Mark 23 torpedo

Last updated
Mark 23 torpedo

Mark 14 torpedo side view and interior mechanisms, Torpedoes Mark 14 and 23 Types, OP 635, March 24 1945.jpg

Mark 14 torpedo side view and interior mechanisms; the Mark 14 and Mark 23 were physically identical and shared the same maintenance manual [1]
Type Anti-surface ship torpedo [2]
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1943–1946 [2]
Used by United States Navy
Wars World War II
Production history
Designer Naval Torpedo Station Newport
Designed 1943 [2]
Manufacturer Naval Torpedo Station Newport
Naval Torpedo Station Keyport
Naval Ordnance Plant St. Louis
No. built 9600 [2]
Specifications
Weight 3,259 pounds [2]
Length 246 inches [2]
Diameter 21 inches [2]

Effective firing range 4,500 yards [2]
Warhead Mk 16 Mod 6, HBX [2]
Warhead weight 643 pounds [2]
Detonation
mechanism
Mk 6 Mod 13 contact exploder [2]

Engine Turbine [2]
Speed 46.3 knots [2]
Guidance
system
Gyroscope [2]
Launch
platform
Submarines [2]
MK 23 denizalti torpidosu.JPG
MK 23 denizalti torpidosu (2).JPG

The Mark 23 torpedo was a submarine-launched anti-surface ship torpedo designed and built by the Naval Torpedo Station for the United States Navy in World War II. It was essentially a Mark 14 torpedo, modified via the removal of its low-speed, long-range setting, leaving the high-speed, short-range feature in place. [1]

Submarine Watercraft capable of independent operation underwater

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. It is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, as well as medium-sized or smaller vessels, such as the midget submarine and the wet sub.

Anti-surface warfare is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's surface ships. Before the adoption of the submarine and naval aviation, all naval warfare consisted of anti-surface warfare. The distinct concept of an anti-surface warfare capability emerged after World War II, and literature on the subject as a distinct discipline is inherently dominated by the dynamics of the Cold War.

Torpedo self-propelled underwater weapon

A modern torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it.

It was developed with the high-speed feature of the Mark 14 torpedo in mind, as earlier in the war, the low-speed feature of the Mark 14 was rarely used. However, during the latter stages of the war, fewer targets and better tactics necessitated firing from longer ranges and the Mark 14, with its low-speed, long-range feature, became the preferred weapon. Many of the Mark 23s were scrapped or converted to Mark 14s, while other units were cannibalized for spare parts. [2]

Mark 14 torpedo

The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II. This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war. It was supplemented by the Mark 18 electric torpedo in the last two years of the war. Nonetheless, the Mark 14 played a major role in the devastating blow U.S. Navy submarines dealt to the Japanese naval and merchant marine forces during the Pacific War.

Related Research Articles

RUR-5 ASROC Anti-submarine missile system

The RUR-5 ASROC is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed on over 200 USN surface ships, specifically cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. The ASROC has been deployed on scores of warships of many other navies, including Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of China, Greece, Pakistan and others.

Cruiser Type of large warships

A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.

Torpedo boat small and fast naval vessel armed with torpedoes

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other slow and heavily armed ships by using speed, agility, and the power of their torpedo weapons. A number of inexpensive torpedo boats attacking en masse could overwhelm a larger ship's ability to fight them off using its large but cumbersome guns. An inexpensive fleet of torpedo boats could pose a threat to much larger and more expensive fleets of capital ships, albeit only in the coastal areas to which their small size and limited fuel load restricted them.

PT boat type of fast attack craft

A PT boat was a torpedo-armed fast attack vessel (MTB) used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters.

<i>Illinois</i>-class battleship class of pre-dreadnought battleships

The Illinois class was a group of three pre-dreadnought battleships of the United States Navy commissioned at the beginning of the 20th century. The three ships, Illinois, Alabama, and Wisconsin, were built between 1896 and 1901. They were transitional ships; they incorporated advances over preceding designs, including the first modern gun turrets for the main battery, and new rapid-firing secondary guns, but they were also the last American battleships to feature dated technologies like fire-tube boilers and Harvey armor. They were armed with a main battery of four 13-inch (330 mm) guns in two twin turrets, supported by a secondary battery of fourteen 6 in (150 mm) guns. The ships had a designed speed of 16 knots, though they exceeded that speed by a significant margin.

