Mark 18 torpedo

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The Mark 18 torpedo was an electric torpedo used by the US Navy during World War II.

The Mark 18 torpedo was built after the capture of German G7e electric torpedoes in 1943 gave the US designers the information they needed. The torpedo entered service in 1944.

They were 20 feet long, weighed 3,154 pounds, and had a warhead 575 pounds of Torpex with a contact exploder. They were easier to build than the wet heater types, using about 2/3rds of the labor of the Mark 14 torpedo. They had a speed of 29 knots and a range of 4,000 yards.

The main advantage was that the design did not produce a wake of bubbles or turbine exhaust pointing back to the submarine firing it - a major advantage in daytime engagements. The torpedo also lacked the depth-keeping and exploder problems that had plagued the early Mark 14 torpedoes. The disadvantages were the low speed compared to the Mark 14's 45 knots, the need to regularly withdraw the torpedoes from their tubes for recharging, and their onerous maintenance procedures.

Some 65% of torpedoes fired by US Submarines were of the Mark 18 type.

The design was dropped from service in 1950 in favor of later types being both faster and more reliable. ^[1]