NationStates Jolt Archive

CT-1 Lancer
The lancer uses state-of-the-art technology to melt through the armor of Capital ships and smaller. It is launched from a submarine that has linear torpedo tubes (Uses magnetics to fire the projectile, in this case the torpedo, at speeds in excess of 300MpH), straight at the enemy ship. This is where the claws come in. It has 4 jagged-edge claws on the tip that embed themselves in the enemy ship. After five seconds, the torpedo begins to release oxygen, and ignites a compressed block of thermite at the tip of the torpedo, which then either successfully melts through the armor of the ship, or manages to warp the hull a lot. This is a cheap-n-easy torpedo, designed to be fired in clusters of ten from one tube, making it highly dangerous to larger, slower ships. In addition to the hooks on the front, the very top portion of the tip (Very small area) is screw or drill shaped, and the fins that extend in the back after leaving the tube, add a very fast spin to the torpedo. This also helps it grab onto the ship, although not always 100% effective.

I think that sounds decent, don't you? Of course I would have to design a special submarine for it, and the submarine would be very detectable, but it could fire from very long ranges due to the speed I guess. Please let me know of any design flaws or improvement ideas.

arent torpedoes supposed to be anti-ship at all times? Good job on your story but it seems you have invented the wheel again.

There are Anti-Sub and Anti-Mine torpedos as well.

Invented the wheel again??? What is that supposed to mean?

I ment with 'you invented the wheel again' is that you've made a pointless new development...

Pointless? LOL When you bombard a ship with armor-melting torpedos, hundreds at a time, it's not exactly pointless, especially when they're cheap. Bulkheads are pointless when you have torpedos latched onto the ship in all different places, and they go so fast that you'd be hit before you could detect them. Not to mention that with this much heat, a lot of the armor on the ship would get really hot, really fast, possibly injuring the crew or some electronics onboard.

Not to mention that it would do wonders to inflatable life rafts everywhere! :rolleyes:

A lancer would be interesting. Yet, I'm sure it could do the job... for larger ships...

Torpedoes? Why not bomb a ship with acid?

Torpedoes? Why not bomb a ship with acid?
These little suckers are cheap to produce.

These little suckers are cheap to produce. Well, that would be nice, but we need it to be a bit more powerful.

Armor used on the Doujin Mk.2 Refit and the Reaver Class is one of the most heat resistant substances on the planet. *shrug*

Doujin... I forget what thermite burns at, but you're talking about a substance that if left in a pile on-deck, would burn a hole straight through any ship, and any attempt to put it out with water or chemicals would flare it up, or turn it to steam. Thermite is like taking an active volcano, putting a doujin inside of it, and waiting for it to erupt again. Not to mention, these are meant to be fired hundreds at a time. From ten different subs alone, you could be getting 800 of these latching onto the ship per minute, if that doesn't severely weaken the hull, you're talking about a ship that I would NEVER rp against just because of the strength of it, especially since I dislike using nuclear and biological weapons in any rp.

Doujin... I forget what thermite burns at, but you're talking about a substance that if left in a pile on-deck, would burn a hole straight through any ship, and any attempt to put it out with water or chemicals would flare it up, or turn it to steam. Thermite is like taking an active volcano, putting a doujin inside of it, and waiting for it to erupt again. Not to mention, these are meant to be fired hundreds at a time. From ten different subs alone, you could be getting 800 of these latching onto the ship per minute, if that doesn't severely weaken the hull, you're talking about a ship that I would NEVER rp against just because of the strength of it, especially since I dislike using nuclear and biological weapons in any rp.

Then don't RP with me, or people who use it - simple as that. All it takes is tactics, not some superweapon. Thermite burns at 2,800F, the armor composite used can take up to temperatures of 2,200C. A mixture of Magnesium, Boron, Silicone and other various materials makes it one of the most heat resistant materials known to man. (It's derived from a real life material made and designed by the US DOE @ Ames Laboratory and other agencies and Universities. University of Iowa, University of Illinois, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology come to mind.) And firing 80 torpedos a minute? You really need to look at that rate.

You do realize that to keep such a substance from burning up your torpedo and your submarine or vessel is virtually impossible too, right?

To complete something virtually impossible will cost a lot of money...

That would be a supercavitating torpedo, and they generally have real short ranges.

Doujin, I meant how would you prevent the stuff from going through your torpedo, your ship, etc?

Not to mention that thermite doesn't actually need oxygen to burn. Most modern armor composites are unaffected by thermite...

Doujin, I meant how would you prevent the stuff from going through your torpedo, your ship, etc?

Your question does not make sense, rephrase.

