Frame Torpedo

Frame torpedoes were one of the most common, successful types of mines used by the Confederacy during the Civil War. The frame torpedo at the Naval Undersea Museum, here on long-term loan from the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Curator Branch, was employed...

MK 14 Torpedo

The MK 14 was the primary submarine-launched, anti-surface ship torpedo of World War II before the introduction of the electric MK 18. Initially considered problematic and unreliable, the MK 14 torpedo became the most effective, destructive U.S.  Naval weapon of the...

Grebe Guided Missile

The Grebe rocket-boosted torpedo was part of a family of 1940s Project Kingfisher anti-ship and anti-submarine guided missiles. It was an ASW weapon that targeted deep-diving enemy submarines. The Navy’s modern anti-submarine missile system, the ASROC (anti-submarine...

MK 48 ADCAP Torpedo

The MK 48 ADCAP torpedo is the U.S. Navy’s current submarine-launched torpedo. This heavyweight, acoustic-homing torpedo has sophisticated sonar and all-digital guidance-and-control systems; its digital guidance system allows performance improvements to be made...

Whitehead MK 1 Torpedo

The cold-running Whitehead was the world’s first self-propelled torpedo, and the model from which all future design concepts originated. It was employed by navies throughout the world including — eventually — the U.S. Navy. The concept for the Whitehead began with...

Howell Torpedo

The Howell torpedo was the first self-propelled torpedo developed by the United States and used in service in the U.S. Navy. It was powered by a 10,000-rpm flywheel that doubled as a stabilizing gyroscope. Englishman Robert Whitehead invented the world’s first...