Why can’t a naval ship have chains extended on sides to keep torpedos from reach it?

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I’ve always thought a navy ship could have arms extending from each side, out say 20′ or so that holds some sort of draping system, like a chain or something, that extends below the bottom of the hull. Then, if a sub fired a torpedo at it, it would either explose on the chain or just get caught up in it.

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19 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Could you imagine the drag??

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because it would slow the ship down so much that it would be a sitting duck, including to a sub firing multiple torpedoes in a row at the same spot.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Torpedoes work by detonating underneath the ship creating an air bubble. This air bubble then presses up against the keel of the ship breaking it.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Modern torpedoes don’t detonate from contact. They actually detonate below the target creating a massive bubble and vacancy in the water. This essentially snaps the ship. I served on a submarine for years.

Anonymous 0 Comments

These days, some warships have what’s called a NIXIE system. They have like a 1000-foot cable sticking out the back of the ship when they feel like torpedos are a potential threat, and at the end of the cable is an emitter that simulates a ship’s propeller noise. Basically it makes torpedos think that the ship is faaaar bigger than it is, and so the torpedo aims for the middle of the “ship” and just detonates hundreds of feet away from the actual ship.

Not quite chains sticking out, not quite nets, and not quite poles, but it works.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/SLQ-25_Nixie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/SLQ-25_Nixie)

Anonymous 0 Comments

The submarine will just get toasted crowd is overstating things a bit. Subs still represent the most lethal and likely threat from a country like Iran using them against the US Navy. It’s a safe bet that any carrier fleet has anti sub submarines in the area and they are definitely establishing a sub free zone around the carrier using helos and picket ships. Picking off escorts or sinking random ships away from the carrier protection is definitely a threat from modern diesel electric subs.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The first problem is that the drag it would produce would be immense and slow the ships by 10 kts. Second off it wouldn’t be effective. You see, torpedos are typically designed to do just that, explode below the ship creating a huge bubble under it removing the buoyant force, causing a destructive bending moment on the keel, and the ship breaks in half under its own weight. The optimum torpedo shot “breaks the ship’s back”. By dragging chains beneath the keel, you are improving the enemy torpedo’s accuracy and effectiveness.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Torpedos aren’t the problem: anti-ship cruise missiles launched from a continent away are the problem.

Anonymous 0 Comments

So it was said in older posts but I’ve got a bit of experience with this and want to add some things,

With modern torpedos, a net isn’t going to stop them, nor will a chain. Furthermore, with Submarines in your area, having a chain clanking around while you’re trying to avoid them would do the exact opposite- like screaming while playing hide and seek. There are countermeasures like anti-torpedo-torpedos and jammers, but really the best way to avoid getting hit by one is to be vigilant. Most countries use a combination of shipboard sensors and submarine hunting helicopters that go out a distance and use what’s called “dipping sonar” or they use planes to drop “sonar bouy” fields to find and sink enemy submarines in the areas near the ship first, or at least track them and make it so that if they did shoot, they’d be dead before their torpedo hit. Not to mention if it’s something like a convoy of ships, they probably have a submarine with them to defend against other submarines, along with helicopters, planes, towed sonar arrays, and intelligence that tells them if there are subs in the area before they even get there.

Anonymous 0 Comments

They did! It was called a torpedo belt, but bulge armor was more common. In reality, there was only so much you could do to avoid getting hit by a torpedo, especially since a submarine could fire one at you from any direction and impact you just about anywhere on the parts of the ship exposed to water.