BRITISH HUMAN TORPEDO CHARIOT

Chariot is the name of a type of British human torpedo from the Second World War. A single torpedo of this type was 6.78 m long with a diameter of 533 millimeters. The drive was provided by a single electric motor. The crew consisted of two divers, and the weight of the warhead was up to 300 kilograms. The Chariot torpedoes were clearly influenced by the very successful raid of the Italian unit Decima Flottiglia MAS to the British port of Alexandria, as a result of which two British Royal Navy battleships were severely damaged. The Italians used Maiale-type live torpedoes (another designation: SLC) and it was the wreckage of these torpedoes that became a kind of inspiration for the British. The Chariot torpedoes were based on a conventional 533 mm torpedo, which, however, received ballast tanks and was steered by two crewmen: a helmsman and a diver-mechanic. The first examples of this type of weapon were made in 1942 (Chariot Mk. I), and the last ones at the end of 1944 (Chariot Mk. III). Torpedoes of this type were used for the first time in 1943 during the attack on the seaport of Palermo.