View source for Whitehead Mark 3 torpedo

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name           = Whitehead Mark 3 torpedo
| image          = Mark III Whitehead Torpedo fired from East Dock, Goat Island, Newport Torpedo Station, Rhode Island, 1894..jpg
| image_size     = 300
| caption        = Mark 3 Whitehead torpedo fired from East Dock, Goat Island, Newport Torpedo Station, Rhode Island, 1894
| origin         = [[Austria-Hungary]]
| type           = [[Anti-surface warfare|Anti-surface ship]] [[torpedo]]<ref name="navyhist">{{cite web | title = Torpedo History: Whitehead Torpedo Mk1 | url= http://www.history.navy.mil/museums/keyport/html/part2.htm | accessdate = 8 June 2013}}</ref>
<!-- Type selection -->
| is_ranged      = yes
| is_explosive   = yes
| is_missile     = yes
<!-- Service history -->
| service        = 1898–1922<ref name="navyhist"/>
| used_by        = [[United States Navy]]<ref name=naval>{{cite web|url=http://navalunderseamuseum.org/media/6c06204b6731dd48ffff8336ffffe906.pdf|title=Artifact Spotlight: Whitehead torpedo|accessdate=8 June 2013|archive-date=12 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512032155/http://navalunderseamuseum.org/media/6c06204b6731dd48ffff8336ffffe906.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| wars           =
<!-- Production history -->
| designer       = [[Robert Whitehead]]
| manufacturer   = Torpedofabrik Whitehead & Co.<ref name="rijeka">{{cite web | title = Chronology: Torpedo in Word and Picture | url = http://www.muzej-rijeka.hr/torpedo/en/chronology.html | accessdate = 2013-06-08 | archive-date = 6 April 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140406180154/http://www.muzej-rijeka.hr/torpedo/en/chronology.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><br>[[E. W. Bliss Company]]
| design_date    = 1893<ref name="navyhist"/>
<!-- General specifications -->
| weight         = 845 pounds<ref name="navyhist"/>
| length         = 140 inches (3.55 meters)<ref name="navyhist"/>
| diameter       = 17.7 inches (45 centimeters)<ref name="navyhist"/>
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| range          = 800 yards<ref name="navyhist"/>
<!-- Explosive specifications -->
| filling        = wet [[guncotton]]<ref name="navyhist"/>
| filling_weight = 118 pounds<ref name="navyhist"/>
| detonation     = War Nose Mk 1 contact exploder<ref name="navyhist"/>
<!-- Vehicle/missile specifications -->
| engine         = 3-cylinder<ref name="navyhist"/>
| speed          = 26.5 knots<ref name="navyhist"/>
| guidance       = [[gyroscope]]<ref name="navyhist"/>
| launch_platform = [[battleship]]s and [[torpedo boat]]s
}}
The '''Whitehead Mark 3 torpedo''' was a [[Whitehead torpedo]] adopted by the [[United States Navy]] for use in an [[Anti-surface warfare|anti-surface ship]] role after the [[E. W. Bliss Company]] of [[Brooklyn, New York]] secured manufacturing rights in 1892.<ref name=naval/>
The primary difference between the Mark 3 and the previous versions of the 3.55-meter Whiteheads was the inclusion of the [[Ludwig Obry|Obry]] steering [[Gyroscope|gyro]] for [[azimuth]] control. This device reduced the maximum deviation right or left of the target from 24 to 8 yards.<ref>{{cite web | title = United States of America Torpedoes Pre-World War II | url= http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTUS_PreWWII.htm | accessdate = 24 June 2013}}</ref> About 100 Mark 3s were purchased from the [[E. W. Bliss Company]]; in 1913, these were redesignated '''Torpedo Type A'''.<ref name="silver">{{cite book | last = Silverstone | first = Paul | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5AoHOUZ0KzYC&pg=PR23 | title = The New Navy, 1883–1922 | publisher = Taylor & Francis Group | year = 2006 | pages = xxiii | isbn = 0-415-97871-8}}</ref> They were used on submarines of the A, B, C and D classes.  These were withdrawn from service use in 1922 when all torpedoes designed before the [[Bliss-Leavitt Mark 7 torpedo]] were condemned.<ref name="navyhist"/>
==Characteristics==
[[File:Obry gyroscopic gear installed in Whitehead torpedoes.jpg|thumb|left|Obry gyroscopic gear installed in the Mark 3; the gyroscope itself is labelled F, G and H]]
The Mark 3 was ordinarily assembled into three sections: the warhead, the air flask and the after-body. The warhead's charge of wet [[guncotton]] weighed 118 pounds. The Mark 3 was what was known as a "cold-running" torpedo.<ref name="navyhist"/> The three-cylinder engine ran on cold, [[compressed air]] which was stored in the air flask. The after-body carried the engine and the tail, which contained the [[propeller]]s.<ref name="manual">{{cite book | title = The Whitehead Torpedo | publisher = [[Bureau of Ordnance]], [[United States Navy]] | year = 1898 | url = http://maritime.org/doc/whitehead/}}</ref>
The Mark 3 was launched from [[battleship]]s and [[torpedo boat]]s.
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==See also==
*[[American 18-inch torpedo]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{US Navy torpedoes}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead Mark 3 torpedo}}
[[Category:Torpedoes of the United States]]
[[Category:Whitehead torpedoes]]