The Mark 27 torpedo was the first of 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 ...
19-inch (48-cm)
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
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, ...
es.
[Kurak, September 1966, p.145] This electrically-propelled torpedo was 125 inches (3.175 m) long and weighed 1174 pounds (534 kg).
The torpedo employed a
passive acoustic guidance system and was intended for both submarine and surface targets.
Nicknamed "Cutie" by submarine crews, the Mark 27 entered service in 1943 as a defensive weapon. The torpedo was classified as obsolete in the 1960s.
The Mark 27 was essentially a
Mark 24 mine which had been modified for submarine launching in a 21-inch (53 cm) submerged
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
by the addition of 1" (25 mm) wooden guide studs mounted on the torpedo's outer shell.
/ref>
Modifications and improvements
The Mark 27 Mod 4 torpedo was designed by the Ordnance Research Laboratory of Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...
in 1946 as an improved version of the Mark 27 torpedo.umbilical cable
An umbilical cable or umbilical is a cable and/or hose that supplies required consumables to an apparatus, like a rocket, or to a person, such as a diver or astronaut. It is named by analogy with an umbilical cord. An umbilical can, for example, ...
, this weapon was in service on submarines for about ten years. It was withdrawn from service use in 1960 with the introduction of the Mark 37 torpedo
The Mark 37 torpedo is a torpedo with electrical propulsion, developed for the US Navy after World War II. It entered service with the US Navy in the early 1950s, with over 3,300 produced. It was phased out of service key with the US Navy during ...
.
See also
* Mark 24 mine
Notes
References
*
{{US Navy torpedoes
World War II weapons of the United States
Torpedoes of the United States
Cold War anti-submarine weapons of the United States
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1943