Why triple torpedo tubes?

This is one of those "dumb" questions.

Why triple torpedo tubes? I see them used on many modern warships, usually the crew has to run up and operate them manually (open hatch door, swing tubes out). Why not an automated system?





Why is 3 the magic number? Why not 4 or 6? We used 8x ASROC box launchers, why not 6x or 8x torpedo box launchers installed to the sides of the ship that'd eject the torpedoes out to sea? (if there was no rocket motor, there wouldn't be concerns of accidental ignition with motor pointing towards the ship.)




p.s interesting article on ASROC loading:

Good question. Some ships only have twin mounts but triple is the "modern classic" for Western ships. Re ejection, aren't most of these fired by compressed gas?

Some of the more modern ships should be equipped with automatic torpedo handling systems.

montyp165 said:

Some of the more modern ships should be equipped with automatic torpedo handling systems.

Click to expand...

There is no point; the current systems work fine as it is. Furthermore, torpedoes are a maintenance intensive weapons system; they require frequent maintenance to ensure that they will operate as functioned. That means that they have to be unloaded and placed on the deck to gain access to the internals.

Pointblank said:

There is no point; the current systems work fine as it is. Furthermore, torpedoes are a maintenance intensive weapons system; they require frequent maintenance to ensure that they will operate as functioned. That means that they have to be unloaded and placed on the deck to gain access to the internals.

Click to expand...

The VL-ASROC (RUM139B?) has a MK-46 torpedo as its payload. I doubt they pull it out and perform maintenance work on deck at sea??

Going back to the question of "why triple mounts", I noticed that the Russians use 5x mounts. On Slava class Cruisers they have 2 x 5 (quintuple) mounts, and on Kashin class destroyers it's 1 x 5 mount.



On Krivak class frigate it's 2 x 4 (quad) mounts, but the Indian version (Talwar class) is 2 x 2 (twin) mounts.


Is the PLAN 054 their first Frigate armed with torpedoes? It occurred to me that Jiangu and Jiangwei class frigates are only equipped with ASW rockets.

IIRC, the NATO ships use the 12.75-inch Mk32 launcher with the Mk46/50/54 torpedoes. Whereas the Russian ship use 533mm torpedoes.

I guess the Mk32 triple launcher is compact, and you can have one on each side of the ship to engage targets on both sides of the ship, which is why they were used in the first place.

My guess as to why the 'classic' western triple mount: Someone decided a single mount wasn't enough so they placed two torpedoes side by side in a twin mount, Then some clever sod said "hey why not stick a third on top, it won't take up much room or add much weight" and everybody else said "hey that's a great idea!".

Then in the 1990s boffins started mounting the tubes internally for stealth reasons and twin mounts are probably better because they are require a smaller opening for launch, but some still use triple mounts because they are "off the shelf".

Is the PLAN 054 their first Frigate armed with torpedoes? It occurred to me that Jiangu and Jiangwei class frigates are only equipped with ASW rockets.

Click to expand...

Of course they're equipped with torpedoes. All frigates and destroyers are equipped with torpedo tubes standard even before the World Wars, and that certainly goes to the Soviet Union predecessors of the above mentioned ships. Historically Russia has been among the earliest and most fervent users of the Torpedo in naval warfare.

Actually Jiangwei I think is the first Chinese large surface combatant to have TT along with Luhu class since the days of Riga's.

I thought the Riga class has torpedo tubes, so the Jianghus inherit the design from them.