History's Juiciest and Intriguing Scandals

1. The Mark 14 Torpedo Scandal Was Made Worse by the US Navy Ignoring Reports of Its Flaws

The Mark 14 Torpedo scandal was made worse when the US Navy ignored multiple reports about its serious shortcomings, including reports from submariners. In one incident, a submarine commander fired two spreads totaling a dozen Mark 14s 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 that his torpedoes would have a perfect angle of impact, then fired off nine more Mark 14s. Not a single one detonated.

It took the US Navy two years from the start of hostilities to even acknowledge the possibility that a problem might exist with the Mark 14 Torpedo. Only then did higher-ups design to allow live-fire tests to be conducted in order to find out what, if anything, was wrong. The tests verified what American submariners had been complaining about all along. Remedial steps to address the problems were finally begun – two years later than should have been the case.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Daily Beast – When Lana Turner’s Abusive, Gangster Boyfriend Was Killed by Her Daughter

Defense Media Network – The Mark 14 Torpedo Scandal

Eisler, Benita – Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame (1999)

Encyclopedia Britannica – Elagabalus, Roman Emperor

Gonick, Larry – The Cartoon History of the Universe: From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great (1990)

MacCarthy, Fiona – Byron: Life and Legend (2002)

Massie, Robert K – Nicholas and Alexandra: The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (2000)

Plutarch – Lives: Alcibiades

Radzinsky, Edvard – The Rasputin File (2001)

History Collection – 12 Details About Rasputin’s Controversial Life