Squid was a British
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
-mounted
anti-submarine
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
. It consisted of a three-barrelled
mortar which launched
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s. It replaced the
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introducti ...
system, and was in turn replaced by the
Limbo
In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...
system.
Development
Ordered directly from the drawing board in 1942, under the auspices of the
Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development
Directorate may refer to:
Contemporary
*Directorates of the Scottish Government
* Directorate-General, a type of specialised administrative body in the European Union
* Directorate-General for External Security, the French external intelligence ag ...
, this weapon was rushed into service in May 1943 on board
HMS ''Ambuscade''. The first production unit was installed on
HMS ''Hadleigh Castle''; it went on to be installed on 70 frigates and corvettes during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The first successful use was by
HMS ''Loch Killin'' on 31 July 1944, when she sank . The system was credited with sinking 17 submarines in 50 attacks over the course of the war. By 1959, 195 Squid installations had been produced.
This weapon was a three-barrel mortar with the mortars mounted in series but off-bore from each other in order to scatter the projectiles. The barrels were mounted in a frame that could be rotated through 90 degrees for loading. The projectiles weighed with a
minol
The Volkseigener Betrieb, VEB Kombinat Minol, founded on 1 January 1956, was the state-owned gasoline and lubricant reseller of the German Democratic Republic.
The marketing name MINOL was invented in 1949, when Die Deutsche Kraftstoff- und Mi ...
charge.
[Due to shortages of ]TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
and RDX
RDX (abbreviation of "Research Department eXplosive") or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (O2N2CH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified as a n ...
(cyclonite) in World War II, the British used a 50/50 mixture of ammonium nitrate
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...
and TNT (amatol
Amatol is a highly explosive material made from a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate. The British name originates from the words ammonium and toluene (the precursor of TNT). Similar mixtures (one part dinitronaphthalene and seven parts ammoniu ...
) in naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s and depth charges. This low grade explosive was later improved by the addition of about 20% aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
powder, producing ''minol
The Volkseigener Betrieb, VEB Kombinat Minol, founded on 1 January 1956, was the state-owned gasoline and lubricant reseller of the German Democratic Republic.
The marketing name MINOL was invented in 1949, when Die Deutsche Kraftstoff- und Mi ...
''. On some vessels, the Squid installations were at the stern – the bombs were fired over the length of the ship and dropping into the sea slightly ahead of it.
Sink rate was 43.5 ft/s (13.3 m/s) and a clockwork time
fuze
In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze d ...
was used to determine the detonation depth; all three projectiles had to be set to the same depth; this could be continuously updated right up to the moment of launch to take into account the movements of the target.
The maximum depth was .
The weapons were automatically fired from the
sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
range recorder at the proper moment. The pattern formed a triangle about 40 yards (37 m) on a side at a distance of 275 yards (250 m) ahead of the ship. Most Squid installations utilised two sets of mortars. All six bombs were fired in salvo so they formed opposing triangular spreads. The salvos were set to explode above and below the target, the resulting pressure wave crushing the hull of the submarine. Postwar trials found Squid was nine times more effective than conventional depth charges.
Use
Despite its proven effectiveness, some officers, notably
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Kenneth Adams
Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a by ...
,
RCN, opposed fitting Squid to escorts because it meant sacrificing guns, which would make ships unsuitable for fleet actions.
[Zimmerman, pp. 128–129.]
In April 1977, the
Type 61 frigate
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
* Data type, collection of values used for computations.
* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* Ty ...
''
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
'' became the last ship to fire Squid in Royal Navy service. Examples of the mortars are on display at the
Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower
Explosion! is the Museum of Naval Firepower situated in the former Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Priddy's Hard, in Gosport, Hampshire, England. It now forms part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
The museum includes a wide variety of e ...
in Gosport, Hampshire and another at Devonport Naval Base. The system is fitted to , which is part of the historic ships collection in the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. It can also be seen on , which is on display in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
.
In Swedish service the system soldiered on until 1982 when the
''Östergötland''-class destroyers were decommissioned.
Gallery
Notes
References
; Citations
; Bibliography
* ''Jane's Naval Weapon Systems'' Issue 33, E R Hooton,
* ''Naval Armament'', Doug Richardson, 1981, Jane's Publishing,
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Squid (Weapon)
Explosive weapons
Anti-submarine mortars
Naval weapons of the United Kingdom
World War II naval weapons of the United Kingdom
World War II mortars
305 mm artillery
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1943