Early K-Guns
Early WW2 Depth Charge Launchers
| By far the most successful weapons to against the submarine
threat was the depth charge. This was basically a cylindrical can of of
high explosives about the size of a 55 gal drum. The ashcans came
in a few varieties and were initially rolled off the stern of a ship. A
fuse detonated the explosives at a predetermined depth based on water pressure.
These depth charges did not need to actually hit the submarine, as a near
miss could rupture hull plating and cause enough damage to sink the target.
The presence of Escorting ships with these weapons was often enough to
keep a sub from attacking.
The stern mounted roll off type of depth charge were limited in that the ship had to pass right over the target. An alternative to this was the "Y" gun, which earned it''s name by it's shape. These fired a charge both directions off the side of the ship. The "K" gun was a lighter weight version of this weapon that fired one direction only. This allowed several to be mounted down the sides of the ship and multiply the amount of charges that could be put into the water at a given time. |
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| The K-gun was basically a small canon that fired an arbor with the depth charge attached. The charge is a small cartridge that is loaded into the gun to fire the can over the side and far enough away from the ship to prevent any damage to it. |  |
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| Early K-Guns were loaded with a small davit. Depth charges
were arranged on simple pedestals around the davit. A typical arrangement
is shown above. Later this was changed to a roller rack style loader to
speed up the firing process.
The K-gun launchers varied a little in shape but the typical mount was like the ones shown on the right. |
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