Limbo (weapon)

Limbo
Limbo ASW mortar on HMNZS Taranaki (F148) c1963
A Limbo mortar on HMNZS Taranaki (F148)
TypeAnti-submarine mortar
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1955–1980s
Used byRoyal Navy
Royal Australian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
Libyan Navy
South African Navy
WarsFalklands War
Production history
DesignerAdmiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment
Specifications
Crew3

Shell400 lb depth charge
Calibre12 inches (30 cm)
Barrels3
Effective firing range400 yards (366 m) to 1,000 yards (914 m)
WarheadMinol
Warhead weight94 kilograms (207 lb)
Detonation
mechanism
Proximity and/or time

Guidance
system
Type 170 sonar

Limbo, or Anti Submarine Mortar Mark 10 (A/S Mk.10), was the final development of the forward-throwing anti-submarine weapon Squid, designed during the Second World War[1] and was developed by the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment in the 1950s.[2]

Limbo was installed on the quarterdeck of Royal Navy escort ships from 1955 to the mid-1980s, Australian-built Daring-class destroyer and River-class destroyer escorts. Limbo was widely employed by the Royal Canadian Navy, being incorporated into all destroyer designs from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, including the St. Laurent, Restigouche, Mackenzie, Annapolis and Iroquois classes and the Type 12 President Class frigates built for the South African Navy in the 1960s.

  1. ^ British ASW weapons
  2. ^ Bogart, Charles H. (2010). "An Anti-submarine Weapon: The Limbo Mk NC 10 Mortar". Warship International. XLVII (4): 359–362. ISSN 0043-0374.

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