Question About Torpedo Tube Dimensions. Why are they going to 30.0''/762mm?

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Now we're talking about that, does somebody know what were the projects Mk49/51/52/53, if any of them even exists??

I always wonder why the Seawolf Class SSN has 762mm tubes (actually, I can't find for sure if its 8 x 30in tubes or 8 x 26in tubs or both) instead of standard 533mm (21in) of the Los Angeles and Virginia classes!?
Maybe there was a project for a new heavy torpedo before the end of the Cold War?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Now we're talking about that, does somebody know what were the projects Mk49/51/52/53, if any of them even exists??
I always wonder why the Seawolf Class SSN has 762mm tubes (actually, I can't find for sure if its 8 x 30in tubes or 8 x 26in tubs or both) instead of standard 533mm (21in) of the Los Angeles and Virginia classes!?
Maybe there was a project for a new heavy torpedo before the end of the Cold War?

Yannick,

From what I have read on the subject the increase in torpedo tube diameter was not with the intention of introducing larger weapons but to allow the torpedo to swim out of the tube without the telltale noise associated with the normal launch or ejection of the weapon which would alert the intended target to impending attack and allow for evasive maneuvers to be taken or countermeasures to be deployed to defeat the sensors on the torpedo. 

From my time in the military as an intelligence analyst I recall reading about larger diameter tubes being introduced on Russian submarines with a new larger diameter weapon being the reason for this.  I never bothered much with any additional research on the subject as a civilian to confirm that this was the reason or perhaps the Russians had realized the stealth benefits of the larger tubes before the U.S. Navy and decided it was a good idea.  Not the first time that has happened and certainly won't be the last either. 

[MAD]

Interesting!!!
I never expected to be finding out such great information on a 'what if' forum

Thanks

M.A.D

[DaFROG]

Interesting!!!
I never expected to be finding out such great information on a 'what if' forum

Thanks

M.A.D

We can't be having that......

Preliminary research indicates hat 762mm torpedo tubes should be capable of firing a range of standard sized white goods, possibly including the dreaded gas stove full of poo-poo (although i believe this was originally an air dropped weapon).

such a diameter would also allow the firing of 100:1 scale replicas of a variety of small arms munitions (theres an interesting Seagram project in that for someone : )

[Weaver]

The Russian 650mm tubes were introduced in order to fire the SS-N-16 ASW missile, which is a non-nuclear (torpedo-carrying) alternative to the SS-N-15, which is a nuclear-only weapon roughly equivalent to the US SUBROC.

The 650mm tubes can also carry the Type 65 wake-homing anti-ship torpedo, which needs extra range and speed to compensate for it's inherently inefficient (but very deadly) homing method. Basically, the torpedo is fired across the target's stern and then makes a series of turns, "snaking" along the ship's course by detecting the edges of it's wake. This means that it covers far more distance than a torpedo which heads straight towards the ship, and also has to be fast enough to catch the ship up despite the fact that it's not following as straight a course. The advantage is that it's shielded from the ship's sonar by the noise of the ship's own wake, and is realtively immune to sonic countermeasures. It's also highly likely to take the ship's props off when it hits, thereby virtually guaranteeing a "mission kill" even if it fails to actually sink it.

[Sauragnmon]

What weaver also fails to mention is that the Type 65 actually carries the heaviest warhead of any torpedo in service, weighing in at one full ton of explosive.  Before that, the Japanese Type 93 was the high class, at 24"/61cm carrying a just over thousand pound warhead at the heaviest version.

[Matt Wiser]

The Type-65 is also known to the USN by another name: They call it "Long Lanceski"....and for good reason.