Type 93 torpedo 61 cm ship-launched torpedo

The Type 93 was a 61 cm (24 in)-diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the Long Lance by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given it after the war by Samuel Eliot Morison, the chief historian of the U.S. Navy, who spent much of the war in the Pacific Theater. In Japanese references, the term Sanso gyorai is also used, in reference to its propulsion system. It was the most advanced naval torpedo in the world at the time.

<i>Clemson</i>-class destroyer ship class

The Clemson class was a series of 156 destroyers which served with the United States Navy from after World War I through World War II.

<i>Wickes</i>-class destroyer ship class

The Wickes-class destroyers were a class of 111 destroyers built by the United States Navy in 1917–19. Along with the 6 preceding Caldwell-class and 156 subsequent Clemson-class destroyers, they formed the "flush-deck" or "four-stack" type. Only a few were completed in time to serve in World War I, including USS Wickes, the lead ship of the class.

Motor Torpedo Boat type of fast torpedo boat

Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy. The 'motor' in the formal designation, referring to the use of petrol engines, was to distinguish them from the majority of other naval craft that used steam turbines or reciprocating steam engines.

Mark 13 torpedo air-launched torpedo

The Mark 13 torpedo was the U.S. Navy's most common aerial torpedo of World War II. It was the first American torpedo to be originally designed for launching from aircraft only. They were also used on PT boats.

<i>Farragut</i>-class destroyer (1934) class of eight 1,365-ton destroyers

The Farragut-class destroyers were a class of eight 1,365-ton destroyers in the United States Navy and the first US destroyers of post-World War I design. Their construction, along with the Porter class, was authorized by Congress on 29 April 1916, but funding was delayed considerably. Limited to 1,500 tons standard displacement by the provisions of the London Naval Treaty of 1930, the ships were laid down beginning in 1932 and were completed by 1935. After 12 years since the last of the previous class of American destroyers was commissioned, the Farraguts were commissioned in 1934 and 1935.

<i>Bagley</i>-class destroyer class of U.S. destroyers

The Bagley class of eight destroyers was built for the United States Navy. They were part of a series of USN destroyers limited to 1,500 tons standard displacement by the London Naval Treaty and built in the 1930s. All eight ships were ordered and laid down in 1935 and subsequently completed in 1937. Their layout was based on the concurrently-built Gridley class destroyer design and was similar to the Benham class as well; all three classes were notable for including sixteen 21 inch torpedo tubes, the heaviest torpedo armament ever on US destroyers. They retained the fuel-efficient power plants of the Mahan-class destroyers, and thus had a slightly lower speed than the Gridleys. However, they had the extended range of the Mahans, 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) farther than the Gridleys. The Bagley class destroyers were readily distinguished visually by the prominent external trunking of the boiler uptakes around their single stack.

Mark 37 torpedo torpedo

The Mark 37 torpedo is a torpedo with electrical propulsion, developed for the US Navy after World War II. It entered service with the US Navy in the early 1950s, with over 3,300 produced. It was phased out of service with the US Navy during the 1970s, and the stockpiles were sold to foreign navies.

Aerial torpedo naval torpedo designed to be launched by aircraft or helicopters

An aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, a torpedo, that an aircraft—fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter—drops in the water, after which the weapon propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited use. Aerial torpedoes are generally smaller and lighter than submarine- and surface-launched torpedoes.

There have been several British 21-inch (533 mm) diameter torpedoes used by the Royal Navy since their first development just before the First World War.

The Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo was a Whitehead torpedo adopted by the United States Navy for use in an anti-surface ship role in 1910. The Mark 5 was the first torpedo to be manufactured by a foreign company, the Whitehead facility in the United Kingdom, and in 1908, by the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island. It was also the first torpedo to allow the firing ship to vary its speed and range.

Mark 11 torpedo

The Mark 11 torpedo was the first American torpedo to be designed totally within the United States Navy without collaboration from industry. It was developed by the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. and the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island. The Mark 11 torpedo was also the first to feature a three-speed setting capability while tube-loaded: high at 46 knots, medium at 34 knots and low at 27 knots. Due to stability problems it was supplemented by the Mark 12 torpedo within two years, which had a 44-knot high speed setting.

The Mark 33 torpedo was the first passive acoustic antisurface ship/antisubmarine homing torpedo intended for the United States Navy to employ a cast aluminum shell. It featured two speeds – high and low, and was meant to be launched from submarines and aircraft.

References