Chariot manned torpedo

Schematic of two frogman going into action on a Mk I Chariot, wearing UBA Rebreathers
Mk II Chariot at Eden Camp Museum, UK. Crew of Mk II sat back-to-back in an enclosed cockpit

Chariots were British "manned torpedoes" deployed in World War II on which two frogmen rode into action after launching from a submarine. They then attached an explosive charge beneath an enemy ship and returned to the submarine.

Design

Both types were made by Stothert & Pitt (crane makers) at Bath, Somerset.

Use in action

"The only completely successful British Chariot operation"[3] occurred on 28-29 October 1944. Two crews on Mk II Chariots, commanded by Lieutenant Tony Eldridge RNVR, were launched from the submarine HMS Trenchant and sank two ships in Japanese-occupied Phuket Harbour, Siam.

See also

Notes and references

  1. O'Neill, Richard (1981). Suicide Squads: Axis and Allied Special Attack Weapons of World War II: their Development and and their Missions. London: Salamander Books. p. 296. ISBN 0 861 01098 1.
  2. pp 61 & 62, Chariots of War, by Robert W. Hobson, publ. Ulric Publishing, Church Stretton, Shropshire, England, 2004, ISBN 0-9541997-1-5
  3. As described by Lieutenant Eldridge in his description of the attack. Quoted in "The Imperial War Museum Book of the War at Sea . The Royal Navy in the Second World War" by Julian Thompson, published by Sidgwick & Jackson and Imperial War Museum, 1996, Page 245-246.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chariot manned torpedoes.