Did the Japanese have Hedghogs?

[Bubblehead1980]

Just wondering if the Japanese had hedgehog or anything like it? Have yet to read anything but just wondering.

[fireftr18]

I think only we had hedgehogs. I think the japanese did have the depth charge launchers.

[Cowboy40]

I checked one of the best sources for naval weapons of the era that i have in my library.

Campbell, J. (2002). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.

It appears they didn't have a weapon in inventory like Hedgehog or Mousetrap.

[TorpX]

AFAIK, no hedgehogs or mousetraps, but they had an anti-submarine mortar. I'm not sure what exactly the insperation or idea behind it. It seems to have been rather ineffective.

[Cowboy40]

According to Campbell, they also had ASW shells fired from standard naval guns.....

[Dread Knot]

Originally Posted by TorpX

AFAIK, no hedgehogs or mousetraps, but they had an anti-submarine mortar. I'm not sure what exactly the insperation or idea behind it. It seems to have been rather ineffective.

Yes, the Japanese introduced some ASW mortars. Seems they couldn't fire a full spread the way the hedgehog could and charges were relatively puny and grossly inaccurate.

From the NavWeapons.com site...

No ahead-firing weapons equivalent to the Hedgehog or Squid were developed by the Japanese, although an ASW projectile for many naval guns and a simple mortar for merchant ships were introduced late in the war.

A 15 cm (5.9") ASW mortar was developed for transports and merchant ships. This was in a cradle mounting allowing 360 degree traverse and had recoil and runout cylinders. The projectile weighed about 60 lbs. (27 kg) and could range out to a maximum of 4,500 yards (4,100 m).

The Navy 81 mm mortar was also carried by many escorts, firing standard projectiles.

Finally, a 15 cm (5.9") rocket propelled DC with a range of 3,280 yards (3,000 meters) was developed in April 1945 but this saw no active service.

[Peter Cremer]

It wasn't a depth charge but I have heard that very late in the war they had a Magnetic Anomoly Detector that was just a large, powerful electro magnet that they would lower into the water when they detected a sub. The idea was to latch onto the sub and drag it up to the surface and sink it with gunfire. And that's all I know about it.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Peter Cremer

It wasn't a depth charge but I have heard that very late in the war they had a Magnetic Anomoly Detector that was just a large, powerful electro magnet that they would lower into the water when they detected a sub. The idea was to latch onto the sub and drag it up to the surface and sink it with gunfire. And that's all I know about it.

Hmmm MAD was just a detection device from what I understand, worked pretty well on the USS Halibut in November 1944. Plane using MAD pinpointed her location, dropped some bombs and called escorts in.

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Hmmm MAD was just a detection device from what I understand, worked pretty well on the USS Halibut in November 1944. Plane using MAD pinpointed her location, dropped some bombs and called escorts in.

I've heard about a device that Japan used that was like what he described but I don't remember what is was called. Either way I doubt you can replicate it in SH4.

[Cowboy40]

Magnitic Anomaly Device (MAD) was also used by the allies. It was deployed on the USN's PBM series of patrol flying boats. The USN also deployed airborne radar in the search of German subs.

this was taken by Wiki

Magnetic anomaly detectors employed to detect submarines during World War II harnessed the fluxgate magnetometer, an inexpensive and easy to use technology developed in the 1930s by Victor Vacquier of Gulf Oil for finding ore deposits.[2][3] MAD gear was used by both Japanese and U.S. anti-submarine forces, either towed by ship or mounted in aircraft to detect shallow submerged enemy submarines. The Japanese called the technology jikitanchiki (磁気探知機, "Magnetic Detector"). After the war, the U.S. Navy continued to develop MAD gear as a parallel development with sonar detection technologies.

So it isn't a leap to believe that the Japanese used a similar devices

[Aktungbby]

Many thanks for that research and by the by (belatedly, along with Armistead) welcome aboard Cowboy 40 Good historical research is the absolute foundation of better mods and realism in our fervent pastime here at Subsim!

[Dread Knot]

One often overlooked item in the Japanese ASW inventory is the Kabaya Ka-1 gyrocopter. Probably the first instance in history of such a craft being used for this purpose although they were originally developed for artillery spotting. However, there no recorded cases of any of them tangling with a US sub.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayaba_Ka-1

[Rammstein0991]

Nope no hedgehogs, just the standard depth charge racks all destroyers in WWII used afaik

[Dread Knot]

Originally Posted by Rammstein0991

Nope no hedgehogs, just the standard depth charge racks all destroyers in WWII used afaik

They had side launchers for depth charges as well.

Apparently, some of the older Japanese destroyers started the war without DC racks, but they were quickly installed.

[DoomPatrol]

Originally Posted by Peter Cremer

It wasn't a depth charge but I have heard that very late in the war they had a Magnetic Anomoly Detector that was just a large, powerful electro magnet that they would lower into the water when they detected a sub. The idea was to latch onto the sub and drag it up to the surface and sink it with gunfire. And that's all I know about it.

Somewhere I have a book that mentions an incident where the Japanese attempted to use grappling hooks to snare a U.S. sub. They did manage to hook it but were not successful in 'reeling' it in. If I remember correctly there were one or two Kayabas circling above it reporting it's position to the ship crews. They were only able to do this because the sub was at 100' feet or so and the water was very clear. As soon as the sub crew figured out what was going on the game was over and the sub got away.