Mark K.

MK 24 was originally referred to as a "mine".....never a bomb. The depth bomb was
a 325# contact and hydrostatically armed device, that was carried by blimps,
Grumman "Avenger" torpedo planes and Grumman "Wildcat" carrier aircraft. Some
Consolidated B24 bombers and PBY "Catalinas" also were armed with the MK24
torpedo. It's 12-knot speed was designed to attack any "escaping" submerged U-boat in the Atlantic Ocean. Had the Type XXI become operational, the 5 hp electric propulsion motor in the MK24 would have been replaced with one of greater horsepower.

The following is an excerpt from U.S. NAVY TORPEDOES by Frederick J. Milford's
Part Three: WWII development of conventional torpedoes 1940-1946, bottom of page 1:

"Occasional comments imply that the navy was not entirely happy with the torpedo
establishment. The use of "mine" rather thaan "torpedo" for the MK 24 and several
other weapons is sometimes claimed to have had a secondary objective of avoiding involvment of the torpedo establishment. BuOrd (Bureau of Ordnance) also delayed
Bell Telephone Laboratory access to torpedoes and torpedo technology as it existed in late 1941, presumably in order to get a fresh perspective. (M.D. Fagen,
ed., "A History of Engineeringg and Science in the Bell System: National Service in War and Peace (1925-1975)". Murray Hill: Bell Telephone Laboratories,1978."

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Regards,

ROBERT M.