Chinese Navy - Torpedoes - Background
In 1866, more than 100 years ago, British engineer Robert Whitehead and Austrian Rubis succeeded in developing the first torpedo in human history that could sail automatically in the water. Later generations call this torpedo a "Whitehead" torpedo. The "Whitehead" torpedo opened the first page of the history of modern torpedo and became the originator of the development of torpedoes in various countries. Whitehead was also recognized by the world navy as the father of modern torpedoes.
A torpedo is a submerged weapon that is launched by a combat platform to launch water into the water and is automatically steered under controlled conditions to destroy enemy surface ships and submarines. It has good concealment and high probability of hitting. The killing power is great. After the end of World War II, there have been statistics showing that the tonnage of transport ships sunk by torpedoes in naval battles totaled 14.45 million tons, accounting for 68% of the total tonnage of sunken ships; large and medium-sized surface combat ships sunk by torpedoes A total of 369 ships, accounting for 38.5% of the total number of large and medium-sized surface combat ships that were sunk, the great power of torpedoes in naval battles.
In order to facilitate the understanding of the development of modern torpedoes, modern torpedoes can be distinguished as follows: from the power mode, they can be divided into battery-powered (electric) torpedoes and thermodynamic torpedoes; from the way of launching, they can be divided into surface ships and The submarine's tubular device launch, rocket assisted flight and aircraft airdrop; from the use of the distinction, can be divided into anti-submarine torpedo, anti-ship torpedo, anti-ship anti-submarine torpedo, anti-torpedo torpedo and underwater preset torpedo; The guidance method can be divided into direct torpedoes, self-guided torpedoes, line guided torpedoes and composite guided torpedoes; from the torpedo caliber, it can be divided into super heavy torpedoes (above 533 mm) and heavy torpedoes (533 mm). Light torpedo (324 mm) and ultralight torpedo (less than 300 mm).
For submarine warfare, most people's cognition still remains in the German World War II submarine movie: With the captain's command, the torpedo fired and hit the target exploding within visible distance. In fact, after decades of development, the modern torpedo has the characteristics of large voyage, high tracking, and even “no matter after launch”, almost equivalent to a small unmanned submarine with its own warhead.
Because the Sino-Soviet split during the early Cold War occurred well before the Soviets fielded wake-following weapons, it seems unlikely that early Chinese torpedoes embodied this technique. The German, Franco-Italian, and Russian anti-ship torpedoes all embodied wake-following guidance for use against surface ships. However, the Russians almost certainly transferred the relevant technology when relations between the two countries warmed following the Cold War. At present, the more advanced torpedoes basically adopt the method of “remote control + self-guide”. Self-guided devices are mostly acoustic self-guided, active, passive and active-passive combined. The new type of torpedo is mostly combined.
The fuel of the heat-powered torpedo is a kind of propellant. The heat engine on the torpedo is used to convert the chemical energy into kinetic energy. It has the advantages of fast speed and long range, and is mainly used for heavy torpedoes. The power of the electric torpedo is derived from the battery equipped there. The motor is used to convert electrical energy into kinetic energy, because the noise of the motor is relatively small and is not easily detected by sonar, and is usually used for medium and light torpedoes.
The naval main ships of the mainstream countries in the world are gradually using gas turbines as power, and the advantage is that the ship can reach the highest speed with a short reaction time. In order to effectively attack such targets, the speed of the torpedo is at least 1.5 times the speed of the target ship.
In addition to the speed of the ship, another contest between the surface ship and the torpedo is between the effective detection range of the ship's sonar and the effective power range of the torpedo. In order to ensure the safety of the torpedo itself, the submarine needs to launch the torpedo outside the effective detection range of the enemy ship's sonar. Therefore, the larger the torpedo's voyage and the better the tracking technology, the more effective it can be to kill the opponent on the premise of better preservation.
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