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This depth charge contained 200 lb (91 kg) of Torpex. A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarines by detonating in the water near the target and subjecting it to a destructive hydraulic shock.
Until depth-finding sonar became available (the first was the Royal Navy's Q attachment in 1943), there was a "dead period" during the final moments before a depth-charge attack began when contact with the target would be lost. U-boat commanders became adept at sharp course changes and direction speed at these moments to break contact and escape.
Starting with WW1 vintage 300-pound (140 kg) depth charges, a 600-pound (270 kg) version was developed. Torpex explosive, which is a 50% more powerful explosive than TNT, was introduced in 1943. Y-guns and K-guns were used to throw depth charges to the side of the escort vessel, augmenting the charges rolled off the stern and letting the escort ...
These children were exposed to propaganda and indoctrinated to value strong nationalism and loyalty to the United States and its allies. Therefore, when World War II was on the forefront, many of the adults in the United States still harbored negative feelings toward the Germans because of their schooling during World War I. [ 17 ]
Early depth charges were designed to be rolled into the water off of the stern of a fast ship. The ship had to be moving fast enough to avoid the concussion of the depth charge blast. Later designs allowed the depth charge to be hurled some distance from the ship, allowing slower ships to operate them and for larger areas to be covered.
The fleet found that the tapered stern, which made for a nice depth charge deployment feature, dug into the water and increased the turning radius, thus hampering anti-submarine work. [13] The Clemson class added 100 tons of fuel tankage to improve operational range, but the issue of range was solved only with the development of underway ...
Anti-submarine vessels initially carried only two depth charges, to be released from a chute at the stern of the ship. The first success was the sinking of U-68 off County Kerry, Ireland, on 22 March 1916 by the Q-ship Farnborough. Germany became aware of the depth charge following unsuccessful attacks on U-67 on 15 April 1916, and U-69 on 20 ...
The first two depth-charge attacks, on 10 and 11 July, returned no results whatsoever, and the gun attack on 20 July was similarly unrewarding. However, after sighting a double periscope the following day, Wadsworth made another depth-charge attack. During that attack, one of the explosions seemed much stronger than those from the other charges ...