21-in Fiume Torpedo
The 21-in Fiume Torpedo was a heater torpedo built by Whitehead at Fiume, developed around 1912 but with delivery of two test torpedoes to the Royal Navy delayed by labour issues.[3]
Development and History
In 1913, two with Side Lugs were on order, but their air lever's position required H.M.S. Spiteful's 21-in tube and a "range gun" at Portland to be adapted for testing.[4]
It seems a certainty that the Royal Navy only ever received, at most, the two test specimens before the war.[Inference]
Particulars
Its particulars were fully explained in the Foreign section of ARTS 1912 and also in ARTS 1913.[5][6]
- Length with net cutter and inertia pistol: 247.2 inches
- Total weight: 2,800 pounds
- Explosive charge weight: 396 pounds
- Initial buoyancy: negative 275 pounds
- A.V. pressure 2,130 psi
- A.V. volume: 18.36 cubic feet
- Total weight of air: 203.5 pounds
- Water volume: 2,990 fluid ounces
- Fuel: 335 fluid ounces
It could run 47 knots to 1,000 yards and 30 knots to 6,000 yards.
In comparison to the 21-in Mark II torpedo, it was shorter, carried a 35% larger warhead and had a range just 22% that of the British torpedo at S.R. and 60% of the range at L.R. setting.
Footnotes
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. Plate 5.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. Plate 6.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. p. 12.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. p. 12.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. Plate 5, pp. 12-4.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1912. pp. 82-84.
Bibliography
