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Atrocious Historic Weapon Designs That Left a Lot to be Desired

Khalid Elhassan February 6, 2025 16 min

Weapon - An American general with a captured Krummlauf — An American general with a captured Krummlauf. Sandboxx

6. A Torpedo That Consistently Failed to Detonate

A pair of Mark 14 Torpedoes stored in the aft torpedo room of the museum ship USS Pampatino. Wikimedia

Despite the fact that the Mark 14 itself had never undergone any live tests, it was issued to the US submarine fleet as its standard torpedo in 1938. It was only after America joined WWII that the torpedo’s grave flaws became apparent. Within the first month of hostilities, submarine commanders correctly reported that the Mark 14 often failed to maintain accurate depth so as to pass within the correct distance beneath an enemy ship’s keel. Another problem was with the magnetic detonator, which frequently detonated prematurely or failed to detonate at all. The simpler contact detonator often failed to set off the torpedo, even when it struck an enemy’s hull at a perfect angle with a loud and clearly audible clang.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.