Dumb question about torpedos

Ducimus · 01-17-08, 12:04 AM

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.

Rockin Robbins · 01-17-08, 06:54 AM

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

ReallyDedPoet · 01-17-08, 07:47 AM

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

Q3ark · 01-17-08, 07:49 AM

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.

seafarer · 01-17-08, 08:03 AM

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.

AVGWarhawk · 01-17-08, 08:35 AM

Quote:

I always though that warshots were just unpainted bronze

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

mookiemookie · 01-17-08, 10:44 AM

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

Ducimus · 01-18-08, 10:49 PM

Bumpity.

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

Torplexed · 01-18-08, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ducimus

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?

Sailor Steve · 01-19-08, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Bumpity.

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

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

01-17-08, 12:04 AM	#1
Ducimus Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,987 Downloads: 67 Uploads: 2	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.

01-17-08, 06:54 AM	#2
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,900 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Dumb response From the pictures I see they're all just different shades of gray. Yes?.......those are.......black and white pictures?........never mind. __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

01-17-08, 07:47 AM	#3
ReallyDedPoet Canadian Wolf Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canada. The one and only, East Coast Posts: 10,885 Downloads: 946 Uploads: 5	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 __________________ Back in the Day

01-17-08, 07:49 AM	#4
Q3ark Watch Officer Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: York, England Posts: 346 Downloads: 47 Uploads: 0	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. __________________ Johnny was a chemist's son, But Johnny is no more. What Johnny thought was H20 was H2SO4.

01-17-08, 08:03 AM	#5
seafarer Commodore Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 622 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	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. __________________ My Father's ship, HMCS Waskesiu (K330), sank U257 on 02/24/1944 running SHIII-1.4 with GWX2.1 and SHIV-1.5 with TMO/RSRDC/PE3.3 under MS Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP1 ACER AMD Athlon 64x2 4800+, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 400GB SATA HD Antec TruePower Trio 650watt PSU BFG GeForce 8800GT/OC 512MB VRAM, Samsung 216BW widescreen (1680x1050) LCD

01-17-08, 10:44 AM	#7
mookiemookie Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9,404 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 1	One of the ones in the Cavalla is green, and the other is silver with a black concrete "warhead". __________________ They don’t think it be like it is, but it do. Want more U-boat Kaleun portraits for your SH3 Commander Profiles? Download the SH3 Commander Portrait Pack here.

01-18-08, 10:49 PM	#8
Ducimus Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,987 Downloads: 67 Uploads: 2	Bumpity. BTW, did any subs really rig for blue, or is red the universal night vision preserving filter?