18. Navy Higher-Ups Ignore Their Torpedo’s Flaws
US Navy higher-ups in charge of ordnance ignored numerous reports from submarine commanders complaining about the Mark 14. In one incident, a submarine’s skipper fired two spreads totaling a dozen torpedoes at a large Japanese whaler, but only managed to cripple it. Then, with the enemy ship dead in the water, he maneuvered his submarine and carefully positioned it so his torpedoes would have a perfect angle of impact, then fired off 9 more Mark 14s. Not a single one detonated.
Despite a flood of complaints about the Mark 14’s shortcomings, it took the Navy two years from the start of hostilities to acknowledge the possibility that a problem might exist, and to conduct tests to find out what, if anything, was wrong. The tests verified what American submariners had been complaining about, and remedial steps to address the problems were finally begun.
