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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. Most depth charges use high explosives with a fuze set to detonate the charge, typically at a specific depth from the surface.
A nuclear depth bomb is the nuclear equivalent of a conventional depth charge, and can be used in anti-submarine warfare for attacking submerged submarines. The Royal Navy , Soviet Navy , and United States Navy all had nuclear depth bombs in their arsenals at one point.
Perhaps the simplest of the anti-submarine weapons, the depth charge, is a large canister filled with explosives and set to explode at a predetermined depth. The concussive effects of the explosion could damage a submarine from a distance, though a depth charge explosion had to be very close to break the submarine's hull.
The Mark VII depth charge was the primary British anti-submarine weapon until 1944 when the anti-submarine projectile launchers the Hedgehog spigot mortar and Squid three-barrelled mortar introduced in 1943 and 1944 proved more effective. [1] In 1939 this was the only anti-submarine weapon available to British surface ships. [1]
The W44 nuclear depth charge entered service in 1961, [9] but was never used beyond one or two tests before the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty banning underwater nuclear tests went into effect. A total of 575 weapons were produced. The W44 weighed 77 kg (170 lb) with a diameter of 35 cm (13.75 in) and length of 64 cm (25.3 in).
B57 nuclear bomb. The B57 nuclear bomb was a tactical nuclear weapon developed by the United States during the Cold War.. Development began at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1960 to meet a requirement for a multi-purpose weapon, suitable for use as a nuclear depth charge or a nuclear bomb agaist ground targets. [1]
Neither the Lulu nor any other kind of nuclear antisubmarine or antiship weapon was ever used in combat by any country. The Mk-101 "Lulu" started to be replaced by the multipurpose B57 nuclear bomb during the mid-1960s. The B-57 was a bomb that could be used by tactical aircraft against land targets, as well as a nuclear depth charge. [1]
Many depth charges were required to inflict enough cumulative damage to sink a U Boat; even then, many survived hundreds of detonations over a period of many hours. For example, U-427 survived 678 depth charges dropped against it in April 1945. The effectiveness of the depth charge was reduced because they detonated at a set depth at a distance ...