Anti-submarine warfare
 

Did the Luftwaffe ever deploy a specialised anti-submarine bomb? (Everything I've read recently about anti-sub patrolling and convoy escort in the Mediterranean seems to suggest they just relied on the standard SC 50 and SC 250).

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

Just checked this old but very comprehensive study that identifies all Luftwaffe special purpose ordnance and no anti-submarine bomb found:

LUSAR, Rudolf. German Secret Weapons of the Second World War. New York: Philosophical Library, 1959.

L.

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

Thanks for that, Larry.

i actually saw that book when I was a kid and my uncle borrowed it from the Library but the only things I remember are the "wind cannon" and the rifle that shot round corners!

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

In attacking a submarine, which you are unlikely to hit directly, a thin-cased bomb designed to create maximum blast/overpressure (shrapnel is of less value underwater) and with a hydrostatic fuse is likely to be more effective than a regular bomb.

RN submarines in the Mediterranean were regularly attacking escorted merchant ships by day and night. The Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica diverted a lot of aircraft to convoy protection.

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

Nick -

TOCH cut me off just as I was completing a long post on this and I couldn't recover it. It covered the wartime development by the Germans of a special underwater acoustic/sonic detonator and Hexogen and Trimethylenetrinitramine high compression/blast effect explosives for use in bombs, torpedoes, aerial torpedoes and sea mines. Although not mentioned directly, that sounds like crushing submarine hulls to me. See Lusar, op cit, pp.229-34.

L.

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

Reviving an old thread, they did have Flieger [or Flugzeug?) Wasser Bomben in various calibres:

Fl.W.B. 150 570 mm long x 450 mm diameter, 150 kg overall/c. 60 kg explosive charge

Fl.W.B. 190 570 x 450 mm, 190 kg overall (as above but with c. 125 kg charge)

Fl.W.B. 190 m.S. 730 x 450 mm with extension »Schale« (shell or cup?) "due to the dropping equipment", 195 kg overall.

Guidelines for their use had apparently been issued in a document of November 1941.

Source: Bundesarchiv RL 7-2/149

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

Hope this helps.

http://michaelhiske.de/Allierte/USA/...er06_02_01.htm

http://michaelhiske.de/Allierte/USA/...er06_02_02.htm

http://michaelhiske.de/Allierte/USA/...er06_02_03.htm

http://michaelhiske.de/Allierte/USA/...er06_02_04.htm

http://michaelhiske.de/Allierte/USA/...er06_02_05.htm

http://michaelhiske.de/Allierte/USA/...er06_02_06.htm

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

Hello Nick,

Gen.d.Lw b. Ob.d.M O.Qu (KTB available online) has plenty of references to these bombs.
For example RM6/197 s.24 (0028.jpg) 10:00 about BV138 mit Abwurfanlage fuer LWB.

Best regards,
Andrey

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

An interesting resource and new to me but all about mines rather than depth charges by the look of it.

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

Nick,

Word usage in documents can be tricky. What I call a bomb is called a mine. The first link shows a "mine" with an explosive charge that could take out a submarine. It was designed to reach a certain depth in 90 seconds, and explode. This makes it distinct from air-dropped mines that are designed to sit for long periods.

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

I meant that these are weapons in the BM series (= Bombenmine) rather than the Fl.W.B. Wasserbomben which were, apparently, purpose-built for ASW.

Re: Anti-submarine warfare
 

I would say that it is a mine whose self-destruction system will detonate it if it falls on soft ground or too shallow water, due to the tidal effect, it can become visible during low tide, allowing the opponent to explore its secrets, or on hard ground.