German G7e torpedo with FAT (Federapparat), 1943
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- The Federapparat (FAT) or ‘spring device’ was developed to increase the probability of hitting a ship or escort in a convoy. The idea was to make the torpedo zig-zag across the convoy if it missed the initial target. The FAT run structure had 2 parts - an initial straight run to close the intended target, and to ensure the torpedo was clear of the firing submarine before it reversed course, and a series of course reversals where the torpedo turned through 180 degrees after running a defined leg of 1,200 m or 1,900m.
The FAT was introduced in 1943, initially for the wet heater air-driven G7a torpedo, but restricted to nighttime attacks in case the allies observed the looping paths of the air trails. Use in the Mediterranean and North sea were also forbidden due to the clearer water.
The electric G7e torpedo was a candidate of the FAT, but was restricted initially by its limited range - 5,000m. With the increasing convoy escort convoy capability, it was becoming dangerous to approach too close to a convoy. However, the German engineers managed to upgrade the batteries by developing a 17-plate cell (previous their lead-acid cells had 13 plates) which delivered a 50% range increase for the torpedo at 30 knots. This torpedo was designated the TIIIa, and is the subject of this animation.
The TIIIa used compressed air to drive its control surfaces: the Gyro, Gyro servo to operate the rudders and depth servo to maintain the desired depth. The FAT was also powered by comprised air. Because of the increased range capability (and run time), two additional compressed air flasks were fitted at the front of the battery compartment. The control air did not leave a significant trail, however, so the torpedo could be used in all theatres and time of day.
The FAT had 4 control disks, one for each of the run paths - long loop, initial turn to the right, long loop turn to the left, short loop right and short loop left. The run path and initial straight run distance were set using a single input shaft. 4 turns of the shaft would firstly select the initial run distance, and then physically raise the control disk set to the next run path type. Thus 16 turns of the shaft would cycle through all 4 run types and return to the default setting - 15,000m initial run for Long loop path, turn first to the right.
When the setting cam set was being raised (or lowered) the indicator shows the marking ‘flasch’ (wrong), since if the torpedo was fired with ‘falsch’ showing, the initial run would be zero, and the tun to left or right ambiguous, thus endangering the firing submarine. The torpedo tube-mounted setting device physically prevents a setting when ‘falsch’ is showing.
The control disks have a set of ridges, valleys and mid-levels. A control piston rides on these cams. In the mid-level, the gyro controls the rudder servo in the normal manner. However, when a ridge or valley is encountered, the air driven FAT piston forces the rudder servo to the left or right, and so turns the torpedo through 180 degrees. The Gyro outer gimble now has two control cams, one to steer the selected fire control gyro angle, and the other (lower) to steer the reciprocal course.
The FAT was relatively short lived. With a FAT, the convoy would pass over the looped run path. However, the next variant, LUT, was arranged to advance the loop pattern along a convoy’s course and speed. This is too complex for me, and I shall not attempt to animate it.
See also my UA-cam animation of the G7e torpedo:
• German G7e Torpedo 1941
The animation was made using Cinema 4D and Quicktime Player v7
Music tracks are:
Revelation and October Sky, Copyright AKM Music, www.akmmusic.co.uk
References:
‘Die Torpedos der deutschen U-Boote’ Eberhard Rösseler, 2005, ISBN 3-8132-08427
RM6-3149 Federapparat für den Torpedo G7e, 1942
I just realized that an additional benefit of the FAT Torpedo is that the explosion can occur on the opposite side of a ship than the sub is on! This means the Destroyers and Destroyer Escort would like go off in the wrong direction looking for a U-Boat that wasn't there!!!
Very good noticed !
Although it never was intended by captains to deliberately miss on the first pass, this was a welcome effect if the FAT has down what it was supposed to do, recover a missed shot.
@@legitscoper3259 Yeah, I imagine retrieving a fully armed torpedo is not on the list of fun things to do! (However, I wasn't suggesting to make it miss on the first pass.)
However, since it has to have a positive (nose up) attitude, I imagine that the "eel" (what the Germans call their torpedos) has a negative buoyancy and sink once the batteries has drain to the point it couldn't keep it at it's set depth...
But in 1943 the destroyers had sonar and radar systems in combination with the broken Enigma code. So the Kriegsmarine has already lost the navy war before this torpedo came out.
@@dermax1254 yes.
But Germans didn't believe the code was broken.
But the Sonar of that time, ASDIC only could cover a cone shape below the ship, if the sub was too far off, they couldn't see it.
@@legitscoper3259 Ah thank's of the Sonar information. I haven't known this, about the effectiveness.👍🏼
Impressive engineering, the FAT is basically a mechanical programmable computer, impressive to see such a system fitted inside a torpedo.
Thanks for the video and the explanation on the usefullness of the system.
Its more fantastic that they manage to make a RELIABLE torpedo that did have a mechanical programmable computer.
@@kirgan1000 More fantastic is that they did it over 80 years ago.
