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Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Very OT: Cold Waters game (7/19/2017 3:11:29 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury A few questions for Bullwinkle58 or anyone with knowledge about post war 1960s submarine warfare.. as I am debating some topics at subsim forum 1) At what range would you need to launch a Mk14 spread? would it still needs to be at 1,000 to 2,000 yards as it was in WW2? 2) Why was there no US homing torpedo for surface targets until much later on (nothing until 70s Mk48) ? was it a matter of lack of targets (submarines focus instead in sub-vs-sub, as the other navy assets could easily deal with a significantly less capable Soviet surface fleet), or was it that Mk14 was still considered adequate? Question is related to 1) because would it be expected for a submarine to get in 2,000 yards range of a modern, 1960s sonar technology escorts? 1. Basically yes, WWII ranges. An "average" WWII range was about 1500 yards. Closer at night in many cases. The issue with a straight-runner is not ASW detection. It's the accuracy of the solution (never perfect), introduced-error from the torpedo's mechanism, especially gyro steers, and the impact of environmental factors, especially sea state. The longer the run the more small errors multiply. The Mk 14 also left a wake on the surface, so more time running in was more chance for a lookout to see it and the target to execute a "combing" maneuver. The General Belgrano was sunk in 1982 by an SSN firing straight-running torpedoes that were basically the Mk 14. I think the launch range was 800 yards or so. I believe she was escorted, but sea states were very heavy. An SSN can run away fast as well, which a DE can't, but even so, 800 yards. 2. The MK 37 was a dual-purpose torpedo. Don't know about the game, but it was intended they be used against dangerous ASW targets. However, you have to consider the strategic naval environment of the late 1940s, the 50s, and most of the 60s. There was no enemy power with the ASW assets even the IJN had. No blue water navies in the USSR or China. The USSR was a train-power, not a naval one. The Pact was next door, and the USSR was more secure in strategic minerals and oil than any country in history. They had a merchant marine of course, but didn't depend on it for survival or to fight WWIII. So a NATO sub could use straight-runners against surface targets most of the time with little danger. There was a HUGE coastal ASW presence in the USSR, largely run by the KGB, that was more an ASW-equipped Coast Guard, to stop smuggling and infiltration (and exfiltration of citizens doubting that whole Soviet New Man thing), but out in the blue the Soviets didn't have much. Once Polaris came in during the very late 50s and early 60s they mounted a crash effort to field large numbers of ASW patrol planes, but they were still light on surface ASW until the late-60s and especially the 70s. But even immediately post-war they had a lot of subs. Mostly at first Whiskey and Foxtrot, which were up-jumped U-boat designs, but they had a lot, and they could get into the Med. We spent a lot of effort countering those. In fact, most of the Guppies, including my dad's boat, USS Bluegill, were re-equipped and then re-designated away from the "SS" in their hull number to "SSK"--hunter-killer submarine. The MK 37 was for that by design. But all along, if the surface ASW, no matter how lousy, was a threat, the MK 37 could engage well outside MK 14 ranges, and was a homing torpedo. Not fast, but good enough to backstab a lot of corvette-type ASW ships.
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