G7es torpedo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The G7es or Zaunkönig (wren) T-5 was a torpedo employed by German U-boats during World War II. It was known as the Gnat to the British. The torpedo was electric and had an effective range of 5700 meters at a speed of 24 knots (44 km/h). This torpedo employed acoustic, passive homing to find its target after a straight run of 400 meters. The 400 meter limit was employed for safety reasons, even though there were at least two instances of U-boats (U-972 in December 1943 and U-377 in January 1944) sinking after being hit by their own torpedo. The danger is later "resolved" by diving to 60m and a complete silence after launching these torpedoes. The first 80 were delivered on 1 August 1943 and it was first used in September. A total of 640 were fired in combat sinking 45 ships. It was countered by the introduction by the allies of the Foxer noise maker.
There were two main variants:
- Flat-nosed version which contained two sets of Magnetostriction hydrophones.
- Round-nosed version which contained two magnetostriction hydrophones inside a funnel shaped baffle.
[edit] External links
- A brief synopsis of German torpedo evolution during WWII at uboat.net
- More indepth details of TV (G7es) Acoustic Homing Torpedo at uboataces.com
[edit] References
- Hellions of the Deep, Robert Gannon, ISBN 0-271-01508-X
- Padfield, Peter, War Beneath the Sea Submarine Conflict 1939-1945, Pimlico 1997. ISBN 0-7126-7381-4
