re: [FT] Re: Small vessels and the Line of Battle
> 
> I'm pretty sure there are examples of WWII ships that survived single
> torpedo hits. I know there are examples of modern ships which has
> survived such hits. Sorry, I don't have any references handy.
> 
> (BTW, this is why several modern anti-ship missiles are designed to
> literally break a ship in half instead of merely blowing a hole in it.
> Not sure if there are any torps or mines with similar warheads in use
> today (nor if the warheads in question actually work as intended), but
> sooner or later they will be (...provided my esteemed collegues are
> correct in their predictions and no-one manages to design a ship able
> to survive those warheads as well :-/ ).)
> 
> 
> Oerjan Ohlson
> oerjan.ohlson@telia.com