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Military Wiki
Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 torpedo
Type Anti-surface ship torpedo[1]
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1904–1922[1]
Used by Flag of the United States United States Navy
Production history
Designer Frank McDowell Leavitt
Designed 1904[1]
Manufacturer E. W. Bliss Company
No. built 250[2]
Variants Mod 1[2]
Mod 2
Specifications
Mass approximately 1500 pounds[1]
Length 197 inches (5.0 meters)[1]
Diameter 21 inches (53.34 centimeters)[1]

Effective firing range 4000 yards[1]
Warhead wet guncotton[1]
Warhead weight approximately 200 pounds[1]
Detonation
mechanism
War Nose Mk 1 contact exploder[1]

Engine Single, vertical turbine[1]
Maximum speed 27 knots[1]
Guidance
system
gyroscope[1]
Launch
platform
battleships, torpedo boats and cruisers[1]

The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 torpedo was a Bliss-Leavitt torpedo adopted by the United States Navy for use in an anti-surface ship role after the E. W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, New York, which had been building Whitehead torpedoes for the US Navy, began designing and manufacturing their own torpedoes in 1904.[1]

Characteristics[]

The air flask pressure of the Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 was 2250 pounds per square inch; the earlier Whitehead models had a lower flask pressure of 1500 psi. The air in the Mark 1 was heated by burning alcohol in a chamber upstream from the engine; the increased air flask pressure and heated air served to increase the range of the Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 to 4000 yards at 27 knots. However, it used a single vertical turbine wheel rotating about the torpedo's longitudinal axis and driving a single propeller. This caused an unbalanced torque that was sufficient to cause the Mark 1 to have a tendency to roll.[1] The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 was launched from battleships, torpedo boats and cruisers.

References[]

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