Whitehead Mark 2C torpedo

The Whitehead Mark 2C torpedo, also designated Torpedo Type C[4] was a Whitehead torpedo adopted by the United States Navy for use in an anti-surface ship role after the E. W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, New York secured manufacturing rights in 1892.[2] It was probably based on the Whitehead Mark 1B, rather than a modification of the Whitehead Mark 2.[1]

Whitehead Mark 2C torpedo
Whitehead torpedo mechanism, published 1891
TypeAnti-surface ship torpedo[1]
Place of originAustria-Hungary
Service history
In service189?–1922[1]
Used byUnited States Navy[2]
Production history
DesignerRobert Whitehead
Designed1893[1]
ManufacturerTorpedofabrik Whitehead & Co.[3]
E. W. Bliss Company
Specifications
Mass1232 pounds[1]
Length197 inches (5.0 meters)[1]
Diameter17.7 inches (45 centimeters)[1]
Effective firing range1500 yards[1]
Warheadwet guncotton[1]
Warhead weight132 pounds[1]
Detonation
mechanism
War Nose Mk 1 contact exploder[1]
Engine3-cylinder reciprocating
Maximum speed 28.5 knots[1]
Guidance
system
depth control[1]
Launch
platform
battleships and torpedo boats[1]

Characteristics

The Type C was ordinarily assembled into three sections: the warhead, the air flask and the after-body. The warhead's charge of wet guncotton weighed 132 pounds. The Type C was what was known as a "cold-running" torpedo.[1] The three-cylinder reciprocating engine ran on cold, compressed air which was stored in the air flask at 1500 pounds per square inch. The after-body carried the engine and the tail, which contained the propellers.[5]

The Type C guidance component included the Pendulum-and-hydrostat control device which was called the "Whitehead Secret". This version of the Whitehead torpedo lacked the gyroscope gear designed by Ludwig Obry, which was incorporated in another Whitehead model, the Mark 3.

The Mark 2 Type C was launched from battleships and torpedo boats.

See also
  • American 18 inch torpedo

References
  1. "Torpedo History: Whitehead Torpedo Mk1". Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  2. "Artifact Spotlight: Whitehead torpedo" (PDF). Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  3. "Chronology: Torpedo in Word and Picture". Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. Silverstone, Paul (2006). The New Navy, 1883-1922. Taylor & Francis Group. pp. xxiii. ISBN 0-415-97871-8.
  5. The Whitehead Torpedo:. Bureau of Ordnance, United States Navy. 1898.

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