Torpedo Service
Torpedo petty officer,
TU
was responsible for the torpedo service. That included mines and equipment
for handling of these weapons. TU was chief of operations in the torpedo
room located forward the escape trunk.
To his help he had two torpedo men, ships number 56 and 57. They were
preparing the torpedoes for launching. The weapons were
handled with help of a lifting beam which could be given
certain angles, moved atwartships, lifted and lowered using
hand operated tackle.
The boat had three launching tubes fore. The original design of the boat
also included a rear launch tube on the after deck.
U3. Loading of a torpedo. Photo U3 archives.
U3. Torpedoman Rune Nilsson at starboard upper tube. Photo Rune Nilsson
After a trials shooting the launching submarine often had to recover the torpedo. In those cases a special crane on deck forward the fin was utilized. This operation was risky and required advanced seamanship.
U4 Torpedo recovery. Photo U3 archives.