GB535693A - Improved means for locating and destroying enemy submarines - Google Patents

Abstract

535,693. Destroying submarine vessels. STEPHENSON, G., GORDON, R., and CAREY, L. G. Sept. 13, 1939, No. 25749. [Class 9 (ii)] A sectional submarine net is supported by buoys which contain, in the upper part, a flare, and in the lower part a tube from which a projectile may be discharged downwardly. When a submarine drags upon the net, a cord is pulled which causes ignition of the flare and discharge of the projectile. The buoy comprises a hollow conical body 1 surrounding a central tube 2 for the projectile 40, a cylindrical compartment 3 containing a check-reel 17 and a dome 4 containing a housing 5 for a flare 31. The projectile is held in the barrel 2 by means of double-armed levers 41, the longer arms of which engage grooves 46 in the upper part of the projectile casing while the shorter arms project under a flange 44 of a firing pin 38 and are normally held up by a spring 48. The lower end of the tube 2 is sealed against entry of water by a pivoted flap 11 which is normally retained in the closed position by a projection on an eye 14 attached at the outer end of a steel wire 15 extending through a guide-tube 16 to the compartment 3 where it is wound on a check reel 17. The eye is connected to a section of the netting. The reel 17 is frictionally held by an adjustable cone 25 so that it rotates only with a certain minimum pull on the wire. When a submarine engages the net, the resulting pull releases the flap 11, and rotates the reel so that a cam 28 on the upper part operates a pin 30 which causes the fracture of a glass closure 33 thus allowing sea water to enter and ignite the flare. At the same time, a cam 29 on the lower part of the reel depresses the firing pin 38 to release the levers 41 from the projectile and to fire a propellant cartridge 49. A lifting shackle 50 carries an eccentric pin 53 engaging within a slot at the end of a spring-controlled slidable rod 55, which is connected through a lever 57 with a pin 59. When the buoy is being lifted by the shackle, the pin 59 is depressed and enters a. hole 62 in the reel 17 and locks it against rotation, thus rendering the buoy inactive.