Question about activate the decoy subsystem on a US sub in SH4

Sniper297 · 03-27-16, 04:04 PM

Doubtful, the author might have confused the decoy launcher with a torpedo tube, many writers get details wrong. The Germans developed the first bubble generating canister launched from vertical tubes in the aft deck, they were similar to small torpedo tubes. The Brits captured a U boat, copied the bubble generator design and shared with the US in 1942. Special tubes designed just for decoys were built into the after torpedo room of fleet boats angled up and aft at 45 degrees, about 10 inches in diameter and five or six feet long, with inner and outer doors so they could be reloaded from inside.

The US Navy had a submarine simulator torpedo back in the 70s to decoy acoustic homing torpedoes, but they were classified back then. Hunt For Red Oktober described them in the mid 80s, so apparently they were declassified by then. I don't know any of the details (I had the security clearance at the time, but no "need to know" about how they operated) but I had the impression they were less than a foot in diameter and smaller than a MK48, so probably also launched from special tubes rather than regular torpedo tubes. That's just a guess, by wrapping some kind of discardable SABOT around it you COULD launch smaller things from a standard 21" torpedo tube but I don't know for sure. I was Aviation ASW and was never on an actual operational sub, only museum tours (Silversides, U-505, and a GUPPY class tour).

03-27-16, 04:04 PM	#6
Sniper297 The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philadelphia Shipyard Brig Posts: 1,386 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 19	Doubtful, the author might have confused the decoy launcher with a torpedo tube, many writers get details wrong. The Germans developed the first bubble generating canister launched from vertical tubes in the aft deck, they were similar to small torpedo tubes. The Brits captured a U boat, copied the bubble generator design and shared with the US in 1942. Special tubes designed just for decoys were built into the after torpedo room of fleet boats angled up and aft at 45 degrees, about 10 inches in diameter and five or six feet long, with inner and outer doors so they could be reloaded from inside. The US Navy had a submarine simulator torpedo back in the 70s to decoy acoustic homing torpedoes, but they were classified back then. Hunt For Red Oktober described them in the mid 80s, so apparently they were declassified by then. I don't know any of the details (I had the security clearance at the time, but no "need to know" about how they operated) but I had the impression they were less than a foot in diameter and smaller than a MK48, so probably also launched from special tubes rather than regular torpedo tubes. That's just a guess, by wrapping some kind of discardable SABOT around it you COULD launch smaller things from a standard 21" torpedo tube but I don't know for sure. I was Aviation ASW and was never on an actual operational sub, only museum tours (Silversides, U-505, and a GUPPY class tour).