Thoughts on Mk23 torpedoes

[IonicRipper]

Just got back from a patrol with a few Mk23s for testing and it did got go so well...
Probably just bad luck but im curious to know what the other skippers here think of this fish?
How reliable have they been for you?
Worth the price?

[WernherVonTrapp]

I use Mark14s, all the way.http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b456/archangel501/Smileys/e1a36af7.gif

[magic452]

Don't care much for the MK.23 I like the low speed option for the MK.14.
Reliability is the same so why cut yourself off and loose the low setting.

Magic.

[IonicRipper]

So the reliability was never improved for the Mk23?

Makes you wonder why they even designed it...

[WernherVonTrapp]

So the reliability was never improved for the Mk23?

Yes it was, but the Mark23 is basically the same torpedo as the Mark14, except with (I think) a nominally/marginally more potent warhead, but no long range setting.

[IonicRipper]

I read somewhere that the Mk14 used TNT while the Mk23 used the more powerful Torpex warheads. Is this simulated in the game?

[WernherVonTrapp]

When I first tried them, I noticed a marginal difference, but that may have only been because I was aware that they had a more powerful warhead. In other words, there was not a significant enough difference for me to give up the long range performance of the Mark14. In a nutshell, I'm not sure if there is any real difference in destructive power, as far as the game is concerned, that is.

[Rockin Robbins]

My previous research had indicated that the Mark 23 was nothing more than a Mark 14 with the low speed setting removed. It was simpler to produce. Skippers never used the low speed setting, as it reduced chances for a hit by amplifying any errors in their solution. Without radar, ALL solutions had errors, so it made sense to only shoot high speed.

So the Mark 23 was not an "improved Mark 14," it was a simplified Mark 14.

[Mescator]

I read somewhere that the Mk14 used TNT while the Mk23 used the more powerful Torpex warheads. Is this simulated in the game?

I believe Mk14's were swapped to Torpex as well once it became available.

[PETERVENTECH]

In 1969 none of the Fleet's MK23 torpedoes worked properly. At extreme range control was last due to a defect in the agc circuit. The fault was eventually traced to a CV7013 silicon diode which had replaced the CV7031 germanium diode, following a Naval Stores instruction. Unfortunately the AFC circuit was dependent on the germanium junction characteristics to work properly & when the diodes were replaced, the control circuits failed, so for a while, the Fleet had no working Mk23 torpedoes, till the GEC made guidance units were modified.