Some time ago, when we talked about Japan's Type 93 torpedoes, a friend proposed to introduce the ship-borne torpedoes of the major naval countries during World War II, so today we will briefly talk about the main ship-borne air torpedoes of the United States, Japan and Britain. Compared with the huge gap in technology and performance of torpedoes carried by surface ships and submarines, the major aircraft carrier users at that time- the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom did not have a large gap in the performance of ship-borne aerial torpedoes, and they all had brilliant achievements.
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Speaking of the use of carrier-based aircraft for torpedo attacks, it must be mentioned that in October 1940, the British used swordfish attack aircraft to sneak into the Italian port of Taranto, and the British carrier-based aircraft dispatched 21 torpedo aircraft, at the cost of losing 2 and consuming 8 torpedoes and a small number of bombs, they sank and injured 3 battleships of the Italian Navy, directly abolishing half of the strength of the Italian Navy. However, Britain's earliest use of carrier-based aircraft to attack large surface capital warships was not in the Battle of Taranto, but in the "Ballista Operation" in June of the same year, the 12 swordfish attack aircraft of the Royal Navy's "Ark Royal" aircraftcraft attacked the French fleet in the Port of Oran, Algeria, with torpedoes, although the gunfire of the main battleships played a greater role at this time, but the air torpedoes also caused a lot of damage to the French warships.
When the Swordfish attacked the German battleship Bismarck, the torpedo damaged the rudder, preventing Bismarck from escaping back to the French military port. It is worth noting, however, that the Swordfish also damaged the rudders of the battleships Richelieu and Veneto in their attacks against France and Italy. The torpedo used by Swordfish is the MK-XII air torpedo, which has a diameter of 450 mm, its length and speed are unknown (no data were found, and the comment area can be added if the data is found), weighing 702 kg, and the internal charge is 172 kg of TNT explosives. So the highlight of this torpedo was actually the destruction of the rudder of the battleship Bismarck, creating the conditions for the British fleet to directly sink the Bismarck.
The method of attacking the opposing main battleship with an aircraft carrier was also learned by the Japanese, and in 1941, the Japanese also used the same tactics to sneak into Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, directly destroying the main battleships of the US Pacific Fleet. The torpedo used in the Japanese 97 naval attack is the Type 91 aviation torpedo, which was first used in 1931 (2591 in the Imperial Era of Japan, so it is also known as the Type 91), this torpedo is 5.27 meters long, 450 mm in diameter, the total weight of the torpedo is 785 kg, the torpedo warhead is charged 150 kg, with a speed of 36 knots, 42 knots, 44 knots of three gears of adjustment speed, at a speed of 36 knots can have a range of up to 3 kilometers. Due to technical limitations, its maximum delivery speed is limited to 480km/h, and the maximum delivery speed is 50 meters.
Therefore, Japan did not have much satisfaction with the performance of such torpedoes, so it made a breakthrough upgrade in technology, and throughout the Pacific War, all Japanese aviation torpedoes were improved on the basis of the Type 91, with a total of 10 modifications before and after. Among them, the "91-type reform three" type is the most typical, which is the main air-launched torpedo used by the Japanese army in the Pacific War, and there are many improvements compared with the previously produced torpedoes. The torpedo center of gravity was redesigned due to changes in charge and navigation mechanism, and the stabilization rudder and torpedo warhead configuration were modified, and the weight of the warhead was again increased and the throwing speed limit was slightly increased. Its body weight reached 852 kg, the warhead charge reached 240 kg, and the length was stretched to 5.47 meters. The most important thing is that its maximum launch height is raised to 200 meters, and it can be launched at a speed of 648 kilometers per hour. However, the maximum range is limited to 1.5 kilometers and the speed is 42 knots.
Air torpedoes of the United Kingdom and Japan, MK-13 torpedoes of the United States. It is the largest in terms of volume and charge. Take the MK-13 prototype, for example, which has a diameter of 56.9 cm and a torpedo charge of 178 kg. Although the torpedo was successfully tested as early as 1932, it was not delivered to the Navy until 1938, and many of the torpedo problems were not solved, such as sailing to the left, fixed depth failure, propeller damage when entering the water and other failures, as for poor fuze, it is a common disease of air torpedoes in various countries. In the movie "Decisive Battle of Midway", the aircraft of the US carrier-based aircraft dropped this type of torpedo on the Japanese warship, but after hitting the target, it did not detonate but the torpedo hit the fuse.
The U.S. military itself has continuously improved the torpedo to the MK-13 Mod10 type, which weighs 1 ton and the warhead reaches 275 kg, although the speed is only 33.5 knots / 3.6 km range, which is its maximum launch altitude of 910 meters, and the maximum launch speed is also as high as 759 meters. Of all the air torpedoes, the one with the least restricted launch. This means that the torpedo machine can quickly approach, and at a relatively high altitude at a high speed, it will greatly improve the survivability of the torpedo machine after the fight. This relatively good torpedo was not delivered to the U.S. military until 1944. The MK-13 is the most proud record of this aerial torpedo, that is, the sinking of two giant battleships, Musashi and Yamato. Musashi carried 19 torpedoes with a middle mine on both sides, and Yamato carried 10 torpedoes with a single-sided middle mine.
It is said that it is the Warriors who drive the torpedo planes, and the people who drive the bombers are crazy. This is because the torpedo machine should reduce the height when it is launching mines, and carry out low-speed and smooth flight, which is very easy to be intercepted by enemy anti-aircraft fire, so the loss rate is very large. At the beginning of the Pacific War, the death rate of torpedo pilots in the Japanese Navy was as high as 30-50%, and by the time the Late War faced with the efficient and powerful anti-aircraft fire of the United States, the death rate of torpedo pilots of torpedo aircraft pilots in daytime attacks of the Japanese Navy was 90-100% higher, and basically as long as the torpedo aircraft was basically played. As you can see from the simple numbers above. The difference between the United States, Britain, and Japan in the air torpedo, all three have a good record, but what do you think about who is better?