A curious question about depth charges. | Forums

[TASKFORCE1x1]

I've seen dc players drop depth charged on me in shallow water but they set them way too deep even if I was at the bottom of the shallow sea. The depth charge would pass through the bottom of the floor in SHII and then detonate. Now in real life I know it doesnt burrow into sand and that it would just lay on the bottom but what happens if it cant reach its depth mark? Does it self destruct after many minutes? At least hedgehogs eliminate themselves when they hit bottom.

Keep on Smiling'

[TASKFORCE1x1]

I've seen dc players drop depth charged on me in shallow water but they set them way too deep even if I was at the bottom of the shallow sea. The depth charge would pass through the bottom of the floor in SHII and then detonate. Now in real life I know it doesnt burrow into sand and that it would just lay on the bottom but what happens if it cant reach its depth mark? Does it self destruct after many minutes? At least hedgehogs eliminate themselves when they hit bottom.

Keep on Smiling'

[macker33]

I always thought depth charges were worked by timer,they knew how long it would take for the depth charge to reach a certain depth and adjusted the fuses clock,

Just suppose it took ten seconds for a depth charge to sink ten meters then it is only logical it would take 100 seconds to sink 100 meters.the clock could be adjusted for the right amount of time and when the counter hit zero the depth charge would explode,
During the war sums were probably more reliable than electronics.

[jeroen-79]

Depthcharges were detonated by pressure.

The pistol had a hole in the side that allowed water in.
On the ship the pistol is set to detonate at a specific pressure.
Pressure increases with depth so the pistol was effectively set to a specific depth.

A timer could be a possible way to detonate the charge but it would be prne to errors if the charge sinks faster or slower than planned.

You'd also need time/depth tables for each type of depthcharge with a different weight or size.

I don't know of secondary pistols to get rid of charges that couldn't reach their set depth.
Maybe the crew would just make sure not to set depth heigher than the local floordepth.

[Bertgang]

Right, detonation by pressure.
That's why, if not secured, they exploded on sinking escorts.
I am quite sure that their setting was usually made counting local floordepth too.

[TASKFORCE1x1]

I remember someone saying or asking for the DD that sinks to have the depthcharges that are left on deck explode at their preset settings. That should be included into the SHIII effects database.

Keep on Smiling'

[Teddy Bar]

Of interest, I do not know if it was a wide spread practice, but I am aware of the British knowing the u-boat was getting under their depth charges and using soap (??) in the depth charges 'depth guage' to enable the depth charge to go to a greater depth than the setting would normally allow.

Cheers,

Teddy Bär

[snowcat_08]

I've read in a GHOST SHIPS BY BALLARD that there are some unexploded depth charges on the ocean floor near the Lusitania.

[LeatherNeck2382]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by snowcat_08:
I've read in a GHOST SHIPS BY BALLARD that there are some unexploded depth charges on the ocean floor near the Lusitania.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hmm, any idea if they are still capable of exploding?

As for a question I would like to add. Does anyone know the depth charge failure rate? (aka how often they were duds)

Semper Fidelis -- US Marine Corps. Motto "Always Faithful"

[snowcat_08]

The book said that because of the unexploded depth charges the exploration was even more dangerous than usual. I don't know if that means that they were capable of exploding but I think so.