Then don't RP with me, or people who use it - simple as that. All it takes is tactics, not some superweapon. Thermite burns at 2,800F, the armor composite used can take up to temperatures of 2,200C. A mixture of Magnesium, Boron, Silicone and other various materials makes it one of the most heat resistant materials known to man. (It's derived from a real life material made and designed by the US DOE @ Ames Laboratory and other agencies and Universities. University of Iowa, University of Illinois, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology come to mind.) And firing 80 torpedos a minute? You really need to look at that rate.
The submarine that it would be designed for, would have four launch tubes. Each linear tube takes ten torpedos at a time, and fires them at the same time, and since the spin offsets them a little to one or the other side, they do not collide. So with a crew of four people per tube, and since the crew of 4 people has two hands each, it only takes 20 seconds to load all four tubes, if you load them at the same time, then five seconds to finish targetting and firing, and then another 5 seconds for the cooldown and for the tube to open the breach again. That should be about right. Or if I put an automatic loader on there, it would be faster.

Then if you take ten submarines with that power, you have 800 torpedos per minute. And since the torpedos are fairly small, I'd say a foot and a half long each, and light (Under 50lbs), each submarine could hold quite a few, probably about 400 torpedos per tube.

If my math is off, please let me know.

Urg... :headbang: Damn you sleep...

I meant how would you prevent the thermite from melting through the torpedo itself and your submarine?

...The thermite ignites when it hits the enemy ship? That's how I thought I phrased it... the o2 is also released then, because the freezing cold water wouldn't help the thermite burn too much.

You do realize that making the torpedo a supercavitating one will increase the size of the torpedo by a lot, right?

if the triggering explosion is big enough, it won't matter what temprerature te water is... it will be flashboiled.

I must explain it further and more in depth then. *Sigh*

1) People load the ten torpedos into the tube

2) They're launched and start spinning slightly away from eachother so that they will not hit eachother

3) They drill into the ship with the small drill tip at the front of the torpedo, and it drills with the force of the torpedo spinning already, not a seperate drill. It also uses a fishhook type hooks to hold on. If it does not drill into the ship, the hooks will still hold it next to the ship in the proper position.

4) Small amounts of oxygen are released, and the magnesium in the torpedo is lit, starting the thermite burning through the drill tip, the hooks are out of the way and continue holding on to the ship.

5) When the thermite gets to prime burning stage, lots of oxygen begins releasing.

6) Damage is caused or hole is made

7) Small charge in rear of torpedo detonates (Only the equivilant of an M-80) in order to help clear the torpedo from the hull of the ship.

As someone mentioned in another thread similar to this one, it would have to be one hell of an impact for a drill to gain any sort of purchase in an armoured hull, not to mention the angle at which it intercepts the ship would have to be exactly right, or it would just glance off harmlessly - Though it would likely frighten the pants off of a lot of sailors. Now, on top of that, even if you did manage to get some kind of purchase on the hull - The angle was right, the speed of the torpedo was perfect, it didn't just bounce off, all that good stuff - If you don't have an actual mechanical drill, the simple act of digging into the armour would halt the torpedo's rotation. Even if you did have a drill, the bit end of the weapon is anchored on something, but the outer end isn't. Rather than boring its way in through the hull, you'd simply cause the casing end to spin.

There's the same problem with your hooks. You'd have to find some way of causing one hell of an impact - Not an easy task, even if these are coil-launched supercavitating torpedoes. Even if you could get them up to speed, the angle would have to be just right, or you'd clang off the hull and the torpedo would go spinning away to no effect. It's an interesting concept, but very, very impractical. Far from being cheap and easy to manufacture, the development costs of getting a torpedo that could be launched at a high enough speed and that could impact the hull at just the right angle every time would be astronomical.

1) It's not a supercavitating torpedo... WHERE THE HELL DID I SAY SUPERCAVITATING!? It releases the oxygen after several other steps, not during movement.

2) If the drill bit is very sharp and not too big, it doesn't need to dig three feet into the armor, only a couple millimeters

3) Same with the hooks as 2. They're also designed so that if it does go in at an angle, it will attach itself to the ship. I'm basically saying, that even if I put it in horizontally to the ship, but close enough, it would spin into the ship and catch on the armor.

4) With the right kind of power (Nuclear), you can send anything going really really fast, especially something under 50lbs.

5) Scaring pants off of sailors is a very good tactic.

I have to agree with kotterdam... not to mention the thermite would do nothing. Now, if you were able to flood one of the compartments and get thermite INSIDE, and then flashboil the water, the increased water- pressure might cause the compartemnt to burst.

:headbang: Oh alright fine.

I'll go off to develop spinning shells that fire from submarine tubes instead. Scaring pants off is a good tactic. It's also good to dent ships.

1) It's not a supercavitating torpedo... WHERE THE HELL DID I SAY SUPERCAVITATING!? It releases the oxygen after several other steps, not during movement.

Due to the existence of water, unless you have an engine pushing your little weapon, it will slow down...

That's why I only said 300mph, not mach 5, lol.

300mph means it has to be supercavitating. And shells underwater can only go a few dozen meters.

That's why I only said 300mph, not mach 5, lol.

So how are they launched again?