How does an underwater torpedo impact causes fire amid warships?
In: 139
They usually don’t. What you see in TV shows and movies is largely a Hollywood invention, like a hand grenade creating a massive fireball. If you ever see a real hand grenade go off (hopefully from behind a ballistic shield), you’re going to be massively disappointed (they’re still deadly as hell, mind you, just not visually impressive or even interesting).
A modern torpedo is much the same in that regard. The warhead detonates using whatever explosive mixed with whatever oxidizer, and creates a pressure wave many times greater than the pressure of the surrounding water. It’s this pressure wave that does most of the damage. The torpedo doesn’t even have to make contact with the hull to do some serious damage to the hull of a ship or submarine (although it certainly helps). The rest of the damage is caused by the water rushing back in to fill the void left by the explosion.
Any fires caused by torpedo detonations are because something on the ship or sub ignited due to the pressure wave.
Latest Answers