The RUR-4 "Weapon Alpha" (originally ''Weapon Able'') was an American

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

ahead-throwing

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

(ASW)

rocket launcher A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. History The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few in ...

. It was designed between 1946 and 1949, and was installed on warships from 1951 to 1969. Unlike

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 was designed to attack enemy submarines without requiring the attacking ship to be located directly above the submarine being attacked.

Development

Similar to the earlier American

Mousetrap A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch and, usually, kill mice. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. Larger traps are designed to catch other s ...

, 375mm (14.8") Swedish Bofors, and 250mm (9.8") and 300mm (11.8") Soviet systems, all of which use multiple rockets, Weapon Alpha was developed toward the end of

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 ...

, in response to the German

Type XXI Type XXI submarines were a class of German diesel–electric ''Elektroboot'' (German: "electric boat") submarines designed during the Second World War. One hundred and eighteen were completed, with four being combat-ready. During the war only two ...

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

. Begun in a crash program in 1944–5 and put in service before undergoing operational evaluation, it emerged in 1949 as a 227-kg (500 lb) 127mm (5")

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

with a 113-kg (250 lb) warhead that sank at 12 m/s (40 ft/s) (compared to a depth charge, which sank at 2.7–5 m/s (8.9–16.5 ft/s)Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. "Depth Charge", in ''Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus Publishing Co, 1978), Volume 7, p. 730.), an

influence Influence or influencer may refer to: *Social influence, in social psychology, influence in interpersonal relationships **Minority influence, when the minority affect the behavior or beliefs of the majority *Influencer marketing, through individu ...

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

, and a range of 360–730 m (400–800 yd). Coupled to the new SQG-1 depth-finding

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 ...

(for setting the time fuse, rather than the

hydrostatic Fluid statics or hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies the condition of the equilibrium of a floating body and submerged body "fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and the pressure in a fluid, or exerted by a fluid, on an imme ...

pistol of a depth charge), it was to be fired from a revolving Mark 108 launcher (with 22 rounds of ready

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

) at up to twelve rounds per minute. The ready-service

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

could not be reloaded while Weapon Alpha was in use. It was replaced by the

RUR-5 ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...

, which was developed by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

in the 1950s. Nonetheless, Weapon Alpha remained in service through the 1960s until supplanted by ASROC.

Gallery

Image:WeaponAlfa.jpg, A dismounted Mk 108 launcher at the

Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum The ''Intrepid'' Sea, Air & Space Museum is an American military and maritime history museum in New York City with a collection of museum ships. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street, along the Hudson River, in the Hell's Kitchen neighbor ...

. File:RUR-4A round.jpg, The RUR-4's rocket round. File:USS Wilkinson (DL-5) launching Weapon Alpha in 1956.jpg, RUR-4 launch from , 1956.

References

Sources

* Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus Publishing Co, 1978), "Weapon Alpha", Volume 24, p. 2589. * Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus Publishing Co, 1978), "Mousetrap", Volume 19, pp. 1946-7. * Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus Publishing Co, 1978), "Depth Charge", Volume 7, p. 730. *
DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com US ASW weapons page

External links

* {{US military rockets RUR004 RUR004 Explosive weapons RUR004 RUR004 Military equipment introduced in the 1950s