Morgans wrote:

"Dan" wrote

The old torpedoes did burn alcohol. The running gag in McHale's
Navy TV series and many movies is they would drink the stuff. If
memory serves it wasn't safe to drink since it was wood alcohol. The
problem with alcohol burning in torpedoes is you get wakes that can be
seen visually and heard by hydrophones. That's why they went to
batteries for electric drive. That and gyros could be electric instead
of pressure driven.

Interesting, but your post made me run to Goggle and investigate. I did
not think batteries were the only thing being used, because we had a
very controversial hazardous waste incinerator nearby, and it burned a
LOT of old torpedo fuel, which was said to be very nasty stuff.

The fuel used since WWII was called OTTO fuel , and later OTTO II fuel.
It of course has its own oxidizer in the fuel.

The history of the torpedo since WWII is split between chemical fuel and
battery power for propulsion. The battery gained ground until the
Soviet subs got so fast that the battery powered torpedoes were not fast
enough, then the chemical fuels came back. The methods of combustion
ranged from steam generation for turbines or jet propulsion, to
combustion engines, some with radical designs like pistons driving
external swashplates.

So, if OTTO fuels contain alcohol, I might be guilty of breathing my
torpedo juice.... g

Nevertheless, I have done some pretty strange tool modifications, with
a minimum of sophisticated tools at hand.

This was only a crude drill modification. It does not have to be
perfect to work well. Modify, measure, test, repeat as necessary, to
get desired result.

Or was that the instructions on my shampoo? ;-)

In the 1960s the batteries in some U.S. torpedoes had a tendency to
over heat and were so dangerous they were being recalled and repaired.
Apparently Scorpion's torpedo batteries weren't replaced and a cook off
is suspected in causing the boat's demise.

As for tool modifications I used to be a gunsmith and found it easier
and cheaper to make or modify tools. Then a divorce came along and some
other gunsmith bought 'em up. He would ask me what a tool or widget was
for and I'd tell him about a Schmedlapp Schutzenboomer model
Blowupinthefacen I worked on 20 years before.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired