View source for Mark 13 torpedo

[[Image:Mark13-torpedo-on-Wasp.jpg|thumb|right|A Mark 13B torpedo is loaded onto a [[TBF Avenger]] aboard the [[USS Wasp (CV-18)|''Wasp'']] in 1944. The torpedo is fitted with breakaway wooden nose and tail protection which is shed upon hitting the water.]]
The Bliss-Leavitt '''Mark 13 torpedo''' was the [[U.S. Navy]]'s most common [[aerial torpedo]] of [[World War II]]. It was designed with unusually squat dimensions for its type: diameter was {{convert|22.4|in}} and length {{convert|13|ft|5|in}}. In the water, the Mark 13 could reach a speed of {{convert|33.5|kn}} for up to {{convert|6300|yards}}.{{Ref|afmuseum}}{{Ref|navweaps}} The Mark 13 ran {{convert|12.8|kn}} slower than the [[Mark 14 torpedo]]. 17,000 were produced during the war.{{Ref|Milford1}}

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&mdash;even when dropped low to the water at slow speeds&mdash;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 {{convert|2400|ft|abbr=on}}, at speeds up to {{convert|410|knots|km/h}}. The final Mark 13 weighed {{convert|2216|lb|abbr=on}}; {{convert|600|lb|abbr=on}} of this was the [[high explosive]] [[Torpex]].{{Ref|navweaps}}

The Mark 13 was very similar in design to the Mark 14 and [[Mark 15 torpedo]]es which suffered from problems such as submerged running approximately ten feet lower than set, contact exploder duds and magnetic trigger premature explosions. The Mark 13 design avoided these problems with its larger diameter, lesser mass, lesser negative buoyancy, slower running speed and the lack of a magnetic influence feature in its Mark IV exploder.{{Ref|Milford2}}

At the close of the war, the Mark 13 was considered one of the most reliable air-dropped torpedoes available.

== References ==
{{Commonscat}}
{{reflist}}
#{{Note|afmuseum}} National Museum of the United States Air Force. [http://web.archive.org/web/20060709192711/http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/arm/arm12.htm Mark 13 Torpedo]". Archived on July 9, 2006.
#{{Note|navweaps}} NavWeaps (18 February 2005). "[http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTUS_WWII.htm USA Torpedoes of WWII]". Retrieved 2 August 2005.
#{{Note|Milford1}} [http://web.archive.org/web/20071014211537/http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/1592/ustorp1.htm Milford, Frederick J. ''U. S. Navy Torpedoes; Part One: The great torpedo scandal, 1941–43.'' The Submarine Review, April 1996.] Archived on October 14, 2007.
#{{Note|Milford2}} [http://web.archive.org/web/20051210061123/http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/1592/ustorp2.htm Milford, Frederick J. ''U. S. Navy Torpedoes; Part Two: The great torpedo scandal, 1941–43.'' The Submarine Review, October 1996.] Archived on December 10, 2005.
{{Mark-series torpedoes}}

[[Category:Torpedoes]]
[[Category:World War II naval weapons]]
[[Category:Torpedoes of the United States]]
[[Category:Aerial torpedoes]]

[[Category:2Fix]]