German Engineering
And they even had a homing torpedo too...
@@MajinOthinus ….yes, German engineers seemed to be endless with their creative technical acumen.
The alternative meaning of FAT was the "Flächen-Absuch-Torpedo", translated to something like "Area-Search-Torpedo".
Its successor was the LUT-Torpedo, "Lageunabhägiger Torpedo", translated to "Orientation-Indrpendent-Torpedo", which could make even more complicated turns and patterns.
In my opinion, the FAT, the LUT and the passive-acoustic, self-homing torpedos "Zaunkönig" and "Falke" were most impressive for the war era in the Kriegsmarine.
Also be noted, the Kriegsmarine did experiment with an alternate proplusion system for the U-Boats and the Torpedos, called the "Walter-Antrieb" based an hydrogen peroxyde. Very impressive speeds were reached while testing.
Admitably, Lut was a more complex mechanism as it would adjust the straight-distance between turns automatically, based on the chosen "Lut-speed" (ie the resulting forward-moving speed of the torpedo). The "pattern" itself wasn't very complicated though, just different compared to Fat ("zig-zag" vs "s-loops"). Also, the main advantage with Lut was that the torpedo could be fired in any direction, while with Fat you needed to calculate an optimal launch-course.
Germany was developing numerous different technologies in regards to torpedo-propulsion. The ingolin-engines/turbines (ingolin = the german term for high-concentrated hydrogen-peroxide used as fuel for engines/rockets) was the main alternative to steam and electricity with two models ready for action by april 1945: The G5u(TXII) and G7u(TXIII) "K-Butt" torpedoes. Their speed of 45 kn wasn't much higher than the "schnellschuss" for G7a(TI) of 44 kn though. The same was the case for the rocket and jet-propulsioned torpedoes still in development (actually they did pass the prototype-stage and were in late stage of testing when the war ended). Although the technology could potentially give much higher speeds, there's a lot of factors to consider, mainly the torpedo-hulls restriction in regards to fuel-capacity, so higher speed would cost a lot in terms of range and subsequently lead to an impractical application in the field. Ingolin also represents very high risk in terms of storage and handling (the US Navy decided they wouldn't touch it after testing the german ingolin-torpedoes in 1946, and the british changed their mind some years later after several incidents and finally loosing a submarine in a similar way as the Russians lost the "Kursk" due to hydrogen-peroxide leaking from a torpedo causing a fire and then an explosion). Today, the main propulsion for torpedoes is still electric, but with very advanced battery-technology giving immense amount of energy stored in the same volume as the WW2-era batteries (increasing speed/range from ca 30kn/5000m to 50kn/50000m). The german development of primary-batteries was the start and in retrospect probably more important than ingolin, but as for many new projects it didn't come through before the war ended.
@@havardhovdet9217 Das mit dem "Schwall Torpedo" ging bei den Russen
mächtig nach hinten los. ein Tropfen Wasserstoffperoxid läuft aus, dann fliegt dir alles um die Ohren.
I would love to see a version of the Zaunkönig!
Bloody Hell , never knew they where that complicated !
that's why (among other mistakes) Germany has lost the war. too complicated things on the battlefield.
These mechanical simulations of the torpedo mechanism and the maritime simulations of them being fired into a convoy are amazing, especially how you did all the torpedo internals! You must have put a lot of time and effort into finding out how they worked and producing the simulations, I doubt it could have been easy finding that information? Your video's deserve to be on something like Discovery Channel or National Geographic!
No apostrophe in video's.
2 Zweischneidiges Schwert. Es kann dich selber treffen!
I don't know what's more impressive, the German's amazing engineering, or your incredible video. So well explained. I'm deeply impressed with your work Rob. Thanks for sharing this with us!
1943 was the year that Germany lost the Battle of the Atlantic, despite this rather amazing technology.
Sin la tecnologia de alemania no existiera esta explicacion y claro es increible esta tecnologia pero mas los ingenieros alemanes
@@fernandofelix8889 - los ingenieros alemanes lost the war.
@@scootergeorge7089 geman lost in manpower
the british use it's all colony resources and people fight for British special india.they use all money and people of India in war.
@@scootergeorge7089 Nobody is talking about who lost the war, the comments are all around the engineering. Why are you switching things up? It was the entire planet against Germany anyways, how are they supposed to win the war?
Had to be terrifying the first time the sailors witnessed that torpedo turning around.
You can't see the torpedo from the target, due to it being below surface at 3-12 m depth...
@@havardhovdet9217 what about the Water that will be moving around due to the torpedo? SONAR devices that can detect the torpedo?
@@raymartcarreon6069 The torpedo isn't moving water around... Of course, it generates a lot of noise (less from an electric vs a steam-engine) so ASDIC/SONAR would certainly be able detect it during the run. Those systems were in early stages at the time, and the ability to accurately locate and track an object moving with a speed of 30-45 kn was probably quite limited though. Also: Only dedicated military vessels would have such systems at the time, so it would not be a relevant/avialable tool for a civilian cargovessel.
