Torpedo trials craft are primarily naval auxiliaries used by navies for the development of new naval torpedoes and during practise firings. These craft are designed to track and monitor the torpedo and to be able to locate and retrieve the spent torpedo for analysis, and refurbishment for reuse. Torpedo trials craft had their greatest use during the years around World War II when the torpedo was the primary anti-ship weapon of submarines, destroyers and naval aircraft.
Modern navies will usually not have ships dedicated to this one role, but have multirole underwater support vessels, which can undertake a variety of similar underwater roles, such as development and retrieval of naval mines, and remotely operated underwater vehicle and diver support.
A non naval example of such craft were the "Long Range Recovery and Support Craft" of the Royal Air Force which were used to retrieve aerial torpedoes used during training.
Even if a spent torpedo is of no further use, its recovery may be required to prevent the loss of technical information; for example torpedo development in the People's Republic of China, was greatly aided by the reverse engineering of American Mark 46 torpedoes retrieved by Chinese fishermen.
The RUR-5 ASROC is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed on over 200 USN surface ships, specifically cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. The ASROC has been deployed on scores of warships of many other navies, including Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of China, Greece, Pakistan and others.
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially a fish. The term torpedo originally applied to a variety of devices, most of which would today be called mines. From about 1900, torpedo has been used strictly to designate a self-propelled underwater explosive device.
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes.
An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "multi-purpose submarines". They are also used to protect friendly surface combatants and missile submarines. Some attack subs are also armed with cruise missiles, increasing the scope of their potential missions to include land targets.
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries only weapons, ammunition and supplies for its crew. Warships usually belong to a navy, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations.
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for United States Ship. Non-commissioned, primarily civilian-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy under the Military Sealift Command have names that begin with USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.
Beginning in ancient times, mankind sought to operate under the water. From simple submersibles to nuclear submarines, humans have searched for a means to remain safely underwater to gain the advantage in warfare, resulting in the development of the submarine.
The Type 039 submarine is a class of diesel-electric submarines of the People's Liberation Army Navy. The class is the first diesel-electric submarine to be fully developed within China and also the first Chinese diesel-electric submarine to use the modern teardrop hull shape.
The People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force is the surface warfare branch of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), consisting of all surface vessels in operational service with the PLAN. The PLAN Surface Force operates 661 ships organized into three fleets: the North Sea Fleet, the East Sea Fleet and the South Sea Fleet.
The Myanmar Navy is the naval warfare branch of the armed forces of Myanmar. With 24,000 personnel on duty, the navy operates more than 150 vessels. Prior to 1988, the navy was small, and its role in counter-insurgency operations was smaller than those of the army and the air force. The navy has since been expanded to take on a more active role in defense of Myanmar's territorial waters.
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers. Modern ships support amphibious landing craft, with most designs including a well deck. Coming full circle, some amphibious assault ships also support V/STOL fixed-wing aircraft, now having a secondary role as aircraft carriers.
The Marine Branch (1918-1986) was a branch of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which operated watercraft in support of RAF operations. Just days after the creation of the RAF itself, the Marine Craft Section (MCS) was created with the transfer of Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) vessels and personnel to the new service. Originally tasked with the support of RNAS, and later RAF, seaplanes, Marine Craft Section was to achieve its greatest size during the Second World War, and achieved fame for its role in air-sea rescue operations. After the war MCS was granted full branch status on 11 December 1947, however post war the role of the new branch became greatly reduced with the end of the British Empire, the withdrawal of flying boats from service, and the increasing use of helicopters in air-sea rescue. The branch was disestablished on 8 January 1986.
The Yanxi class weapon trials ship is a class of little known naval auxiliary ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The name of this class is after the first unit commissioned, with the exact type still remains unknown. Contrary to the usual naming conventions of Chinese military where the ship is designated by a combination of two Chinese characters followed by three-digit number, the Yanxi class is designated by only a single Chinese character, which is Xun (训), short for Xun-Lian (训练), meaning training in Chinese, because these ships of this class is also used as training ships, but only a single unit of this class has been built. However, the pennant numbers may have changed due to the change of Chinese naval ships naming convention.
BAE Systems Maritime – Maritime Services is a wholly owned subsidiary company of BAE Systems, specialising in the repair and maintenance of Royal Navy vessels, as well as product development, naval training and through life support for radar, torpedoes and small boats. Along with BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines and BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships, it is one of three divisions of BAE Systems Maritime.
The AN/SQS-504 Diver was an early naval medium-frequency active variable depth sonar (VDS) developed in Canada.
United States Navy submarines, surface ships, and aircraft launch torpedoes, missiles, and autonomous undersea vehicles as part of training exercises. Typically, these training munitions have no warhead and are recovered from the sea and reused. Similarly, new naval weapons under development are launched at sea in performance trials. These experimental units also need to be recovered, in their case to obtain evaluation data. At various points in history, newly manufactured torpedoes were fired as a quality control measure and these, too, had to be recovered before issuing them to the fleet. The U.S. Navy has used a variety of boats to accomplish the retrieval of these test and training munitions. As their missions evolved over the last century they have been variously known as torpedo retrievers, torpedo weapon retrievers, torpedo recovery boats, range support craft, and multi-purpose craft.
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