The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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| Dimensions
|
21" by 21'7" 53.3cm by 6.579m |
| Weight |
3452 lbs 1566 kg |
| Range | 5000 yards (4570m) at 45.5 knots 7000 yards (6400m) at 41 knots |
| Warhead | 805 lbs Torpex 365 kg Torpex |
| Propulsion | Kerosene-air burner-cycle semi-diesel four-cylinder radial
wet heater |
The Mark VIII was first accepted in September 1932 following a
design process that compared favorably with that of the
problematic U.S. Mark 14, which the
Mark VIII exceeded in most performance measures. Depth keeping
problems had been ironed out and development of a magnetic
detonator had been abandoned in favor of the completely reliable
Type 3 contact detonator. The torpedo was supplied to submarines
and motor torpedo
boats
and was the most heavily used British torpedo of the war. Some
3732 were expended by
September 1944, which was 56.4% of the total British torpedo
expenditure.
There were
several slightly different versions, some optimized for external
torpedo tubes and others capable of running as deep as 75 feet
(23m)
for antisubmarine use.
The Mark VIII remained in service as late as
1983.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2009, 2015-2016 by Kent G. Budge. Index