On the other hand, a torpedo would leave a trail of airbubbles (massive amounts from a wetheater torpedo, quite miniscule amounts from a german electric propulsioned torpedo) which could be visible depending on the viewing angle/heigh and distance, as well as light conditions (hard to see at night, better during the day). A visible bubblepath isn't neccessary useful in determining the torpedo's position though: As air takes some time to raise to the surface, the bubblepath will always be a distance behind the torpedo. The faster and deeper the torpedo runs, the longer distance (water salinity and -temperature also affects the speed of the escaping air towards the surface). I don't remember the detailed numbers, but as a rule of thumb when we used the T1 mod 1 (ie the ex-Kriegsmarine G7a(TI), modified with wire guidance in 1970) for exercise-shots, the distance from the torpedo and the visible bubblepath was 125 metres when the torpedo was running at 7 m depth with 30 kn speed.
In reality, you would have much less time/opportunity to manouver your ship to avoid an incoming torpedo when observing a bubblepath, compared to what often is portraid in movies.
@@havardhovdet9217 Japanese torpedo don’t have air bubble
@@the_jingo Nonsense, all torpedoes leaves some amount of air in their wake, but depending on the type of propulsion the amount can be ignorable.
The discussion here is about german torpedoes, not japanese. However, the japanese navy used several torpedomodels with three types of propulsion in WW2:
* Standard wet-heater (massive bubblepath)
* Oxygen-enriched wet-heater (minimal bubblepath)
* Electric (miniscule bubblepath)
Me, a modern day engineer, having no idea what I'm even looking at! Who on earth would come up with something ingenious as this?
The power of Nazi science. There is a reason why in Indiana Jones and other movies they always expect *wonder weapons*
I'm a mechatronics engineering undergrad in Brazil, and I'm also amazed by the insane engineering behind this. Keep in mind that a lot of these weapons were developed during war in a matter of months. It's amazing what people can do understand extreme pressure.
The effort put into making this video must have been huge. Great job
This is well-research content. You give inspiration to small 3d Animation like ourselves.
But I wonder why UA-cam is not recommending your channel to more people.
I mean this is the Real Engineering Channel.
All the best Again.
Great to see that you are still working on stuff like this 🙂
Wahnsinn, was ohne Computer möglich gewesen ist. Deutsche Ingenieurskunst 👍🏻
Fascinating! I had no idea that such a system existed! Thank you!
Absolutely incredible animation and attention to detail. This is so much work. Truly impressive!!!
I was waiting for this. I have no idea where you find the technical data and drawings for your modeling, I have to believe they're not exactly what you'd call readily available. But I'm really glad you are able to find them. These torpedo videos are absolutely fascinating to me. I have always wondered how the FaT fish worked. Amazing bit of mechanical computing. Thank you very, very much for putting in the time to do these. You have no idea how much I appreciate what you do.
Amazing how they did this with purely mechanical means 80 years ago. Nowadays, a 10 cent IC would do all this, but having watched this that feels like cheating 😉
Now days, the torpedo starts homing in on the target when it gets close. It's no longer running blind. More expensive than a 10 cent IC, but it becomes 'fire and forget'. 1 torp, 1 ship.
And in 2022 navy’s are moving back to battery powered torpedos. Something about a self oxidizing fuel that produces hydrogen cyanide as a by product in a steel tube…
Tomahawk introduced in 1980 can travel close to 1000 miles using nothing but ground features as guidance, no gps needed.... Sometimes I wonder what can truly cutting edge stuff do
antikythera mechanism was done 2500 years ago though...
Not cheating.
We spent orders of magnitude more money developing that $0.10 IC, than they did all the technology they used. And it took a LOT longer too.
Glad to see your still posting these feats of engineering, via that smooth animation. You deserve a gig doing this for the history/military channel. Best of luck and thank you brother.
Very nice and detailed animation of the Fat I function. However, here are some notes to consider:
There were no G7e variant using the Fat I programsteering mechanism that is depicted in the video, it was only used on the G7a(TI Fat I) torpedo.
I have a lot of documents relating the german WW2 torpedoes, including the Fat/Lut mechanims. I'm not sure about your BaMa-reference RM 6/3149 "Federapparat für den Torpedo G7e", 1942 though. I can't find it in Inevnio, and due to it's early date I wonder if it's a generic description, not specifically for the G7e(TIIIa Fat II) (I have actually seen a reference to G7e(TII) torpedoes being equipped with Fat, but if that is correct, I assume it was related the development)?
The following program-steering mechanisms were developed and fielded by Kriegsmarine during WW2:
* Fat I ("S-shaped" loop-patterns). The initial straight distance could be set from a minimum of 500 m to a maximum of 1500 m. Two loop-patterns were available: "short" and "long", and in addition, there was a choice of right or left turns (i.e. a total of 5 settings on the Fat-mechanism). For "short" loops, the straight distance between turns was 800 m, with a total width of the pattern-search of 1140 m For "long" loops, the straight distance between turns was 1500 m (PS: Note your typo in the description), and a total width of the pattern-search of 1840 m. The turning radius for both patterns was 170 m.
