![]() Because the use of the Drzewiecki torpedo launcher was abandoned before the introduction of depth charges, they never had to deal with the effects of a shock wave from an exploding depth charge on an uncovered torpedo.ĭrawing 1. The obvious disadvantage of this system was that the torpedoes were continuously exposed to sea water and water pressure at depth. Moreover, compressed air was not used to launch a torpedo from a Drzewiecki launcher thus it could not escape to the surface and reveal the location of the submarine. Torpedoes could then be launched on any course from 0 to 90°, without having to maneuver the whole submarine as in the case of using fixed internal torpedo tubes. The Drzewiecki torpedo launcher solved the problem of aiming torpedoes during the period when torpedoes were not equipped with gyro-angled setting gear. When the angle between the splint and the longitudinal axis of the hull reaches a preset value, the torpedo engine automatically starts up. Thus the splint (with torpedo) could be offset from the longitudinal axis of the submarine. The other end could be (by means of a pneumatic actuator) moved away from the submarine hull. One end of the splint was attached to the submarine hull by means of a hinge. Two collars were attached to this splint which held the torpedo. The Drzewiecki torpedo launcher consisted of a horizontal splint installed along the side of the submarine. One of the types of external torpedo tubes was an installation invented and patented by Stefan Drzewiecki at the end of the 19 th century known as a Drop-collar torpedo launcher. The problem of the number of torpedo tubes being constrained by limited space inside the hull was solved by installing external torpedo tubes outside the hull under the upper deck. When larger submarines were constructed, it was possible to fit them with more than one bow torpedo tube and at least one stern torpedo tube. British submarines of the Holland class or A class, American submarines of the Plunger class, and German submarines of the U1 class). Initially early submarines, due to their small displacement – that is the small amount of space in the hull, were equipped with only one or two torpedo tubes (i.e. One of the trends in submarines development from the very start was to increase the number of available torpedo tubes. ![]()
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