Q&A · 3:49:07-3:49:31

Sextuple torpedo launchers on a large destroyer

A destroyer-design answer ties an unusually heavy torpedo battery to the larger hulls permitted by a higher treaty limit.

Question

Could sextuple torpedo launchers work, and how large would the destroyer need to be?

Short answer

Designs did consider six-tube mountings, and a destroyer of roughly 2,500 tons could carry two sextuple launchers.

Notes

Sextuple launchers were within interwar design practice. Two such mountings would fit on a destroyer of about 2,500 tons. The larger hull supplies the deck space and carrying capacity needed for twelve ready torpedoes without treating the weapon fit as a small-destroyer modification.