GB906705A - Exercise torpedo - Google Patents

Abstract

906,705. Torpedoes. CLEVITE CORPORATION. June 29, 1959, No. 22200/59. Class 9 (2). A practice torpedo, recoverable after use and having the weight distribution and buoyancy characteristics of a live torpedo, has the usual warhead compartment replaced by a section 12<SP>1</SP> containing recording equipment and lead shot 31 as ballast. A trap door 20, closing an opening 35 through which the shot escapes to allow the torpedo to surface, is secured to a rod 40 projecting from a solenoid 19 which is in circuit with a motor driving the propellers 15. A timing device, connected to a battery, determines the instant at which the motor starts after the torpedo is launched and is also connected to the solenoid, so that when the motor starts the solenoid positively locks the door 20. Before the solenoid is energized a finger 25, controlled by a hydrostat 26, prevents movement of the rod 40. When the torpedo reaches a predetermined depth, the finger 25 is withdrawn and when the motor cuts-out at the end of a practice run the solenoid is de-energized and no longer locks the door 20. The weight of the shot opens the door and the torpedo rises as the shot spills out. The shot is housed in an annular compartment 30 with a filling opening 37 and surrounds control-wires extending from an acoustic device in the nose 11 to the aft section of the torpedo. When the torpedo submerges, water floods the compartment 30 through openings in a lid 36 and door 20. The hydrostat, Fig. 6, comprises a housing 50 for a piston 52 from which the finger 25 projects. When the water-pressure on the piston overcomes the stress of a spring 54, the finger 25 is withdrawn.