Is this a torpedo warhead?

[Darkman]

Is this thing on eBay Australia a torpedo warhead?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/161124826746?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Wall thickness is too thick for a float of some sort, and appears too thin for a bomb casing.

Interesting to note the internal sealed baffles that may have been for ballast to stabilise the thing and keep it upright?

Regards,

Graeme

 

[Darkman]

The stated diameter of 440mm is very close to a common British torpedo diameter of 450mm/18". The baffles worry me though if they are intended for some sort of upright stabilisation - the gyroscope would sort this out in a torpedo? I wonder if it's some sort of towed sonar or magetometer "fish".

 

[diver]

Hello Graeme,

This seems to be the warhead of a 18 inch torpedo.
I attached a drawing of a 18" torpedo warhead and what you see (in my opinion) on your pics is the section from nose to pistol pocket.

Hope this can help you,
Greetings,View attachment 18 inch torpedo warhead .pdf

Stef

 

[Dronic69]

Hey Graeme - how are u mate?

It may well be the nose section of a practice WW2 period or later torpedo being all steel - the closet I found that "matches" up is the following diagram of a US Mk 26:

Yes the ballast was quite common to control the buoyancy, which was dependent upon factors such as salt water leakage, but more common to counter the air, water and fuel expended in direct proportion to the length of the run. Typically water ballast was expended at the end of the run, which cause the torpedo to finish up on the surface (but then there were probably many that had to be recovered from the sea bed!)

Hum, with all these recent torpedo bits you have been finding lately, perhaps we should call you "TorpedoMan" and not Darkman? (LOL)

Cheers
Drew

 

[Dronic69]

Boy - I gota type faster these days...............

Yep Stef's diagram of the Mark 15 is a perfect match!

Good Job!

Cheers
Drew

 

[Darkman]

Stef, thanks for that! An exact match with the internals. Well done.

Hey Drew, yes I seem to be sniffing out a bit of torpedo stuff lately. This warhead would be a great display piece for one of your nose fuzes, but would take up a fair bit of space! I actually know the guy selling it a little. He is also a bottle collector and on another bottle collecting forum site I am on.

Cheers, Graeme

 

[Yodamaster]

Hi Dronic69 and Diver,
should you have more doc about your torpedo's (18inch Mk 15 and Mk 26) ?
Diver, when you write pistol, will this say that the 18inch Mk 15 is british ?



Yoda

 

[pedro]

Most likely a MXV or Mk30 exercise head. These were manufactured in Oz at the RAN Torpedo Factory Neutral Bay. See: http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67920 and http://users.tpg.com.au/borclaud/ranad/about_rantf.html

 

[diver]

Hello Yadomaster,

The 18 inch torpedo starts in the UK in the late 19th century and continued in various MK's until after WW2. The early versions were made by RNGF (Royal Navy Gun Factory) mainly at Woolwich, these were later RNTF (Royal Navy Torpedo Factories) and by Whiteheads.

On wiki there's more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_18_inch_torpedo

Hope this is helpfull to you!

Stef