The First World War was a war of imperialism dividing the world, and there was no such thing as a just party.
But as long as it is a war, there are winners and losers.
The Japanese took sides and took the opportunity to reap a great deal of benefits from the defeated Germany.
Basically, Germany's sphere of influence in Asia fell into his hands.
But it was also at that time that Japan's rapid expansion of power in Asia and the Pacific raised alarms from other hegemonic and colonial powers.
That's right, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Washington Naval Treaty and the London Naval Treaty, which defined the development of the Navy after World War I, restricted the development of the Japanese Navy.
In January 1930, a group photo of a representative of Japan who signed the London Naval Treaty with a number of other national officers
The total tonnage of the Japanese Navy's capital ships cannot exceed 315,000 tons, which is only about 30% of the British Navy.
Since then, the Japanese Navy has begun to ponder how to "fight more with less" and "expand with small."
The products of the former were the super battleships Yamato and Musashi.
Illustration of the battleship Yamato
This idea is known to be a complete failure. After several years of futile cruising at sea, the two ill-timed ships were destroyed by the U.S. Navy's aviation.
The latter was successful, and the Japanese Navy succeeded in obtaining a weapon that made the "rice animals" shudder: the Type 93 oxygen torpedo
The earliest torpedoes appeared around the 1870s, when compressed air-driven cylinders were used as the propulsion force of the torpedoes, the energy of the compressed gas was limited, and the early torpedoes could only travel 600 meters or more at a speed of a dozen knots (more than twenty kilometers per hour).
Argentine naval crew and "white-headed" torpedoes powered by compressed air, 1888
In the Sino-Japanese War, both the Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese fleet used this torpedo.
However, the range of the torpedo using compressed air is so close that it can only be used when both sides are almost staring.
As a result, the ordnance development department soon found that it was more efficient to drive with an internal combustion engine.
Therefore, thermodynamic torpedoes carrying fuel and compressed air and using gas-driven turbine mechanisms were introduced.
U.S. Navy MK14 torpedo
Early thermodynamic torpedoes had a range of about eight kilometers, but later replaced the turbine mechanism with a more torquey multi-cylinder piston engine and sprayed fresh water through the combustion chamber, using the generated water vapor to further increase the combustion chamber pressure.
The range of this "steam-driven torpedo" was increased to about ten kilometers, but it was not good enough.
Because the Japanese had fewer warships than the U.S. Navy, the Japanese Navy needed a torpedo with a longer range and greater power.
In this way, even small non-capital ships, such as destroyers or light cruisers, can destroy opponents much more powerful than them with one blow.
The game is equipped with 16 Type 93 torpedoes on the destroyer "Yuritsu"
After the Americans were weakened by the "small for large" tactic, the Japanese Combined Fleet threw in its own hands battleships and destroyed the remnants of the U.S. Navy in a large-scale flagship showdown.
The torpedoes they produced were huge, heavy, and had a very long range, the Type 93 torpedo.
The cross-sectional wreckage of a Type 93 torpedo
Simply put, this torpedo uses pure oxygen after compression, rather than compressed air as an accelerant. Only 21% of the compressed air is oxygen, and the use of high concentration oxygen can accommodate about 5 times the oxidant at the same volume pressure, increasing the range of the torpedo.
In addition, because the combustion products of torpedo engines using compressed oxygen are only carbon dioxide and water vapor, the bubble trajectory of the torpedo is reduced, making this torpedo more stealthy and deadly.
The Type 93 oxygen torpedo is equipped with a 490 kg high explosive warhead, which has the power to blow the cruiser in two with a single blow.
The Mark XV torpedo used by the U.S. Navy at the same time was only 224 kilograms, less than half of the Type 93 torpedo.
MK15 torpedo launcher mounted on a U.S. destroyer
When the Type 93 oxygen torpedo travels at a speed of 70 km/h, it has a maximum range of 40 km.
The Japanese Navy's new "lightning destroyers" are heavily equipped with Type 93 torpedoes and can fire 8 at a time.
And quickly reload another wave after the first launch, a single destroyer can create an amazing "torpedo barrage" in a short period of time.
Not just destroyers, almost every cruiser of the old Imperial Japanese Navy was equipped with Type 93 torpedoes.
Because the performance of this torpedo is highly confidential, the United States, Britain and other countries do not know at all, and think that the torpedo is still a range of up to ten kilometers.
In fact, the Japanese warships had already begun to fire a salvo of torpedoes as the American warship approached twenty kilometers.
