Torpedo photos & information
Whitehead Mk 2 & Mk 3
The Whitehead Mk 2 and Mk 3 weapons were actually a surface ship design adapted later for submarine use. They were powered by a three-cylinder radial engine run on compressed air. They were so similar in configuration that it was hard to tell them apart. Indeed, they had the exact same operational parameters. However, the big difference is that the Mk3 was the first USN torpedo to use a gyroscope for azimuth control. This reduced deviation from left or right of planned track from 24 yards to just 8 yards.
Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.
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Photo NH 90188 courtesy of the NHHC.
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U.S. Navy photo.
Navy photos of a Mk 3 weapon being loaded into the USS A-2 (Submarine No. 3) at Naval Station Cavite, Philippines, circa 1912. The sailor manhandling the weapon down the hatch gives a good sense of scale to the torpedo, and illustrates how short the mid-body was compared to later torpedoes. Our early submarines were restricted to the use of these short weapons because they were the only ones that would fit inside the boats and the tubes they used. That would quickly change.
Bliss-Leavitt Mk 4 Mod 1
Bliss-Leavitt Mk 6
Bliss-Leavitt Mk 7
Bliss-Leavitt Mk 9 Mod 1B
Bliss-Leavitt/BuOrd Mk 10 Mod 3
BuOrd Mk 14
Westinghouse Mk 18 Mod 1
BuOrd Mk 23
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Ric Hedman & David Johnston
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