The Mark 14 was the Toledo that the US NAVY used throughout the second world war and beyond. It was designed in the 1930's and its initial deployment was not very successful. It had several severe flaws that were not discovered until 1942. Its early use in WW2 was a disaster with most torpedos missing their targets or hitting the target and not exploding.
Initial Mark 14 production was very slow and very expensive. A bizarre set of budgetary constraints was put on the program and almost no testing was done. The US NAVY was prohibited from testing even when the war started because they did not have enough torpedos and they were ridiculously expensive. The first real testing didn't start until June of 1942. At first they only discovered that the torpedos were running much too low due to a design flaw. The weapon would pass beneath the ship and not explode. They fixed that then discovered that the contact detonator was flawed. They fixed a total of four major flaws before the Mark 14 torpedo became dependable. Much controversy remains because sailers were put in battle conditions with a weapon that did not work. American lives were lost in fruitless endeavours before the flaws were fixed.
Also in the family was the Mark 15 torpedo designed for a ship launch and the Mark 13 torpedo designed to drop from aircraft.
27 авг 2024
