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#25
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07-20-2013, 02:41 PM
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 They Lied. There ALL LIES Poster Rank:303 <--We Did It. So Can You Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,210
Contributions: 48
Mentioned: 23 Post(s) Quoted: 894 Post(s)
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Re: Unusual Deaths
its tracking device, once deployed will follow and destroy whatever it is that it targets.. and as such it has been known to make a circle and target the momma ship
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#29
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03-29-2014, 12:40 AM
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| ♚ Legacy Gold Member ♚ Poster Rank:99 Male Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 16,492 Mentioned: 6 Post(s) Quoted: 4547 Post(s)
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Re: Unusual Deaths
Both the sub that torpedoed itself and the cruiser that torpedoed itself were the result of bad torpedoes during the war. This not only happened to U.S. ships, but also German submarines. (Read about the "Lost U-Boat" off the east coast. There was no record of a U-Boat being attacked by U.S. Forces, but it lay on the bottom with it's center section blown out. The mystery was solved when one of the divers on the wreck put his hand down in the mud while climbing out of the wreck, and wound up putting his hand on the nose cap of the torpedo, which contained the torpedo ID and serial number. Apparently they fired at a merchantman, the torpedo circled, and got them instead.) On the "Tang" incident, they knew the torpedo was running in a circle, as they always listened for this. When they knew it was circling, they tried to dive the boat, closed all the watertight doors, and stood by. The torpedo hit between the forward and aft engine rooms, killing everyone in those compartments. They also flooded. The remaining crew managed to blow ballast and jettison other torpedoes and managed to stabilize the sub at about 100 feet of depth. After figuring out there was no way to surface, the crew used escape hatches to reach the surface. I think either one or two officers remained behind, playing solitaire and waiting to die, as they felt they would not be able to resist Japanese interrogations, and might give away classified info, so decided to remain below and die on the sub. I think only 4 members of the crew actually survived the war, as the crew was used as slave labor in a Japanese coal mine. The full story was revealed after the war. The torpedo problem is shown in the film "Run Silent, Run Deep" where they show the exact same situation, but the sub in the movie survives it. Our torpedoes in WWII were based on German designs, the problem being that there was a faulty design in the detonators. U.S. naval authorities would not believe the torpedoes were bad, so a number of U.S. submarine commanders were relieved of duty, charged with cowardice. U.S. Navy sub morale was very low until they actually tested torpedoes and found they didn't work. Then they corrected the problem, but we lost a lot of opportunities to strike against the Japanese when our torpedoes didn't work. What about the Germans? They had EXACLTY the same problems, but they went after them immediately, and wound up court-martialing individuals in the torpedo command that had failed to conduct proper testing. Their torpedoes were quickly corrected, and they had great success in the U-Boat wars. In the U.S. navy, the torpedo directorate insisted that the torpedoes could NOT be bad, so crews got themselves in very dangerous situations, including hearing up to 4 torpedoes hit a target with no result. Each torpedo weighs a couple of tons, and they move at between 35 and 50 mph, so when they hit, there is a huge "CLANG!" |
