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

Robertson, Brendan wrote:
> 
> The Royal Australian Navy uses this sort of 'backbreaker' torpedo.  

Yes, it was a Mk48 Mod 3,4 or 5

> 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).

The brown smoke emitted through the stack at detonation is a dead
giveaway that the torpedo did most, if not all, the damage. I've seen a
number of tests of Mk 48s, UK Spearfish, and others which had the same
sequence. Initial explosion under keel (warhead combustion by-products
exit upwards as brown gas that goes up rapidly through all ventilation
shafts), then you see shockwave as initial bubble forms and ship is
bodily lifted upwards, bubble contracts and ship if still intact falls
into cavity underneath, bubble expands once more, lifts ship up again
and breaks surface with large quantities of steam and spray.

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