Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 50:23-51:11

How the Royal Navy might have handled Mark 14 failures

British interwar testing would likely have exposed the Mark 14 torpedo's defects sooner and brought senior admirals directly into the reckoning.

Andrew CunninghamMark 14 TorpedoMax HortonNaval ProcurementReginald HendersonRoyal NavyTorpedoesWeapons Testing
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Question

What would British naval command have done about the people responsible for the Mark 14 torpedo?

Short answer

It likely would have detected the faults earlier through testing and subjected those responsible to severe senior-level scrutiny.

Notes

The Royal Navy's interwar testing budget would probably have exposed the Mark 14's faults sooner. The imagined consequence is a severe encounter with Admiral Henderson, backed by Cunningham and possibly Horton. Their names convey the pressure that senior officers could bring to bear on those responsible. The confrontation is an imagined, humorous response to a torpedo failure.