* Fat II: As Fat I, but with an additional program for a circular loop (a self-defence measure to be used against an attacking escort-vessel).
* Fat III, later renamed Lut I ("zig-zag" pattern): The initial torpedo course could be chosen so the torpedo platform didn't need to change its bearing to an optimal course for torpedo launch. The "Lut-speed" (i.e. the resulting advance-speed of the torpedo, considering the zig-zag pattern) could be chosen and subsequently the straight legs between turns would be adjusted accordingly.
* Lut II: Same as Lut I, but even slower Lut-speeds could be chosen.
The following G7e-variants were equipped with programsteering mechanisms:
* G7e(TIII Fat II)
* G7e(TIIIa Fat II)
* G7e(TIIIa Lut I)
* G7e(TIIIa Lut II)
In addition, the G7e(TIIId) "Dackel" torpedo was equipped with a special Lut I-version with extremely long initial distance of ca 36000 metres, but it wasn't recognized in the official Kriegsmarine-designation (unknown reason, but it might have been due to secrecy in relation to the torpedo's high vulnerability for detection and allied recovery).
In regards to the torpedo-model, intended to depict a TIIIa, the additional airtanks mounted in the front of the batterychamber was not the same 5 litre flasks as used in the aftsection. This was a round ball-shaped container ("kugelluftgefäße") of 25 litre.
Also, the warhead was always painted dark grey regardless of type (note that your head is a Type Ka or Kb series with a Pi1 pistol which isn't correct for a TIIIa torpedo).
In regards to the ausschiebbaren vertikalflossen (extendable vertical fins), some documents indicates these were first introduced with the Lut I, and not used with Fat II-equipped TIII and TIIIa torpedoes (I know Rössler indicates the latter though. I'm not sure what is correct).
The "coupling" piece mounted on the GA VIII servo engine spindle for the Fat, differs slightly from the real thing as it was adjustable and had "fingergrips" and notches for attaching a tool (you can actually see this if you look closely at the two images in Rössler's book, page 117). I don't know if it has been omitted intentionally for visibility, but the GA VIII gyroscope should have a metal shield covering the regulating airnozzle (you can see it on the drawings in Rössler's book, page 115 and the top image on page 117).
Man you sure know your stuff,tell you a funny story,i consider myself amateur WW2 historian, i have many hundred books on the subject and U boats being one of my favorite subjects, one of my dreams if i may call it that was to go see the Uboat in Chicago, about 3 years ago i met my sister at O'hare and we spent 3 days in Chicago just having fun and hanging out.
When we were touring the boat the guide was actually pretty good but we were just glossing over everything and as usual the majority of the people in the group were not really into it like me and you might be and had no knowledge,just there visiting the museum , once we were in the Zentrale and it was nice and packed i asked the guide 'hey man, isn't this the spot where the Captain killed himself during the war??" ha ha ha ha, the look on adults and children was interesting to say the least.
no answer from the creator of this video. sad.
Due to the fact that I've never got busy with torpedoes, I understood almost nothing about the connectivity among steering, propulsion and calculation mechanisms but I got the general idea. If I may ask what is your job and how did you succeed to know and understand how all these work together?
@@alexismpaltatzis You have replied to my post, but I assume the question is meant for the creator of the animation who posted the video?
@@havardhovdet9217 I understand the fact it looks like a question to the creator and from your side, you pointed some errors and corrected them. My question is to you, what is your job and how do you know all these details, are you for example a naval historian or something like this? You've surprised me.
This is really freaking cool. Awesome detail.
As a Silent Hunter 2/3/4 addict, this was amazing. Thank you!
Superb animation. Quite an achievement to understand how it works just from a book (in a foreign language too)
Amazing, finally a new video, i like how your videos goe very deep into how everything works
What an excellent visual demonstration!
Excellent work. Very informative and enlightening. Thank you very much.
Thank you for posting this very interesting video aboiut the FAT Torpedo. Few will realize how many hours of work go into this.
STUNNING + MARVELLOUS, many thanks
I would never know....
Masterpiece of German engineering. Pure art
Killing people. That's an art germs specialise in.
Gut gemacht! I always thought, FAT means "Flaechen Absuchender Torpedo" ( area searching torpedo). Thank you for this great animation.
Yes, FAT stands for _Flächen-Absuch-Torpedo._
No, the official German manual issued in 1942 calls it Federapparat für den Torpedo G7e (FAT = Torpedo mit Federapparat)
So I will stick with the official definition
Both terms were used (even though germany was a sticler for precision and "Ordnung muß sein", there are many examples of them not being consequent in regards to terms and designations). Nonetheless, "Federapparat" is the designation for the mechanism itself, while "Flächenabsuchender Torpedo" is a term describing the federapparat-equipped torpedo.
wow you rock, this is awesome, well done, keep it comin pls, thank you
Fat mechanism could also be used if after lining up a run a destroyer gives chase bearing down on the sub from behind. Hitting such a vessel would be very challengeing as to not have a torpedo glance of the front or miss. But a torpedo with the fat mechnism could hit a chasing ship in the side when fired at the target straight from a back tube from a type VII or XI.
