Dumb question about torpedos
 

What color were US torpedo's and their warheads painted?

I'm pretty sure a yellow warhead is a dummy/practice warhead, but thats about all i know.

Dumb response
 

From the pictures I see they're all just different shades of gray. Yes?.......those are.......black and white pictures?........never mind.

http://www.fleetsubmarine.com/graphics/mk-14-1.jpg
Mark-14 torpedo on display at the U.S.S. Cod Memorial in Cleveland. The yellow warhead indicates a practice torpedo. At the end of the run, the water ballast in the warhead would be expelled by compressed air, bringing the torpedo to the surface, where it could be recovered. In normal service the air flask, afterbody and tail section were painted with a thick-film rust preventive called "Tectyl," and would appear nearly black.

Interesting tidbit relating to your question, from fleetsubmarine.com


RDP

Not sure. I read some where that in the early stages of the war the US army used yellow to mark live explosives, grenades etc. Dunno if the navy had the same practice.

I always though that warshots were just unpainted bronze.

I know practice shots were often painted bright green (other then the warhead) to make it easier to find and recover them.

Plus, the Mark XIV torpedo could use 3 different warheads (and I know those had various mods to them as well), so I don't know if color was used to distinguish them, or just markings cast into the bronze casings.

:yep::yep:


The Torsk MK is a shade of green on the body, the warhead is bronze. The twin props are bronze.

One of the ones in the Cavalla is green, and the other is silver with a black concrete "warhead".

Bumpity.

BTW, did any subs really rig for blue, or is red the universal night vision preserving filter?

Rig for blue? I hope not. Who wants to sail on the K-mart special? :-? :D

Right now, anybody in an S boat. :rotfl:

"Attention K-mart skippers! Electric fans, dehumidifiers and air conditioners on sale in aisle 3!" :arrgh!:

LOL. Dont forget the ice cream machine, or is the sale over already? :rotfl:

I've got it on layway. Or as we say in naval parlance: stowed away. :p

I made my Gato rig for blue if you want it. One time I made a rig for pink.

I don't know about subs, but our destroyer never had anything but red. "Rig for red", "Secure from red". That's about it.

Here's one of the red-lights on the USS Cod.

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/7899/blue2lw3.th.jpg

"What is yor favorite color? Red, no, no Blue...Whaaaa"


Oh, btw. Torpedoes were never painted during ww2. Dull metal colors, and some grease to prevent them from rusting.
Yellow paint was only used for prectice warheads.

groetjes,

Ok cool. From all posts herein, looks like the fish are going to be a dark green, almost black, with a little artistic liberty on the warhead. Stock fish colors drive me insane.

I can maybe try to repaint the torpedoes on my laptop, I just need someone to send me the torpedo texture files.

I believe red was the best color for the eyes to adjust to during night attacks.

Way Back when, Redwine made a mod that you could have either the torpedo body or the torpedo warhead painted a different color for each of the different torpedo types. The colors were:
Blue for MK10,
Green for MK18,
Yellow for MK14,
Orange for MK23,
Red for MK16,
and Military Green for MK27.