Draft:Aerial torpedo

Torpedo aeri
Production history
Designer	Josep Belmonte
Manufacturer	Josep Belmonte
Specifications
Mass	6 kg (proyectil)
Length	70 cm (proyectil)

The Torpedo aeri (Spanish: Torpedo aire) was a missile prototype devised by Republican corporal Josep Belmonte in 1937. After the war, fearing that the plans would fall into Francoist hands, Belmonte donated his invention to the United States Consulate. Despite being considered the first aerial rocket for military purposes in history, Franco's forces had already put the ALAS rocket into practice on February 22, 1937 in the Oviedo sector.

Development

The inventor of the Torpedo aeri, Josep Belmonte Cañellas, was a corporal, security guard and Republican driver who participated in the defense of Barcelona during the uprising of July 19, participating in the transport section of Fortifications and Works until the end of 1936, where, in addition, - according to his statements - he renounced the officer promotion to focus on the self-taught development of the missile. Although the exact date of the first development of the Torpedo aeri is unknown, it is believed to have been indirectly influenced by research being carried out in Europe and the United States during the 1920s and 1930s.

The most logical date for the development of the project is between the beginning of 1937, when Belmonte abandoned the front, and August of the same year, when there is evidence of a definitive version. During these eight months, Belmonte and his brother carried out the observation, development and construction tasks in a workshop in Plaza de Lesseps in Barcelona, having already planned and studied the possibilities previously. During this period, he was denied official assistance by the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Ministry of War, given his status as a corporal and his lack of experience with handling explosives. Although he was offered permission to take official tests, this would be deducted from his salary, so he refused the alternative. Belmonte carried out, however, unofficial tests in the Port of Vallcarca de Garraf, of which eight photographs are preserved. On August 20, 1937, once the construction was completed, Belmonte sent a letter to the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia Lluís Companys asking for "moral and material help" to carry out the project. It is unknown if Companys read the letter or if the request was heeded, but it is known that the device never saw use in combat.

Before the war ended, the torpedo had sparked interest among both American and Soviet spies. The latter sent an offer to Belmonte to work in Moscow, but he rejected the offer due to having to travel and because of his suspicion of Stalin. At the end of the war, while Belmonte suffered continuous arrests for anonymous accusations, he sent a letter from Montjuïc Prison to her wife urging her to send all the documents and plans of her invention to the United States Consulate. It is unknown whether it was later used by American troops or whether they used the prototype to adapt it to future rockets used in World War II.

Design

The design of the torpedo would have been extended between December 1936 and August 1937, when Belmonte presented his report by letter to the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Lluís Companys. However, the theoretical design of the rocket could have been hatched months earlier. In his memory, the inventor highlighted the simplicity, lightness and cheapness of the materials, as well as the ease of their production cost. The main projectile, designated by Belmonte as "combat", was divided into three parts: the body, the chamber and the stabilizers. The body was made up of a cylinder with a 0.5 mm thick plate and 70 cm long, with a copper fuze of around 75 mm. Inside the body was a 2 kg cast bomb in the shape of a pineapple grenade. The tube-shaped chamber covered the anterior cylinder. The stabilizers were three iron fins at the back about 20 cm long. The weight of the projectile would reach about 6 kg.

The platform, called "trigger device" by Belmonte, was a metal structure on two wheels into which the different projectiles were introduced, formed by a rectangular guide that propelled the rocket through a fuse. The fuse system was designed to be wind, snow or rain proof, as well as to keep the user away from the propellant in the event of an explosion. After ignition of the fuse, the projectile would reach around 700 km/h, and would travel in a straight line until the propulsion decreased. At this moment, it would descend according to the angle at which it had been launched. The explosion would be produced by percussion of the internal fuze. In the event that the mechanism suffered a mishap, and the initial explosion did not occur, another fuse ensured the total detonation of the device.

Features

The torpedo's function was purely offensive, except for its anti-aircraft mode. Although the main prototype was based on the "combat" projectile - intended for ground targets - Belmonte theorized different uses for the torpedo. Among the projectile variants were an anti-aircraft rocket, an "incendiary projectile", a 20 kg projectile with a range of 10 km, and a marine torpedo. In the case of its function as anti-aircraft, the design would not be viable, since air guidance devices would be necessary to reach moving targets. The incendiary bomb, for its part, would be composed of flammable liquid and would be effective against infantry or other ground targets, since its explosion would occur by contact.

References

• Gesalí, David; Íñiguez, David (2003). "El "Torpedo Aeri": Un coet per la República". Ebre 38 (in Catalan) (1): 37–46. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
• Pagès, Pelai (2008). La Comissió de la Indústria de Guerra de Catalunya (1936-1938) (in Catalan). Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat. ISBN 9788472028975.
• Molina, Lucas; Manrique, José María (2011). Armas y uniformes de la Guerra Civil española. Madrid: Tikal. ISBN 9788499280769.
• Sàpiens (22 May 2012). "Els documents del coet de la República catalana". Sàpiens.cat (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
• Finestres, Jordi (June 2012). "El coet de combat de la República Catalana". Sàpiens (in Catalan) (117).