How long did it take to reload DC racks and Hedgehogs IRL?
 

Hi Folks

Does anyone know how long it would have actually taken to reload, set DCs and Hedgehogs in real life?.

I find speed of 15 seconds hard to believe but stand to be corrected.

Thanks for any help

I don't have the literature in front of me, so I hope someone comes back here with a few exact figures.

Well the DC racks are racks for a reason. Rolling charges off these was never a problem, I believe. Setting the charges is not a complicated process and is done by a crew. The racks are made to roll series of charges off as opposed to just single drops.

K-Guns and other such DC launcher would probably take at least 2-5 minutes

Hedgehogs - I had a figure for this somewhere. 10-20 minutes, I believe.

Thanks CCIP

Yes of course your right about the racks doh silly me :damn:

I am very interested in the kguns and hedgehogs.

I love the sound of 10 minutes, That sounds good to me, not too many on my head if I implement this then.

I will do a google to see if i can uncover some info.

Thanks again

To give you an idea - the hedgehogs weighed 32lb each and had to be reloaded by hand (24 of them). They were pneumatically thrown.

The K-gun DCs were fired by an explosive charge strapped to the DC, and had to be lifted (with a manual lever, I believe) to fit onto the K-gun. The spares were prepared in advance.

I'm very sure there's concrete data on the time involved, since I came across it in the books I read.

Just finished reading "U-Boat Killer", by Capt. Donald MacIntyre, who commanded the HMS Hesperus and others, escorting convoys in the N. Atlantic. He claims his crew reloaded DCs in about 15-30 seconds one time. Hard to believe. They must have been "ready" I guess.

By the way, this is a great read. MacIntyre is the guy who captured Kretschmer in U-99 on the high seas, when Kretschmer surfaced "in the wrong place".

The book is on sale at Books-A-Million bargain rack for $7 right now. Hard cover too. A steal.

TT