The Mk 14 Submarine-Launched Torpedo: Four Decades of Service

In the early years of World War II, few would have predicted that Mk 14 submarine-launched torpedo would play a major role in defeating the Japanese naval and merchant fleets. Initially a problem-plagued and unreliable weapon, the Mk 14 torpedo was the source of much ill will between the Navys operational forces and weapon developers. But once its problems were corrected, the Newport- developed Mk 14 torpedo redeemed itself and went on to become the single most destructive weapon used by the U.S. Navy during the war. The torpedo was a major innovation it provided a depth-controlled self-propelled underwater projectile that was difficult to detect and that exploded below the waterline, dramatically increasing warhead effectiveness because it filled the target with water instead of air. Ultimately, the Mk 14 torpedo proved to be a highly reliable and effectiveness weapon that played a major role in the outcome of World War II. The 50,000-man submarine force represented less than 2 percent of the U.S. Navys complement yet, fleet submarines, employing Mk 14 torpedoes as their principal weapon, accounted for 55 percent of Japans maritime losses. These submarines decimated the Japanese merchant fleet, sinking more than 5 million tons of shipping. THis highly effective campaign deprived the island empire of the food and raw materials vitally needed to prosecute the war and drove Japan to the brink of strategic defeat.