J. E. MacDonnell, The Blind Eye, 1961
Australia
HMAS Wind Rode
J, K & N Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Armament has been modified, one torpedo has been replaced with an experimental depth charge. (See below)
Note: Part way through the novel there is a reference to the events of 'Command' (1958) which confirms this is the same ship that took part in the previous novel.
United Kingdom
HMS Antelope (H36)
A Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service (1930 - 1946)
Note: In the real world this ships combat history was in European and West African waters. It never ventured into the Indian Ocean where the novel is set.
Unnamed
'Battleship', class not specified
No other details provided.
Fictional Naval Weapon
Unnamed
Experimental Depth Charge
Appearance: "...looks to me like an outsize torpedo warhead..."
Warhead: "more than two thousand pounds of... ...torpex"
Launched from a torpedo tube using cordite charges.
The ship launching the weapon needs to be travelling at 30knots to avoid being damaged by the weapon when it detonates.
Note: This weapon may have been based on the Mark X depth charge which used Minol rather than Torpex. The warhead size is comparible to around half the explosive load of the Tallboy bomb.
Japan
Various Unnamed warships.
Plot summary: Operational tests of experimental weapons are complicated things, especially if the enemy does not provide the right targets.
Note: For details of other books by this author covered in the thread see the entry for: 'Collision Course' (1964)