The Fat II had a special program for circle-runing, which was meant for use specifically against attacing escort-vessels. The torpedo was fired from the stern tube and the circular track was positioned between the submarine and the destroyer/corvette.
The ingenuity behind this apparatus is impressive and fascinating
As someone who was working on a cold war submarine simulator, nice work!
excellent animation for that , impressive
Those Germans...they had a lot of skilled people
Had no idea all that was going on inside that metal tube, great video
Reminds me of the motorized plastic ship models I built in the 70s that had interchangeable cams to select from predetermined courses.
I'd been looking forward to this one for a long time, thank you!
Very nice animation! It's cool to see 3d renderings of machinery, especially for an old guy like me who grew up looking at old fuzzy black and white photos that needed to have the relevant parts highlighted to show what was being described.
I could write so much,
but,
This is amazing!
Thank you.
I had a plastic model of an aircraft carrier in 1960 that had several insertable cams to allow it to run different courses and mechanical programs. It never blew up.
My compliments for your accuracy in depicting the mechanism
Loved the video @vbbsmyt! Can't wait for the next video man! This video will prove to be of some help for those of us in the Stormworks: Build and Rescue Community who want to try building the G7e "Falke" FAT Torpedo with the Search and Destroy DLC aka the Weapons DLC for use with some Kriegsmarine Vessels.
G7e "Falke" FAT..? There's no such thing. The G7e(TIV) "Falke" was the first operational torpedo with a passive-acoustoc homing, but quickly replaced by the improved G7es(TV) "Zaunkönig" (in regards to correct designations/nomenclature for german WW2-torpedoes and usage of codenames, I have explained it in this Wikipedia-artcile: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_torpedoes_of_Germany ).
There were three types of directional controls developed for the german torpedoes:
* Program-steering (mechanical Fat/Lut): Eight torpedomodels fielded by Kriegsmarine during WW2
* Self-homing (acoustic/ magnetic/ hydrostatic pressure): Three torpedomodels fielded by Kriegsmarine (only passive acoustic homing)
* Remote-control (cable or radio): Only one torpedomodel fielded by Kriegsmarine (wire guided)
No torpedo was equipped with both mechanical programsteering and homing systems. The only torpedo with a combination of control-methods was the G7es "Lerche" which was a combined passive-acoustic homing and wireguided torpedo (it was never operational, but was the first example of what is the standard today).
I have never heard about the term "DLC"...
Great explanation! Finally someone has explained it comprehensibly! Do you want to make a video about the "Zaunkönig" too?
absolutely fantastic that they could manufacture something like this completely without electronics ..
Well they had electronics but they were severely limited in effectiveness, like the most advanced system you could get there was a acoustic torpedo which used sound from ship propellers to guide the torpedo into the enemy ship
Astonishing drawing and explanation
That is impressive. Both the engineering and the video. Thanks.
никогда бы не подумал что в торпеде такой сложный механизм! 😯🤔
Incredible graphics, a masterpiece, thanks for providing it.
Crazy amount of mechanical logic just to have it make some turns :O
who also thaught at first the germans were propelling their torpedos with fat?
There were also acoustic homing Torpedoes, the G7es Zaunkönig.
Man, make one about the Winchester M1887
Fantastic video Bravo!
I just got these on the game UBOAT build 131, freaking crazy dude
Amazing explanation, thanks
Wow, imagine ur ship gets hit with by one of these and everyone on the remaining ships starts looking for subs in the direction the torp came from, but can't find any coz the torpedo was actually fired from the opposite side and only struck after making a 180.
Or even worse, imagine the above happened and there were allied subs in the direction the torp came from, everyone would think it was friendly fire when it really wasn't.
Brilliant - well done Rob Brassington👍
ничего не понимаю в титрах но зрительно это просто произведение искусства и наверное стоит оху....ю кучу денег даже для развитой страны
Она стоила шо пиздец. У него много роликов. И паро-газовая и простая электрическая. Ждем дальше видосов
Amazing work
What kind of brains you need to have to invent such a thing. Amazing!
It's even more fantastic now than the first time I watched it!
This was very interesting. Great work :) I'm working on a similar project which will be a rendering of a full-rigged ship that was attacked by a German submarine in WW1. This specific sub is type U43 and name SU50. The captain was Gerhard Berger and he sunk my great grandfather's ship Blenheim in 1916. My goal is to recreate that exact moment in Unreal Engine. But there exists virtually no image or drawing of this sub that I know of. So if someone could direct me to a site, a book, or even a museum where I can find more information on this sub I will be very happy :)
Great Video, but one Grounding missunderstanding:
FAT is the Short for "Flächen Absuchender Torpedo"
Means "Area Searching Torpedo"
Grüße aus Deutschland!🤗🤗🤗
The official German manual issued in 1942 explicitly states: Federapparat für den Torpedo G7e (FAT = Torpedo mit Federapparat - Torpedo with 'spring device'). If that is what the people who made the device called it at the time, who am I to argue. I will stick with the official definition in this video. But see other explanations in previous comments what a FAT torpedo could be called later.
