Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo

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Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo

The Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo was the United States Navy’s anti-ship weapon adopted in 1910. It was the first torpedo made by a foreign company (Whitehead & Co. in the United Kingdom) and later produced in Newport, Rhode Island. It could be loaded with different speeds and ranges before firing.

Key features
- Hot-running design: powered by heated air, unlike earlier cold-running Whitehead torpedoes.
- Variable speed and range:
- 40 knots for 1,000 yards (high speed)
- 36 knots for 2,000 yards (medium)
- 27 knots for 4,000 yards (low)
- The speed and range were set in the torpedo tube before launch.

Production and service
- About 500 units were built by the Naval Torpedo Station and Vickers Limited.
- Used on destroyers, torpedo boats, and other small ships.
- Overshadowed by Bliss-Leavitt torpedoes; by 1922, older US torpedoes were replaced with newer designs.

Specifications (selected)
- Mass: 1,452 pounds; Length: 204 inches; Diameter: 17.7 inches
- Warhead: 200 pounds of wet guncotton
- Detonation: War Nose Mk 5 contact exploder
- Engine: 4-cylinder reciprocating
- Maximum speed: 27–40 knots
- Guidance: Gyroscope
- Launch platforms: Battleships, torpedo boats, and submarines

See also
- Bliss-Leavitt Mark 7 torpedo (its successor)