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.

[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.