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Picked up this today

Gspragge

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I presume this is some kind of Arial flare or something like that. Any one know ?

Has a large metal weight in the end marked surplus stock, no other markings.
 

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Do you have any measurements? It looks like a Signal Underwater Sound used by the Canadian navy. I can't remember the Mk and model number right now. There were a couple of variants including full charge and reduced charge. I will see if I can dig up some info and photos tomorrow.
 
3 inches in diameter and 15 inches long. It looks like the air flow pulls the end off piece which pulls the safety device off of the firing mech. The front inside part is a solid metal weight.

Not something I collect, so it is available ~
 
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I don't have access to my photos right now, but I did some reading. The Canadian Navy used several models of Signal Underwater Sound (SUS).

The Mk 400 Series were 7.62cm in diameter and were 38.10cm long. The Mod 0 weighed 2.041kg and Mods 1 to 3 weighed 3.084kg. The Mk 400 had a TNT main charge and were the operational item.

The Mk 401 Series matched the Mk 400 Series in size and weight but did not have the TNT main charge. They did have a detonator, lead in charge, and a booster. These were known as reduced charge and were used for training.

There was also a Mk 410 (operational) and Mk 411 (training) item.

The SUS was used in conjunction with electronic sonobuoys to provide a source of acoustic energy for echo-ranging for detecting submarines. They could be launched from aircraft or thrown by hand from surface vessels. The SUS uses a hydrostatic fuzing system. There was a completely inert Dummy version that was used for training and launcher fitment testing. I have never seen the dummy version.
 
image.jpgThis is a diagram of a reduced charge version. You can see the item is very similar is size and shape to your item.
 
Mine must be a practice type then, weighted and it does rather look like the fuze would be set off by water pressure as it would be pressed in at some point as there is only a small spring and the rubber seal holding it out.
 
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