page_title: Mark 13 torpedo
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Mark 13 torpedo / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: Mark 13 torpedo general arrangement, published in Ordnance Pamphlet 629(A) by the US Navy, July 1942
context_page_description: The Mark 13 torpedo was the U.S. Navy's most common aerial torpedo of World War II. It was the first American torpedo to be originally designed for launching from aircraft only. They were also used on PT boats.
context_section_description: Originating in a 1925 design study, the Mark 13 was subject to changing USN requirements through its early years with resulting on-and-off development.  Early models—even when dropped low to the water at slow speeds—were prone to running on the surface, or not running at all. By late 1944, the design had been modified to allow reliable drops from as high as 2,400 ft (730 m), at speeds up to 410 knots (470 mph). The final Mark 13 weighed 2,216 lb (1,005 kg); 600 lb (270 kg) of this was the high explosive Torpex.
  The Mark 13 was designed with unusually squat dimensions for its type: diameter was 22.5 inches (570 mm) and length 13 feet 5 inches (4.09 m). In the water, the Mark 13 could reach a speed of 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph) for up to 6,300 yards (5,800 m). The Mark 13 ran 12.8 knots (23.7 km/h; 14.7 mph) slower than the Mark 14 torpedo. 17,000 were produced during the war.
caption: Mark 13 torpedo's general arrangement, as published in a service manual
exif: {}