Type F Depth Charge (UK)

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Type F Depth Charge[1]

The British Type F Depth Charge was a small depth charges designed from scratch to be fired by a pneumatic gun. It is described in the Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915.[2]

Particulars

The charge was a club-like, streamlined charge suitable for use by bomb-throwers (guns worked by compressed CO2). Metal stabilizing fins were affixed to the back to help it fly efficiently.

A 1 pound initiator of Tetryl would set off 70 pounds of T.N.T. at 50 feet under action of a hydrostatic trigger. Vernon calculated that the danger radius was 25 feet. It was under trial in October 1915, and these were nearly completion by early December. The guns, firing on a fixed elevation on a turntable and trained by a hand spike, could throw the bomb up to 500 yards horizontally. Lower ranges were achieved by lower firing pressures, read off a gauge.

Similar to the Type D depth charge, a special primary safety gear in series with the main trigger, prevented initiation in water shallower than 10 feet.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. Plate 87.
  2. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. pp. 164-5, 174, Plates 73, 87.