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National
Archives
#80-G-413484. Cropped by author.
Dimensions
|
21" by 24'0" 53.3cm by 7.315m |
Weight |
3841 lbs 1742 kg |
Range | 6000 yards (5500m) at 45 knots 10,000 yards (9150m) at 33.5 knots 15,000 yards (13,700m) at 26.5 knots |
Warhead | 825 lbs Torpex 374 kg Torpex |
Propulsion | Alcohol-air two-stage impulse turbine |
Production |
About 9700 between 1940 and 1944 |
The Mark 15 was the standard destroyer
torpedo during the war. It initially suffered from the same
detonator
problems as the Mark 14: Two
destroyers put 16 torpedoes into Hornet in October 1942 but
still failed to scuttle her. Its depth control was even worse than
the Mark 14, with test shots actually passing under the target
nets set up by frustrated destroyermen. Like the Mark 14, it
became much more
reliable later in the war, but never came close to matching the Long Lance.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2009, 2016 by Kent G. Budge. Index