Limbo mortar

Description

The Limbo mortar is a British anti-submarine weapon. It played a crucial role during the Cold War. Developed by the British in the early 1950s, it was designed to combat the threat posed by Soviet submarines. The Limbo mortar was used extensively by the Royal Navy and other navies around the world until it was eventually phased out in the 1990s.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• HMS Whitby
• HMS Blackpool
• HMCS Terra Nova

General info

The Limbo mortar is a highly effective weapon, capable of firing a 450-pound depth charge up to 600 yards. It uses a rocket-propelled system to launch the depth charge, which then sinks to the desired depth before detonating.

Effective damage

Describe the type of damage produced by this type of depth charge (high explosive, splash damage, etc)

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

The British Royal Navy’s Admiralty Underwater Weapon Establishment first made the effective Hedgehog Mortar system to supplement the depth charges on their destroyers and corvettes in the early years of World War II. However, they were not content with this contact weapon. They desired to make a proper depth charge launcher that would extend the reach of their anti-submarine warfare weapons, so they developed and adopted the Squid mortar which paved the way for the improved Limbo mortar.

Like the Squid, the Limbo mortar was developed for Royal Navy escort ships and mounted on the quarterdecks. A three-barreled, 12-inch mortar design it was officially designated the Anti-Submarine Mortar Mark 10. Entering service in 1955, the Limbo mortar would continue to serve until the 1980s and notably saw combat during the Falklands War. The Limbo was designed with pitch and roll controls for the projectiles and made sure all three entered at the same angle to simplify the fire control solution. Aiming the mortar was done using the Type 170 and later the Type 502 Attack Sonar. Using vent holes to adjust the gas pressure, the Limbo can fire at ranges between 400 and 1,000 yards. The Limbo Mortar fired a 400-pound shell with a 207 lb Minol explosive charge with a lethal blast radius of five yards. The overall assembly weighed 35 tons including a total of 51 projectiles. The Limbo was retired by the mid-1980s.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] Limbo (Weapon)
• [NavWeaps] ASW Weapons