Bliss-Leavitt Mark 7 torpedo

Bliss-Leavitt Mark 7 torpedo
Bliss-Leavitt Mark 7 torpedo outside the torpedo factory on Goat Island, Newport, Rhode Island, August 1913.
Type Anti-surface ship torpedo[1]
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1912–1945[1]
Used by  United States Navy
Wars World War II
Production history
Designer Frank McDowell Leavitt
Designed 1911[1]
Manufacturer E. W. Bliss Company
No. built 240[2]
Variants Short Mark 7 torpedo
Mod A[2]
Mod 2A
Mod 5A
Specifications
Weight 1628 pounds[1]
Length 204 inches[1]
Diameter 17.7 inches (45 centimeters)[1]
Effective firing range 3500-6000 yards[1]
Warhead Mk 7 Mod 5, TNT or Torpex
Warhead weight 326 pounds[1]
Detonation
mechanism
 Mk 3 Mod 1 contact exploder[1]
Engine Turbine[1]
Speed 35 knots
Guidance
system
 Gyroscope[1]
Launch
platform
 Destroyers and submarines[1]

The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 7 torpedo was a Bliss-Leavitt torpedo developed and produced by the E. W. Bliss Company and the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island in 1911. The Mark 7 was a major step in the evolution of the modern torpedo.[1] This innovative design featured the use of steam, generated from water sprayed into the combustion pot along with the fuel. The resulting mixture dramatically boosted the efficiency of the torpedo, leading to markedly improved performance.[3] The Mark 7 torpedo was issued to the US Navy fleet in 1912 and remained in service through World War II. This torpedo was also experimented on as an aircraft-launched weapon in the early 1920s.[2]

Mark 7 being dropped by a DT-2 torpedo plane during trials in the mid-1920s

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Torpedo History: Bliss-Leavitt Torpedo Mk7". Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "United States of America, Torpedoes Pre-World War II". Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  3. ↑ Newpower, Anthony (2006). Iron Men And Tin Fish: The Race to Build a Better Torpedo During World War II. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 19. ISBN 0-275-99032-X.

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