How did the real WW2 torpedoes get programmed?

[jscharpf]

Maybe a silly question, but as I set my TDC with AOB, speed, distance, and get ready to open the tubes and hit the fire button, I was wondering how this eventually gets translated to the actual torpedo.

Is there an electrical circuit inside the torpedo tube that sets the torpedo up according to the TDC or is an operator told "hey set torpedo 1 to xxx"..?

What is inside the torpedo to make it run correctly and how is this set?

Of course this is only a question for WW2 era torpedoes, because I'm sure modern systems are much different.

Any good resources regarding this?

Jeff

[Sailor Steve]

This might be more detail than you wanted, but there's good stuff here.
http://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/tubes/chap7.htm#7A

The whole Torpedo Manual.
http://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/tubes/index.htm

And the whole shebang.
http://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/index.htm



And for the Germans.
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-570/U-570BritishReport.htm

Scroll down to page 16. It's pretty much the same as the Americans.

[jscharpf]

whoa thanks Steve! That is a TON of info and some really cool manuals!

I have some serious reading to do!