Torpex
Tallboy bomb
stencilled with its explosive fillingTorpex ("Torpedo explosive") is a
obsolete and Torpex is unlikely to be encountered except in old munitions or unexploded ordnance, although a notable exception to this is the Sting Ray lightweight torpedo, which as of October 2020 remains in service with the Royal Navy and several foreign militaries. The German equivalent of Torpex was Trialen.[7]
Development
Torpex was developed at the
phlegmatizing agent, to reduce sensitivity to shock and impact.[8] Later, beeswax was replaced with paraffin wax, and calcium chloride was added as a moisture absorber to reduce the production of hydrogen gas under high humidity.[8]
The production of RDX in the USA skyrocketed following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. In April 1942, 100 tons of Composition C (88% RDX and oil desensitizer), also known as C4, was ordered by the Office of Strategic Services.[10] By 8 May 1945 (Victory in Europe Day) the Holston Ordnance Works had been in full production of RDX with no end in sight. In July of that year government officials informed the plant to not exceed production quotas (as had been the practice to that point) since they knew that the atomic bomb was near completion.[11]
See also
Sources
- Gannon, Robert (1996). Hellions of the Deep: The Development of American Torpedoes in World War II. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. OCLC 32349009.
- Baxter, Colin F. (2018). The Secret History of RDX. The University Press of Kentucky. .
References
- ^ Gannon 1996, p. 184.
- S2CID 99529511.
- ^ "Munitions Design". Barnes Wallis Foundation. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ Webb, Mason B. (18 January 2019). "Operation Aphrodite". Warfare History Network. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ISBN 978-2-37297-333-5.
- ISBN 978-1-351-41822-5.
- ^ Fedoroff, B.T.; Kaye, S.M. (1960). Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items. Picatinny Arsenal. p. 2-PA55.
- ^ a b c Gannon 1996, p. 183.
- S2CID 109491342.
- ^ Baxter 2018, pp. 25–32.
- ^ Baxter 2018, pp. 135–138.
Further reading
- Rowland, Buford; Boyd, William B. (1947). U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance in World War II (Report). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.