A nuclear depth bomb is the nuclear equivalent of a conventional depth charge, and can be used in

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 ar ...

for attacking submerged

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

, and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

all had nuclear depth bombs in their arsenals at one point. Due to the use of a nuclear warhead of much greater explosive power than that of the conventional depth charge, the nuclear depth bomb considerably increases the likelihood (to the point of near certainty) of the destruction of the attacked submarine. Some aircraft were cleared for using these, such as the P2V Neptune, but none were used against any submarines. Because of this much greater power some nuclear depth bombs feature a variable yield, whereby the explosive energy of the device may be varied between a low setting for use in shallow or coastal waters, and a high yield for deep water open-sea use. This is intended to minimise damage to peripheral areas and merchant

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

. During the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, Britain's naval task force carried 31 nuclear depth charges. HMS ''Hermes'' had 18, HMS ''Invincible'' had 12 and RFA ''Regent'' had one by mid-May 1982. The ships were within the "total exclusion zone" imposed by Britain around the Falkland Islands. Details of the number of devices per ship were contained in a file marked "Top Secret Atomic" found at the UK National Archives by media outlet '' Declassified UK''.''Declassified UK''
Richard Norton-Taylor, UK deployed 31 nuclear weapons during Falklands War, 3 January 2022. All nuclear anti-submarine weapons were withdrawn from service by China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States in or around 1990. They were replaced by conventional weapons such as the Mk 54 Torpedo that provided ever-increasing accuracy and range as anti-submarine warfare technology improved.

List of nuclear depth bombs

* RPK-6 Vodopad/RPK-7 Veter (1981–present) * Ikara * WE.177 (1966–1998) * Mark 90 nuclear bomb (1952–1960) * W34 for Mk 101 Lulu (1958–1971) * W34 for Mk 105 Hotpoint (1958–1965) *

B57 nuclear bomb The B57 nuclear bomb was a tactical nuclear weapon developed by the United States during the Cold War. Development began at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1960 to meet a requirement for a multi-purpose weapon, suitable for use as a nuclear ...

(1963–1993) * B90 nuclear bomb (cancelled) * W44 for RUR-5 ASROC (1961–1989) * W55 for UUM-44 SUBROC (1964–1989) * W89 for UUM-125 Sea Lance (cancelled)

References

{{Nuclear-weapon-stub

List of nuclear depth bombs

See also

References