Type A Depth Charge (UK)

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Type A, B and E Depth Charges[1]

The British Type A Depth Charge was an early, small antisubmarine weapon adapted from the "Vernon boom" described in the Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915.[2]

Particulars

The total weight of the weapon was 210 pounds, only about 1⁄7th of this weight being explosive: 32.5 pounds of gun cotton initiated by a G.C. primer of 2.25 pounds.

Explosion was triggered mechanically by a float and wire system at a depth of 40 feet. Vernon calculated that this gave the weapon a 10 foot danger radius. It was the first British depth charge to be used and was in general use by small craft in October 1915.

The Type B was a minor refinement of the design, offering an 80 foot detonation depth option and a lower overall weight, and the Type E greatly increased the proportion of explosive comprising the overall weight.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. Plate 82.
  2. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. pp. 164-5, 172, Plate 73, Plate 82.

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