Close-up of the Type 93 torpedo launcher of the Japanese destroyer in the game
By the time they were hit by a torpedo, the Americans didn't know what was going on. It is often mistaken for a sneak attack by a Japanese submarine, but there is no such thing.
It wasn't until 1943, when the U.S. military recovered the full Type 93 torpedo, that it really began to raise awareness of the new Japanese torpedo.
This is the captured Type 93 torpedo
Of course, this powerful weapon also has drawbacks.
Disadvantage 1:
Pure oxygen torpedoes can be easily detonated, and once they explode, it is a great tragedy.
The famous heavy cruiser "Torikai" was blown up because its torpedo was detonated by a shell.
The hole under the Kaohsiung-class heavy cruiser Torikai was equipped with a Type 93 torpedo launcher
Disadvantage 2:
The fuze was too sensitive, which made the Type 93 torpedo susceptible to being detonated in advance by violent waves or warship wakes, which happened many times in actual combat, and the problem was not solved until the end of the war.
During the Night Battle of Guadalcanal, Japanese warships fired a large number of salvo torpedoes at the American battleship USS South Dakota.
USS South Dakota
The Japanese captains were experts in torpedo warfare, and they aimed very accurately. However, due to the fuze problem mentioned above, most of the torpedoes were detonated in advance, so the opportunity to annihilate a battleship of the United States was missed.
Disadvantage three: low yield, difficult maintenance.
It's more like Japan's fascist allies (laughs), the good stuff is not produced, and it's very delicate.
Only about 70 torpedo launchers can be produced a year, which is not enough, resulting in many warships not being equipped with Type 93 torpedoes, or using old-fashioned torpedoes.
The Test Site for the Type 93 Torpedo was Deshan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which was later known as the development site of the Huitian suicide torpedo.
Back to the sky torpedo
Incidentally, there is a new type of torpedo in Japan called the Type 95 torpedo, which was produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Nagasaki Weapons Manufacturing, which was reduced to ashes by atomic bombs at the end of World War II.
From this direction, it can also be seen that the development of new weapons led by Japanese fascist soldiers has gradually moved from the initial rationality to the process of crazy end.
appendix:
Historical record of the Type 93 torpedo
The Dutch light cruiser Java was sunk on 27 February 1942 by the heavy cruisers Haguro and Nachi of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The Dutch light cruiser Dreith sank on 27 February 1942 by the heavy cruisers Haguro and Nachi of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The Dutch destroyer CORTENIER sank on 27 February 1942 by the heavy cruiser Haguro of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The British heavy cruiser Exeter was sunk on 1 March 1942 by the destroyer HMS Ray of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The light cruiser HMS Perth was sunk on 1 March 1942 by the imperial Japanese Navy's heavy cruisers No. 1 and the heavy cruisers Mikuma
The American heavy cruiser Houston was sunk on 1 March 1942 by the imperial Japanese Navy's heavy cruisers No. 1 and HMS Mikuma
The Dutch destroyer Pierhain was sunk on 19 February 1942 by the destroyer Asashio of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The American destroyer USS Blue was sunk on 22 August 1942 by the imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Enoekaze
The American aircraft carrier USS Hornet was sunk on October 26, 1942 by the destroyers Akiun and USS Koun of the Imperial Japanese Navy
USS Atlanta, sunk on November 13, 1942 by the destroyer Usshiro of the Imperial Japanese Navy (which itself was sunk in combat)
The American destroyer BADEN was sunk on November 13, 1942 by the destroyer Tianjin Wind of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The American destroyer USS Rafi was sunk on November 13, 1942 by a destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The American destroyer USS Wacker was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy on November 14, 1942; one of them, the destroyer Ayami, was severely damaged and sank that night
The American destroyer BENHAM sank on November 14, 1942 by a destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and later by the destroyer GW
The American heavy cruiser Northampton was sunk on November 30, 1942 by the destroyer USS Kinshio of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The American destroyer USS Strong was sunk on July 5, 1943 by a destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The American light cruiser Helena was sunk on July 5, 1943 by the destroyers Ryokaze and Tanikaze of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The American destroyer GW, sunk on July 12, 1943 by a destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Uss Chavalier, sunk on 6 October 1943 by the destroyer USS Yuun of the Imperial Japanese Navy (which itself was sunk in combat)
The USS Cooper was probably sunk on December 3, 1944 by the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer HMS Takeru