That is very fascinating. Love the modeling work. Almost makes me wanna get the model from you and 3d print a mock up lol
Would it be possible to showcase either the Falke (TIV) or thr T5 acoustic guided torpedoes? Itd be really cool to see how they are guided.
Thanks!
Kriegsmarine had several torpedoes with acoustic guidancesystems:
* G7es(TIV) "Falke"
* G7es(TV) "Zaunkönig"
* G7es(TVa) "Zaunkönig"
* G7es(TVb) "Zaunkönig"
* G7es(TXI) "Zaunkönig II"
* G7es "Lerche" (never operational before the war ended, hence no torpedonumber)
Note that codenames were only to be used for the development, and never for operational systems, but for some reason they got stuck with the weapon anyway (mostly by post-WW2 authors though...).
The guidancesystem was electronic (same for the wireguided models), so probably not as "visual appaeling" to show in a video compared to the mechanical programstering systems like Fat and Lut.
If one puts this in comparison with the Mark 14 torpedo, you will see how much difference it makes to have people on your team that actually wanted the country to succeed.
Which team do you mean by that? 🙂
How is that relevant? Although both Kriegsmarine and US Navy had huge problems with technical malfunctions during the first couple of years of WW2, they were not completely compareable - neither in regards to the issues themselves nor the reasons. The G7e(TIII) was in fact the improved torpedo replacing the G7e(TII) which was "plagued" during the german "torpedokrise".
@@havardhovdet9217 atleast the kriegsmarine tried to address the problem by improving the detonator, compared to a certain company who made the mk14 refused to test it properly,hid the real manual, refused to ackowledge their flaw design, blame the user for not using it properly until chief of US Navy had to step in
@@mr.jancok4413 But who won at the end of the day?
@@mr.jancok4413The Mk14 was manufactured by the U.S. Navy itself. That was part of the problem - naval officers in command who wouldn’t believe that their “baby” was faulty (and in four independent different ways).
I meant to see this ages ago. As far as I know, most German U-boats of the second war didn't have those rangefinders. Most were just graduated with angular mils and there actually charts showing the conversion for different zoom levels to get the actual angle. A great website for more info is the torpedovorhaltrechner project which has all the info on the computers used to get the solution...Silent Hunter 3 also simulates a more basic version of this computer. I've often found the FATs to be a bit of a gimmick in game that is not particularly helpful. I usually prefer to just get within a kilometer of target and then send a standard G7 into the target. Of course I am aware that getting close was always risky back then. I believe the other problem posed by FAT was that the mechanism often didn't disconnect from the tube setting equipment properly and would often lead to 'tube runners'.
The Type VII uboat looks so wonderfully aggressive. Must have been fun modeling it.
Amazing research and illustration, I bet the WWII era Uboat crews would have benefited from this video.
i didn't know to be a submarine captain in ww2, you have to be a math teacher lol
Holy shit. The amount of complexity and advancement of design using *clockwork* to make such an advanced munition is insane.
How incredible!
The workmanship/attention to detail/ intricacies/complexity/precision/ ingenuity that went into it's creation is quite mind blowing!...R.
Fantastic work, thanks for posting.
That was fabulous! So bloody clever! Must have had beautiful machining on all those moving parts. Hey, even the music overlay was good. Well done video and well done engineering!! Wonder at times how things may have ended if wartime Germany dumped the nazis and continued fighting.
Interesting comment....Yeah. I wonder....would they have made it to space sooner? Bit then would there have been a space race.. Awefull to imagine the not dumping the Nazis bit
Great old technology , Love your channel
Amazing detail and animation, it really shows how much did it take to make something that "just" was meant to explode. Have you evere considered making a videonabout the Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo? Seems quite interesting. Keep up the good work.
Absolutely incredible Video.
A tidbit to add: _FAT_ doesn't stand for _Federapparat._ It stand for _Flächen-Absuch-Torpedo._
You can roughly translate it as _"Area sweep torpedo"_
The official German manual for the FAT (Federapparat for den Torpedo G7e, Herausgegeben von der Torpedoversuchsanstalt, Eckernförde im December 1942
Genehmigt!, Der Inspekteur der Torpedoinspektion)
(Spring apparatus for the torpedo G7e, published by the Torpedo Research Institute, Eckernförde in December 1942
Approved!, The Inspector of Torpedo Inspection)
on page 3 is headed
Federapparat für den Torpedo G7e (FAT = Torpedo mit Federapparat)
So I will stick with the official definition
@@vbbsmyt
Is your book in German or an english translation?
