Mark 43 torpedo

Mark 43 torpedo

Mark 43 torpedo mounted on an AD Skyraider
Type Antisubmarine torpedo[1]
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1951–57[1]
Used by United States Navy
Royal Navy
Production history
Designer Brush Development Company[1]
Naval Ordnance Test Station Pasadena
Designed 1950[1]
Manufacturer Brush Electronics Company[1]
Produced 1951–59
Number built 5000[1]
Variants Mark 43 Mod 1[1]
Mark 43 Mod 3[1]
Specifications
Weight 265 pounds (Mod 3)[1]
Length 91.5 inches[1]
Diameter 10 inches[1]

Effective firing range 4500 yards (Mod 3)[1]
(6-minute search duration)
Warhead Mk 100, HBX (Mod 3)[1]
Warhead weight 54 pounds (Mod 3)[1]
Detonation
mechanism
Mk 19 Mod 13 contact exploder[1]

Engine Electric[1]
Speed 21 knots (Mod 3)[1]
Guidance
system
Helix search[1]
Launch
platform
Helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and surface ships[1]

The 10" Mark 43 torpedo was the first and smallest of the United States Navy light-weight anti-submarine torpedoes. This electrically propelled 10-inch (25-cm) torpedo was 92 inches (2.3 m) long and weighed 265 pounds (120 kg).[2] Described as "a submersible guided missile",[3] the torpedo was designed for air or surface launch. The Mod 0 configuration was designed for launch from helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft, and the Mod 1 configuration was for helicopters only. Both were electrically driven and deep-diving, but had relatively short range. They were classified as obsolete in the 1960s.[2]

The Royal Navy purchased fifty examples of the Mark 43 in favour of an improved version of their 18 inch Mark 30 "Dealer B"

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Jolie, E.W. (15 September 1978). "A Brief History of US Navy Torpedo Development: Torpedo Mk43". Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 Kurak 1966, p. 145.
  3. "Navy Builds Deadlier Anti-Sub Torpedo". Sarasota Journal. Lindsay Newspapers. January 16, 1958. p. 17.

Bibliography

  • Kurak, Steve (September 1966). "The U. S. Navy's Torpedo Inventory". United States Naval Institute Proceedings. 
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