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Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typically carried out to protect friendly shipping and coastal facilities from submarine attacks and to overcome blockades.
Successful ASW operations typically involve a combination of sensor and weapon technologies, along with effective deployment strategies and sufficiently trained personnel. Typically, sophisticated sonar equipment is used for first detecting, then classifying, locating, and tracking a target submarine. Sensors are therefore a key element of ASW. Common weapons for attacking submarines include torpedoes and naval mines, which can both be launched from an array of air, surface, and underwater platforms. ASW capabilities are often considered of significant strategic importance, particularly following provocative instances of unrestricted submarine warfare and the introduction of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which greatly increased the lethality of submarines.
At the beginning of the 20th century, ASW techniques and submarines themselves were primitive. During the First World War, submarines deployed by Imperial Germany proved themselves to be a capable threat to shipping, being able to strike targets even out in the North Atlantic Ocean. Accordingly, multiple nations embarked on research into devising more capable ASW methods, resulting in the introduction of practical depth charges and advances in sonar technology; the adoption of the convoy system also proved to be a decisive tactic.
After a lull in progress during the interwar period, the Second World War saw submarine warfare and ASW alike advance rapidly, particularly during the critical Battle of the Atlantic, during which Axis submarines sought to prevent Britain from effectively importing supplies. Techniques such as the Wolfpack achieved initial success, but became increasingly costly as more capable ASW aircraft were introduced. Technologies such as the Naxos radar detector gained only a temporary reprieve until detection apparatus advanced yet again. Intelligence efforts, such as Ultra, also played a major role in curtailing the submarine threat and guiding ASW efforts towards greater success.
During the post-war era, ASW continued to advance, as the arrival of nuclear submarines had rendered some traditional techniques less effective. The superpowers of the era constructed sizable submarine fleets, many of which were armed with nuclear weapons; in response to the heightened threat posed by such vessels, various nations chose to expand their ASW capabilities. Helicopters, capable of operating from almost any warship and equipped with ASW apparatus, became commonplace during the 1960s. Increasingly capable fixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft were also widely used, covering vast areas of ocean. The magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), diesel exhaust sniffers, sonobuoys and other electronic warfare technologies also became a staple of ASW efforts. Dedicated attack submarines, purpose-built to track down and destroy other submarines, became a key component as well. Torpedo carrying missiles, such as ASROC and Ikara, were another area of advancement.
The first attacks on a ship by an underwater vehicle are generally believed to have been during the American Revolutionary War, using what would now be called a naval mine but what was then referred to as a torpedo. Even so, various attempts to produce submarines had been made prior to this.
In 1866, British engineer Robert Whitehead invented the first effective self-propelled torpedo, the eponymous Whitehead torpedo; French and German inventions followed soon thereafter. The first submarine with a torpedo was Nordenfelt I, built in 1884–1885, though it had been proposed earlier. By the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, all the large navies except the Germans had acquired submarines. Nevertheless, at that time, all powers still defined the submarine as an experimental vessel and did not put it into operational use.
There were no means to detect submerged U-boats, and attacks on them were limited at first to efforts to damage their periscopes with hammers. The Royal Navy torpedo establishment, HMS Vernon, studied explosive grapnel sweeps; these sank four or five U-boats in the First World War. A similar approach featured a string of 70 lb (32 kg) charges on a floating cable, fired electrically; an unimpressed Admiral Edward Evans considered any U-boat sunk by it deserved to be.
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Anti-submarine warfare AI simulator
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Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typically carried out to protect friendly shipping and coastal facilities from submarine attacks and to overcome blockades.
Successful ASW operations typically involve a combination of sensor and weapon technologies, along with effective deployment strategies and sufficiently trained personnel. Typically, sophisticated sonar equipment is used for first detecting, then classifying, locating, and tracking a target submarine. Sensors are therefore a key element of ASW. Common weapons for attacking submarines include torpedoes and naval mines, which can both be launched from an array of air, surface, and underwater platforms. ASW capabilities are often considered of significant strategic importance, particularly following provocative instances of unrestricted submarine warfare and the introduction of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which greatly increased the lethality of submarines.
At the beginning of the 20th century, ASW techniques and submarines themselves were primitive. During the First World War, submarines deployed by Imperial Germany proved themselves to be a capable threat to shipping, being able to strike targets even out in the North Atlantic Ocean. Accordingly, multiple nations embarked on research into devising more capable ASW methods, resulting in the introduction of practical depth charges and advances in sonar technology; the adoption of the convoy system also proved to be a decisive tactic.
After a lull in progress during the interwar period, the Second World War saw submarine warfare and ASW alike advance rapidly, particularly during the critical Battle of the Atlantic, during which Axis submarines sought to prevent Britain from effectively importing supplies. Techniques such as the Wolfpack achieved initial success, but became increasingly costly as more capable ASW aircraft were introduced. Technologies such as the Naxos radar detector gained only a temporary reprieve until detection apparatus advanced yet again. Intelligence efforts, such as Ultra, also played a major role in curtailing the submarine threat and guiding ASW efforts towards greater success.
During the post-war era, ASW continued to advance, as the arrival of nuclear submarines had rendered some traditional techniques less effective. The superpowers of the era constructed sizable submarine fleets, many of which were armed with nuclear weapons; in response to the heightened threat posed by such vessels, various nations chose to expand their ASW capabilities. Helicopters, capable of operating from almost any warship and equipped with ASW apparatus, became commonplace during the 1960s. Increasingly capable fixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft were also widely used, covering vast areas of ocean. The magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), diesel exhaust sniffers, sonobuoys and other electronic warfare technologies also became a staple of ASW efforts. Dedicated attack submarines, purpose-built to track down and destroy other submarines, became a key component as well. Torpedo carrying missiles, such as ASROC and Ikara, were another area of advancement.
The first attacks on a ship by an underwater vehicle are generally believed to have been during the American Revolutionary War, using what would now be called a naval mine but what was then referred to as a torpedo. Even so, various attempts to produce submarines had been made prior to this.
In 1866, British engineer Robert Whitehead invented the first effective self-propelled torpedo, the eponymous Whitehead torpedo; French and German inventions followed soon thereafter. The first submarine with a torpedo was Nordenfelt I, built in 1884–1885, though it had been proposed earlier. By the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, all the large navies except the Germans had acquired submarines. Nevertheless, at that time, all powers still defined the submarine as an experimental vessel and did not put it into operational use.
There were no means to detect submerged U-boats, and attacks on them were limited at first to efforts to damage their periscopes with hammers. The Royal Navy torpedo establishment, HMS Vernon, studied explosive grapnel sweeps; these sank four or five U-boats in the First World War. A similar approach featured a string of 70 lb (32 kg) charges on a floating cable, fired electrically; an unimpressed Admiral Edward Evans considered any U-boat sunk by it deserved to be.