Because from what you wrote I can't make out what was translated and what was the explanation for the translation.
_Federapparat_ seems to be a general designation for a mechanical guidance computer.
But it doesn't describe what the torpedo (or the computer) actually does. So it would make sense to specify it with "FAT", or "Flächen-Absuch-Torpedo".
As an other user wrote the LUT (= Lageunabhänger Torpedo or Position-independent torpedo) also had a Federapparat.
If you can and want, please post the original german text. I'm a german engineer and I can translate it back to you.
In any case, thank you for your incredible video. Stunning visuals and explanations.
The German text I included was taken from the German G7e FAT manual located in the Bundesarchiv in Freiburg, ref BA-MA-RM-6-3149. So the German text is accurate. The English version was auto translated so may be less accurate.
According to Eberhard Rössler, ‘Die Torpedos der deutschen U-boote’, Chapter 10,
Rössler states that the control device was given the designation “Federapparat” (FAT). The FAT I was fitted in G7a, the 1943 version fitted in the G7e was designated FAT II.
“Neben der Verbesserung der Leistungsfähigkeit der E- Torpedos, um sie für Programmsteuerungen geeigneter zu machen, war ein Hauptziel der Entwicklungsarbeiten im Sommer 1943 bei der TVA Eckernförde die weitere Verbesserung des Programmkommandogerätes FAT. Die gestellte Aufgabe war, den FAT-Kurs injedem Fall parallel zum Gegnerkurs einstellen zu können, so daß der Torpedo aus allen Lagen (»lagenunabhängiger Torpedo«) abgeschossen werden konnte. Dieses neue Gerät FAT III erhielt deshalb die Bezeichnung LUT.”
In addition to improving the performance of the E- torpedoes to make them more suitable for programme control, one of the main goals of the development work in the summer of 1943 at TVA Eckernförde was to further improve the programme command device FAT. The task set was to be able to set the FAT course parallel to the enemy course in any case, so that the torpedo could be fired from all positions ("attitude-independent torpedo"). This new device FAT III was therefore given the designation LUT.
I am trying to find the OCR versions of the FAT manual on my system.....
@@vbbsmyt
Your auto translation seems to be reasonably correct.
To understand how the names work, the last sentence is the key: _"This new device FAT III was therefore given the designation LUT."_
Those Federapparate (command devices) were named after what they did. The FAT device enabled the torpedo to do a "Flächen-Absuch" maneuver (area sweep).. The new device enabled it to make this search pattern attitude-independent. Therefore it was named LUT, and likewise were the torpedoes that were fitted with this new device.
All in all it is safe to say that FAT doesn't stand for Federapparat.
I'm absolutely sure any and all command devices for torpedoes in the Kriegsmarine were called "Federapparate". Even long before FAT was a thing.
Solved my curiosity about the G6AV Torpedo I saw at the Budapest Military History Museum, its intricate and complex design is astonishing, and I wonder how it operates.
You know,those control discs bear considerable resemblance to the controls of a washing machine I took apart years ago. Sure wish at the time I had figured out the mechanism,but as usual I was in a hurry.
Just goes to show ,grab the opportunity when you have it.
Appreciate the video.
Are you talking about the timer?
@@b43xoit I suppose you could call it the timer. Controls the rudder operation,the steering pattern.
Pretty much the same thing, yes.
@@paulmanson253 I meant the washing-machine component to which you referred.
there was a toy car or truck from the 1960 that had this in it many little disks that made it go straight turn and so on.
Realmente impresionante la tecnología es fascinante!!!!!
Impressive Video. Thank you very much.
I'd like to see the difference to the G7A torpedo
😉
I was a Quartermaster on a USN nuclear submarine. The tracking data for shooting a torpedo was almost the same as WW2 in the early 1970’s
thx for beautiful work
What is the source for "FAT" meaning "Federapparat"? On Wikipedia they say it means "Flächen-Absuch-Torpedo" (area search torpedo), which also makes more sense.
The official German manual issued in 1942 explicitly states: Federapparat für den Torpedo G7e (FAT = Torpedo mit Federapparat - Torpedo with 'spring device'). If that is what the people who made the device called it at the time, who am I to argue. I will stick with the official definition in this video. But see other explanations in previous comments what a FAT torpedo could be called later.
@@vbbsmyt Ahh, very good. Thank you!
German engineering has a reputation for a reason. They have been bloody good at it for a long time, and this ingenious torpedo mechanism proves it.
I supose the spring path was only practical for battery powered torpedos, since it will give the vessel under attack more chances to notice bubbles.
No, it was actually used primary with the G7a(TI) torpedoes, due to it's much longer running distance. The bubble-track wasn't (as) visible at night, and when the torpedo was equipped with a magnetic pistol, the depthsetting would make it's location way ahead of the bubbles, actually giving the target much less time to avoid it than you see portraited in movies...
Впервые узнал, что торпеда идёт таким маршрутом! Всегда думал, что только прямо! Благодарю!
