General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: US submarine operations in the Atlantic
Posted by:
ROBERT M.
()
Date: October 31, 2011 01:31AM
Hello Platon:
When the boats left San Juan or Gitmo, their fwd tubes would be empty. They still had chance to stop by the Sub Base at Coco Solo in Panama. Other than that, the
San Diego torpedo shop or Pearl Harbor torpedo shop, was the only chance to get torpedoes. Some boats returning from patrols offloaded their torpedoes and the new
boats got them. When I rode a brand new 2200-ton destroyer, the USS WILLARD KEITH
(DD-775), we left the San Diego training area and loaded ten MK 15 Mod 3 torpedoes at the Pearl Harbor facility in early 1945.
The forward torpedo tubes were shorter than the after tubes, but the same 21" diameter.
The MK 15 torpedo had the same MK 12 gyro and setting mechanism as the MK 14s.
The destroyers had two MK 27 torpedo directors mounted at the aft portion of the bridge, port and starboard sides manned by a senior torpedo man and the Torpedo
Officer. The directors solved for "sight angle" and "spread" and was sent to the fwd. and aft torpedo tube mounts, and was introduced to the torpedoes by a torpedoman seated atop each tube mount, through a set of handcranks. The tube
mount was trained by another torpedoman sitting next to the gyro angle setter.
Hope this answers your questions,
ROBERT M.
When the boats left San Juan or Gitmo, their fwd tubes would be empty. They still had chance to stop by the Sub Base at Coco Solo in Panama. Other than that, the
San Diego torpedo shop or Pearl Harbor torpedo shop, was the only chance to get torpedoes. Some boats returning from patrols offloaded their torpedoes and the new
boats got them. When I rode a brand new 2200-ton destroyer, the USS WILLARD KEITH
(DD-775), we left the San Diego training area and loaded ten MK 15 Mod 3 torpedoes at the Pearl Harbor facility in early 1945.
The forward torpedo tubes were shorter than the after tubes, but the same 21" diameter.
The MK 15 torpedo had the same MK 12 gyro and setting mechanism as the MK 14s.
The destroyers had two MK 27 torpedo directors mounted at the aft portion of the bridge, port and starboard sides manned by a senior torpedo man and the Torpedo
Officer. The directors solved for "sight angle" and "spread" and was sent to the fwd. and aft torpedo tube mounts, and was introduced to the torpedoes by a torpedoman seated atop each tube mount, through a set of handcranks. The tube
mount was trained by another torpedoman sitting next to the gyro angle setter.
Hope this answers your questions,
ROBERT M.
