The Mark 23 torpedo was a

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

-launched anti-surface ship

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

designed and built by the

Naval Torpedo Station The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is the United States Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapons ...

for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was essentially a

Mark 14 torpedo The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II. This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war. It was supplemented by the Mark 18 elec ...

, modified via the removal of its low-speed, long-range setting, leaving the high-speed, short-range feature in place. It was developed with the high-speed feature of the

in mind, as earlier in the war, the low-speed feature of the Mark 14 was rarely used. However, during the latter stages of the war, fewer targets and better tactics necessitated firing from longer ranges and the Mark 14, with its low-speed, long-range feature, became the preferred weapon. Many of the Mark 23s were scrapped or converted to Mark 14s, while other units were cannibalized for spare parts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mark 23 torpedo Torpedoes Torpedoes of the United States Unmanned underwater vehicles World War II weapons of the United States

See also

References