A special threat is posed by torpedoes with proximity fuses that explode under the keel of a moving ship. Further, everything is obvious. Water is an incompressible medium. The entire force of the explosion is directed upwards towards the body. He can't stand it. The blow breaks the keel, and the ship falls in half.
This is how those who “understand the issue” describe the situation, citing colorful examples of tests of modern torpedoes.
Officially, this vessel was classified as an anti-submarine frigate "Torrance". In fact, the rank of frigate "Torrance" was far away. Displacement 2700 tons. The width of the hull midships is 12 meters. Is it a lot or a little?
For example, the destroyer Zamvolt has a hull 24.6 meters wide for 60% of its length. Mentally enlarge the Torrance twice and imagine how it would be broken by an explosion of a similar torpedo. Or maybe it didn't break …
Why “Zamvolt” again? Because this is the first of the modern ships, in whose design measures to enhance anti-torpedo protection (PTZ) can be traced.
For any action, if you look well, there will be opposition. The fact of the appearance of proximity fuses only indicates that the classic PTZ scheme with anti-torpedo bullets is outdated. New solutions are needed. Which? Everything in order.
First, the unusually wide body. The relative elongation of "Zamvolt" is 7, 4. This has not been seen since the days of battleships. For comparison, the GRKR “Moscow” has a relative lengthening of the hull = 9. With almost equal length, “Moscow” is already 4 meters longer than “Zamvolta”.
As for his American counterparts, there is nothing to talk about. All of them are narrow "cigars" against the background of a sturdy, stocky destroyer. The elongation of the Ticonderogi body is over 10. With the same length, it is 1.5 times narrower than the Zamvolta!
On the left is the Rafael Peralta under construction (of the type “Burke”), on the right is “Michael Monsour” (the second destroyer of the “Zamvolt” series).
Even the more “stocky” destroyer “Burke” looks like a skinny little boy against the background of “Zuma”. Despite the similar proportions, it has a “spindle” shape and classic contours. Having a width of 20 meters midships, it is rapidly “losing weight” at the extremities.
And, of course, scale matters. In absolute terms, Zamvolt is 4 meters wider, 30 meters longer and 4000 tons larger. And size matters here.
That is why the next sinking of "Spruance" by the Mark-48 torpedo is of no scientific interest. "Spruance" is the same "Ticonderoga" about which everything is written above.
Where it is thin, there it is torn
Has it fallen apart beautifully? And you paid attention to … However, here everything is clear.
The body breaks in the place of its least rigidity. The explosion either rips off the bow or breaks in the middle, between the front and rear of the superstructure.
In contrast to the skinny "spruens", the design of "Zamvolt" is distinguished by an interesting feature - a continuous adjustment in the form of a truncated pyramid, the size of a nine-storey building! You don't need to be a genius in resistance to understand that the presence of such an element gives the body additional bending / torsional rigidity in all planes.
Fold in half "Zuma" will be clearly more difficult than the 2700-ton Australian frigate with an insignificant width of the hull and the same miniature superstructure.
However, it was all lyrics. Will break, not break … Prevention of critical damage to the structure is a mandatory criterion, but not sufficient. An underwater explosion will inevitably damage the bottom skin on an area of tens of square meters. meters. Which will cause damage to mechanisms and flooding of compartments.
The problem cannot be solved until it is solved.
The creators of "Zamvolt" provided a number of simple and obvious measures.
1. Thick double bottom up to two meters high. Clearly visible in all photographs of the destroyer under construction.
2. More frequent power recruitment compared to destroyers of previous generations.
3. Sheathing material.
Morning October 12, 2000, Gulf of Aden. A dazzling flash illuminated the bay for a moment, and a heavy roar frightened the flamingos standing in the water. Two martyrs gave their lives in the war with the kafirs, having rammed the destroyer Cole in a motor boat. The explosion of a hellish machine filled with 200 kg of explosives tore apart the side of the destroyer, a fiery whirlwind rushed through the compartments and cockpits of the ship, turning everything in its path into a bloody vinaigrette. Having penetrated into the engine room, the blast wave tore apart the casings of the gas turbines, bent the propeller shaft, and the destroyer lost its speed. The fire started. The explosion killed 17 sailors, another 39 were injured.
According to those who designed the destroyer, grave consequences are associated with an unfortunate miscalculation in its design. Pay attention to the top edge of the hole: the sheets are torn out along the weld that runs along the entire bead (strake). Above, there is practically no damage. Below - the board is torn to shreds. This is due to the fact that the upper part of the side is made of high quality alloy steel HY-80 (yield strength 80 thousand psi ~ 550 MPa, strong submarine hulls are made from it). Everything below is made from cheap structural steel.
Manufacturing the hull entirely from HY-80 will not help to ensure the complete safety of the ship in an explosion of 200 kg of explosives. The casing has a relatively small thickness, in addition, due to its insufficient hardness, the HY-80 cannot be considered an analogue of armor steel. However, such a solution would significantly reduce damage. For all doubters - there is a photo of the hole.
They promise to eliminate the deficiency on new destroyers. For the 3rd sub-series "Berkov" the possibility of making the cladding from HY-80 or even from HY-100 is being decided. As for Zamvolt, it is almost entirely made of HSLA-80 alloy steel with a yield strength of 550 MPa. When the thickness of the outer skin is 12-14 mm. Its double bottom has the same thickness.
As a result, we have a large, abnormally wide ship with a powerful superstructure “from side to side”, which stretches for half the length of its hull. With unexpectedly durable casing and special measures to ensure PTZ.
How many torpedo hits could such a destroyer withstand?
It is worth noting that even the "disposable" warships of the Cold War period had unexpectedly high resistance to hydrodynamic impacts. Due to their size (any ship is huge) and developed power set, during shock tests, they withstood close underwater explosions with a capacity of a ton of explosives!
Tests of the cruiser "Arkansas". By the way, it was shorter than "Zamvolt" and already by as much as five meters.
So as not to get octopuses or crabs …
Contrary to the authoritative opinion of "experts", ships, as before, need anti-torpedo protection. Meeting with a torpedo does not mean instant death in the depths of the sea. The ship is damaged. Ahead is a long and stubborn struggle for the destroyer, the lives of hundreds of its crew, and the preservation of the destroyer's combat potential.
How effective the fight turns out to be depends to a large extent on the design of the ship itself and the capabilities of its PTZ, which absorbed and dissipated most of the explosion energy.
Those who talk about "breaking ships in half" simply do not want to notice the obvious. The unfortunate "Spruence" and "Torrance" are just special cases, due to the flimsy design. And let modern torpedoes fire somewhere under the bottom. The most powerful of them (USET-80, Mark-48) contain 70% less explosives than the legendary Japanese "long-lance" (warhead 490 kg). The penetration of which, as is known, did not always lead to the death of ships.
Cruiser Mineapolis after the battle at Tassafaronga. The first "long-lance" tore off the bow end to the first tower of the main battery, the explosion of the second destroyed boiler room No. 2. Despite the damage caused, “Minneapolis” made a transoceanic crossing under its own power. Nine months later, he again participated in the battles in the Pacific Ocean.
