An acoustic torpedo is a torpedo designed for medium-range use, often fired from a submarine. In general, acoustic torpedoes are equipped with a mid-grade acoustic sensor designed either to detect the sound of churning water from a moving vessel, or actively to locate targets using SONAR. They then alter their course based on apparent location of the source. Acoustic torpedoes can be compared to modern fire-and-forget guided missiles. A modern torpedo, historically called a locomotive torpedo, is a self-propelled projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Günther Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter Typhoon class nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine A submarine is a watercraft that can operate underwater... The F70 type frigates (here, La Motte-Picquet) are fitted with VDS (Variable Depth Sonar) type DUBV43 or DUBV43C towed sonars SONAR (SOund NAvigation and Ranging) â€” or sonar â€” is a technique that uses sound propagation under water (primarily) to navigate, communicate or to detect other vessels. ... Fire-and-forget is a third-generation method of missile guidance. ... This article or section should be merged with Missile guidance A guided missile is a military rocket that can be directed in flight to change its flight path. ...

One of the first acoustic torpedoes was the G7es T-5 Zaunkönig torpedo deployed in late World War II by the German U-Boat fleet. This weapon was developed to attack merchant ships in convoys. The capture of U-505 marked the first time that Allied forces gained access to this technology. The G7es or Zaunkönig (wren) T-5 was a torpedo employed by German U-boats during World War II. It was known as the Gnat to the British. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... Unterseeboot 505 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine, captured by the United States Navy in 1944, and presently a museum ship in Chicago, Illinois. ...

Since its introduction the acoustic torpedo has proven to be an effective weapon against submarines and surface ships. Anti-submarine warfare (ASW or in older forms A/S) is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft or other submarines to find, track and then damage or destroy enemy submarines. ...

Military Examples

United States:

• RUR-5 ASROC Vertical Launch Missile
• MK 48 ADCAP Submersion Launch Missile
• MK 24 Passive Homing Surface / Submersible Fire Torpedo
• MK 32 Active Homing Surface / Submersible / Air Fire Torpedo
• MK 15 Surface to Surface Torpedo

Testing of the Mark 48: The Australian Collins class submarine, HMAS Farncomb, fired a Mark 48 torpedo at the 28-year-old destroyer escort Torrens. ...

Sources

• U-505 | The Exhibit | Artifacts: G7e Torpedo