U-boat torpedo almost hits tanker 63 years after fired at the HMS Royal Oak!

[FIREWALL]

Nuclear weapons have been recovered with less concern.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

Nuclear weapons have been recovered with less concern.

Yea but they dont have a wet steam generator waiting to pop off.

Wait a minute... if this was a torpedo fired in action, what led them to believe it still had a propellent charge in it?

I mean wouldent it have spent its propellent already?

[Arclight]

Ehr, wasn't Prien carrying only electric torpedoes?

And am I the only one thinking the thing surfaced because the warhead separated?

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Arclight

Ehr, wasn't Prien carrying only electric torpedoes?

And am I the only one thinking the thing surfaced because the warhead separated?

The article stated that the device was destroyed as it still contained 'compressed gas'

[Arclight]

So?

I'm claiming they're wrong since Prien only carried electric torpedoes.

[UnderseaLcpl]

I'm concerned about where you got the information that Prien carried only electrics on that mission, Arclight. I could probably look it up myself, but it would be easier if you would be so gracious as to tell me. I don't doubt your idea, but I'd like to check your references and verify your claim for myself.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that the torpedo (electric or gas) would surface at all. IIRC, the gas torpedoes suffered from a leak in the pressure chamber that caused them to run too deep, and one can only assume that such a leak would be exacerbated by so many years of exposure to salt water and pressure. Electric torpedoes are (I would assume), less buoyant, by virtue of the weight and size of their lead-acid batteries.

I really don't know what to make of it.

[Arclight]

Actually, the site about U-47 linked earlier in this thread mentiones as much:

Adorned with a makeshift conning tower emblem mocking the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and armed with a full complement of the new G7e electric wakeless torpedoes, U-47 gently moved out from its base at Kiel on 8 October. Prien took a carefully-considered route to the Orkneys - lying on the bottom during daytime and keeping radio silence. The mission had been planned with the highest level of security, to the point where Dönitz had transmitted the details to Raeder by word of mouth, and by 4 October all other U-boats operating around the Orkneys had been withdrawn from the area. As Prien and his crew slowly made their way towards their target, it is highly likely those in the higher German chain of command were oblivious to the monumental task that had been set in motion.

http://www.u47.org/english/u47_sca.asp

* U-boat.net seems to back it up:

12:58...Impact firing. The boat lurched as one, two, three ton-and-a-half G7e torpedoes went overboard on blasts of compressed air, electric motors winding up, accelerating toward 30 knots. U-47’s hydrophone operator called, "Torpedoes on their way."

http://www.uboat.net/ops/scapa_flow.htm

[UnderseaLcpl]

Thanks, Arclight. I assume that U-boat.net has pretty solid info regarding whether or not Prien carried only electrics on his boat, given the nature of most of the info I find there, so I trust your citations. Furthermore, I don't think that an electric torpedo battery or motor relay would survive for that long in those kinds of conditions.

I don't know either way, but something seems odd about one of Prien's torpedoes surfacing after all this time. I'll need to look into it some more and do some reading on annual natural sediment deposits/removal in Scapa Flow before I can really form an opinion, but this whole idea seems odd to me.

Thanks again for the info.

[Arclight]

Aye, no problem. And I agree that for what seemed a relatively straight forward (though remarkable) story at first, something seems off the more you think about it.

Some similar stories here. I'm starting to think it was either a British or German wet-heater. Beats me how it got there though. At any rate, I really doubt it was one of the torpedoes that was fired by, and failed on, Günther Prien.

* Another tidbit:

Kaplt. Prien was specially chosen as suitable to carry out the operation, personally briefed by Dönitz, and given carte blanche in the matter of tactical procedure. The attack was to be made if possible on the night of 13th/14th October, as on this date both low tides occurred during the hours of darkness, and it was new moon at this period. Dönitz states that U-47 was to carry torpedoes (“G.7 e”) only, it being decided to use torpedoes instead of mines, as by this means, in case of a hit, there was a greater likelihood of achieving a successful result.

http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-47RoyalOak.htm

[Wolfehunter]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

Talk about german engineering!

No kidding..

[SteamWake]

Yup like I said the first time I heard this story, something is just not right.

They probably blew up a telephone pole for all we know