Depending on one's sources it may not be obvious, but depth charges are not (and never were) weapons used against surface targets. They're anti-submarine bombs. Some video games will have you try to blow up boats or ships with them, and that might be
technically possible but it's incredibly impractical and wildly off-purpose.
Because they are bombs, it's trivial to figure out their damage (see Explosions, Basic Set 414-415) based on the amount of explosive they contain, which you can probably dig up with a little search engine effort (and might find on Wikipedia). The Explosions In Other Environments box on 415 also covers the adjustment for blast damage underwater.
Rules for resolving an attack with them, or things like fuse reliability or sink rate, I don't think are likely to be readily available.
I don't think the video game staple of mines that are hastily dropped to deter or damage a close pursuit, as opposed to mines that are laid in advance to block areas or cause damage to non-specific future passers-by, has much real existence in history. (Though I think I've seen listings for an infantry model. Probably never actually used.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
Can you describe Fire Barrels, or provide a link, for people unfamiliar with the franchise? I'm pretty sure they weren't widely used under that name.
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Here's the fairly quick (and only slightly informative) description I found.