The Mark 45 anti-submarine torpedo, a.k.a. ASTOR, was a
submarine-launched wire-guided
nuclear torpedo
A nuclear torpedo is a torpedo armed with a nuclear warhead.
The idea behind the nuclear warheads in a torpedo was to create a much bigger explosive blast. Later analysis suggested that smaller, more accurate, and faster torpedoes were more efficie ...
designed by the
United States 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 ...
for use against high-speed, deep-diving, enemy submarines. This was one of several weapons recommended for implementation by
Project Nobska
Project Nobska was a 1956 summer study on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) for the United States Navy ordered by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke. It is also referred to as the Nobska Study, named for its location on Nobska Point nea ...
, a 1956 summer study on
submarine warfare.
The -diameter torpedo was fitted with a
W34 nuclear warhead. The need to maintain direct control over the warhead meant that a wire connection had to be maintained between the torpedo and submarine until detonation.
Wire guidance systems were piggybacked onto this cable, and the torpedo had no homing capability. The design was completed in 1960, and 600 torpedoes were built between 1963 and 1976, when ASTOR was replaced by the
Mark 48 torpedo.
Design
This electrically propelled, -diameter torpedo was long and weighed .
[Kurak (September 1966) p.147][Polmar (November 1978) p.160] The
W34 nuclear
warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Expl ...
used in ASTOR had an explosive yield of 11 kilotons. The requirement for positive control of nuclear warheads meant that ASTOR could only be detonated by a deliberate signal from the firing submarine, which necessitated a wire link. Because of this, the torpedo was only fitted with
wire guidance systems (transmitted over the same link), and had no homing capability. The torpedo had a range of .
By replacing the nuclear warhead and removing the wire guidance systems, the torpedo could be reconfigured for unguided launch against surface targets.
History
Production of ASTOR began in 1959 and it entered service soon after.
[Navweaps.com gives service dates as 1963-1976]
Post-World War II US torpedoes at Navweaps.com
/ref> Approximately 600 torpedoes were built by 1976, when the torpedo was replaced by the Mark 48 torpedo. The ASTORs were collected, fitted with conventional warheads and wake homing
Wake homing is a torpedo guidance technique based on the wake trajectory left behind a moving target.
The torpedo is fired to cross behind the stern of the target ship, through the wake. As it does so, it uses sonar to look for changes in the ...
guidance systems, then sold to foreign navies as the Mark 45 Mod 1 Freedom Torpedo.
See also
* American 21 inch torpedo
Notes
References
*
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{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Torpedoes of the United States
Nuclear weapons of the United States
Cold War anti-submarine weapons of the United States