Seacat performance

[uk 75]

We have discussed Seaslug performance in some detail and speculated about what Seacat 2 might have been like, but original Seacat has not received attention.
Widely fitted on British warships during the 1960s and 1970s its only combat use was during the Falklands war in 1982 where 40mm guns might have been more useful.
Does anyone have any Seacat info or experience to share?

 

[Kiltonge]

Some amusing anecdotes here:

The Dad Files (2) Things NOT to do with Seacats.

(For a definition of ‘Seacat’ in this context, see previous blog). A lot of my naval career (such as it was - it only lasted seven years) had to do with Seacats. Sometime in the late ‘70s,...

yearningblue.weebly.com

 

[glmm]

Not sure if this is the proper thread, but is directly related to the performance issues….. I haven’t been unable to understand how the blindfire versions worked.
GWS-20 is easy, manual guidance all the way.
GWS-21 added radar-cued manual control for night and bad-weather use, but still with CLOS guidance. How would the missile be flown manually with no view of target?
Also, on CLOS/SACLOS. GWS.22 supposedly added a SACLOS guidance mode, while GWS.24 would had fully automatic engagement capability. However, I haven’t been able to find any contenporary info on this SACLOS mode being available.

Also, ¿did any other variant has SACLOS capability? For example, on Australian DEs

 

[SeaslugMk2]

AIUI GWS 22 and 24 used an MRS3 director which (should, at least,) be tracking the target.

SRJ

 

[stevebond1990]

I found some colour footage of a RN Seacat launcher being fired at target drones on Youtube, it shows both the the loading of a fresh missile, the aiming apparatus (which I was really not expecting to be designed the way t was) and the sort of drunken weave of a launched missile spiraling up to the target. I'm not sure about the policy for posting videos so I'm going to put spaces in the URL.

https:// www. youtube. com/watch? v=oDGkTeVxsOs