Maybe next video about ww1 skoda artillery please
So, I wish we could know the conversation between the sonar man and the bridge of an escort ship the first time one of these torpedoes began looping back and forth through a convoy. Must have been the source of some confusion if they had no previous knowledge of its deployment.
Man! Now I understand the "Prototype FaT Type 95 O2 Torpedoes Kai" From Kantai Collection!!!
excellent explanation.
Amazing job, as always
Do you plan to make a program on german acoustic torpedoes?
and imagine what a miracle it was to control the engine of the Focke-Wulf 190 airplane. It was literally an analog computer
Damn that is A LOT of CAD
What I'd like to know is why the G7e torpedo's propellors were twin-bladed while the G7a's propellors were six-bladed?
I can't give you an exact answer, but judging from preserved/available archive material from Torpedo-Versuch-Anstalt, Kriegsmarine and the allied post-war examination of german torpedo development, a lot of research went into the various aspects of the torpedodesign, including propellers and rudders (including a lot of model-work and practical testing in watertanks/pools). An important goal with the development and manufacture of the electric propulsioned torpedoes was to simplify the process and reduce cost. Thus, the G7e-models were considerable less robust compared to the G7a(TI) torpedo - especially in regards to their weaker "woolwich"-type tail with propellers behind the rudders (which was the main reason for the G7e-models not being allowed for surface-launch, with exeption of the TIIId and TVa torpedoes, adapted for S-Boote).
Another factor to consider, is the engine-performance which was different for wet-heater vs electric, as well as the torpedo's weight and speed.
Almost all G7e-models used the GL 231/Z5 engine, with the following specs (examples, showing different power-outtake for various torpedomodels):
* 1700 rpm / 100 Hp at 30 kn (example: TIII)
* 1350 rpm / 55 Hp at 24 kn (example: TV)
* 1100 rpm / 30 Hp at 17,5 kn (example: TIIIc)
* 500 rpm / 7 Hp at 9 kn (TIIId)
The G7a(TI) had a 4-cylindre singular piston steam engine (45% filling-grade). The engine was altered a couple of times since it's original design from 1934 (for instance, the first version's engineblock was weak and would often crack at the highest speed; Regardless the redesigned engine introduced ca 1942, the only vessels allowed to use the 44 kn speed throughout the war was the S-Boote.
The following specs is for the post 1942 engine-version:
* 1170 rpm / 110 Hp at 30 kn
* 1280 rpm / 255 Hp at 40 kn
* 1470 rpm / 350 Hp at 44 kn
The G7a(TI) was originally designed with 4-blade propellers, but at some point (not sure exactly when, but it was before 1941), this was changed to 6-blades. This affected the accuracy of the distance-mechanism which was "calibrated" for the 4-blade propellers (in practical usage for exercises, the torpedo's maximum running distance could extend by up to 1500 metres beyond the set distance).
@@havardhovdet9217 Wow! Thanks.
brilliant!
If this is how complex WWII German torpedoes were then I would love to see a video like this about the first world war German torpedoes but I'm not sure if you would have enough information on them to make a video like this on them but if you do that that would be awesome to see how they would go about designing a torpedo with their era of technology
This is an electricc propulsioned torpedo. It has s very simple design compared to the wetheater (steam-propulsioned) torpedoes. The wetheater-design didn't change much for the torpedoes produced in the period 1910-1950, so WW1 torpedoes (ie the various G/6 and G/7 models) would in principle be very much like the WW2 G7a(TI).
Fascinating. I wonder if this is possible for today's engineers in this computer world.
Todays Torpedos are just statanic
Sonar, and Computer steered, homing torpedoes, that even can be remote controlled by hand.
And can swim with like 40 kts for 40 km or so... you can assume that every modern day torpedo that is shot, will hit it's target.
This is why modern age Submarines are not used for Anti Ship combat as main task anymore... and if anti Ship combat, they fire an from torpedo tube launched Missile that will steer itself to it's target using radar.
In WW2 was only one confirmed Submarine sunk Submarine scenario, despite Submarine NOT being intended or invented to hunt Submarines...
Submarines hunt ships.
But modern age combat has shifted this by 180°
Modern age Submarine, are exclusively for hunting Submarines, and by the way dropping off an ICBM
Yes, of course it is...
When we (RNoN) applied the latest version of the controlunit for the norwegian coastal artillery's T1 mod 1 torpedoes in 1992 (T1 mod 1 was the ex-Kriegsmarine G7a(TI) modified with wireguidance in 1970), it was fully computerized with two way-communication and automatic guidance from the firecontrolsystem. If the torpedo missed it's target and/or lost connection, an automatic search-pattern very similar to the german Fat/Lut was initiated (obviously, computerguided).
@@legitscoper3259 Radarguided surface-to-surface missiles..?
@@havardhovdet9217
SSM (Ship to Ship Missiles) [also Submarine launch capable)
" and active radar homing"
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-ship_missile
Yes. Modern stuff is wild