Pressurised water jackets in magazine protection

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Cohaagen
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Pressurised water jackets in magazine protection

Post by Cohaagen »

As a UK citizen I have been reading through the former British Public Records Office (now bogusly known as the National Archives) searching for references to the use of pressurised water to quench magazine fires. Apparently RCNC data was used in the 1950s to develop flash-proof storage with venting (way before the M1 Abrams) for the Leyland Chieftain prototype and subsequent production models.

Basically, the combustible charges were kept below the turret ring in magazines surrounded by pressurised water, meaning that any penetration of the hull would also mean soaking the bag charges. Blow-out panels were also provided.

Is there any public domain document that gives any information regarding pressurised-water suppression of magazine fires? I mean, we're talking 1950s-era here.
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hammy
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Re: Pressurised water jackets in magazine protection

Post by hammy »

you cant pressurise water , it is a (virtually) incompressible medium , the volume stays (virtually) the same no matter what the pressure .

That makes it an excellent hydraulic fliud , and the fact that it cannot catch fire offsets its corrosive qualities , and this is why water was used as the hydraulic fluid in battleships turrets and barbettes .

As in the simple water filled fire extinguisher , if you put a CO2 cartridge into a closed vessel then you can push the water out to where you chose , air would be less good because it supports combustion .
A lot of tanks have fire suppression systems fitted .

I suppose you could arrange cartridges in tubular cells in a tank of water , but that would be dreadfully heavy , a cubic metre per ton .
Did the Chieftan fire seperate ammunition ? I thought all tank rounds were fixed , charge and projectile in one piece , like a rifle cartridge .
You arent talking about the Abbot S P Howitzer , very like a tank ?

In ships , the magazines are below the waterline , so you simply open the flooding valves , and there are overhead sprayers as well as plain inlet pipes .
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Cohaagen
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Re: Pressurised water jackets in magazine protection

Post by Cohaagen »

I didn't say anything about compressibility, I was referring to pressure. Water can be held under pressure. Compare a leak at three feet below the surface of the sea to one a thousand feet under.

I've managed to find through further reading that bag charges in Chieftain were contained in jackets using a pressurised glycol/water mix. The Iranians found this system worked very well - if the hull was penetrated, resulting in a fire, there would be a delay of several minutes before the tank brewed up, allowing them to escape. The charges could be seen smouldering, giving them warning to bail out. In any other tank of the period the explosion would be almost instantaneous.
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Re: Pressurised water jackets in magazine protection

Post by Legend »

Yeah! Like putting water into a bottle, putting the cap on, and squeezing! The moment you take the top off all of that water is going to fly out!
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Re: Pressurised water jackets in magazine protection

Post by Bgile »

hammy wrote: I suppose you could arrange cartridges in tubular cells in a tank of water , but that would be dreadfully heavy , a cubic metre per ton .
Did the Chieftan fire seperate ammunition ? I thought all tank rounds were fixed , charge and projectile in one piece , like a rifle cartridge .
You arent talking about the Abbot S P Howitzer , very like a tank ?
Some tanks or assault guns had two piece rounds. The later models of the Sherman tank had water around the shells.
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tommy303
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Re: Pressurised water jackets in magazine protection

Post by tommy303 »

Some tanks or assault guns had two piece rounds.
The Soviet 122mm tank gun and the German 12,8cm gun of the Jagdtiger come to mind.

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