How to put a torpedo into a submarine (23 photos)

While torpedoes were launched from devices located outside the pressure hull, loading them was of course easier:





Submarine with Drzewiecki apparatus:

But the Germans cheerfully push it in with their feet:



Although it is possible that the photo was taken for fun, but in fact the torpedo is pulled into the apparatus by a winch, a cable attached to an eye on the bow end of the torpedo.

The French often followed their own special path and for a long time used rotary torpedo tubes, also located outside the durable hull. The picture shows a torpedo tube on the submarine "Minerva", 1942:





This is how they loaded:



There are two ways to load torpedoes into devices located inside a durable hull. Open the outer cover of the device and tighten it inside. Here is a picture of such a load on a Soviet boat during the war:



More:



Sometimes I had to climb into the water:



This method still exists today





However, already in those ancient times, there was loading through special torpedo-loading hatches in a durable casing. You must always remember that you cannot deploy a torpedo inside a boat. Therefore, through the hatch it will always be loaded with the head part towards the torpedo tubes. How then can we understand these photographs?





The torpedo is loaded into a German boat with its “head”, and into a Soviet boat with its “tail”. But the fact is that for the Germans this hatch is located in the aft part of the torpedo compartment, and for the Soviets it is in the bow. As a result, the torpedo will still be loaded with the “head” to the torpedo tube.

Usually, when loading at the pier, a crane is used, but the Germans had the opportunity to do it on their own. The fact is that to increase the supply of torpedoes during ocean voyages, some of the torpedoes could be stored outside the pressure hull in special containers below deck. Here is an interesting picture, the arrow marks such a container in an already open state:



Captain 1st Rank Karavashkin did not ignore the process of loading a torpedo:



Loading a torpedo onto an Australian Collins-class submarine



Her cut:



Now the loading looks quite varied. Our boat:



German type 212:



The arrow points to the hatch. Sectional view:



Typically, inside the boat, spare torpedoes were stowed in the same compartment where the torpedo tubes were located:



But the British had their own view on this and the torpedo tubes on some of their boats were separated from the storage compartment by a bulkhead in which there were special doors for loading:



The moment the device is loaded. Or maybe unloading:



Loading was mainly done manually, on German boats, using special guides with gear racks along which the loading hoists moved:



However, towards the end of the war, mechanical devices had already appeared that sharply reduced reload time. I couldn’t find a photo, but there is Captain 1st Rank Karavashkin!



The torpedoman on the right is pressing his finger on the tanget that controls the mechanism.