Talking to the Fish: How USS Cod Programed a Torpedo during WWII

The 50-foot depth setting was to allow the problematic magnetic torpedo detonators to pass below the keel of large ships.

“We’ve done that here on the boat recently. It’s not fun to replace a spindle.” Wait, is Paul torpedoing passing Canadian ships again?

Even after 53 years have passed, after my Navy service ended, I still have the urge to stand at attention, when I hear "Anchors Away", and smile just a little. ;-)

I'm shocked, SHOCKED , I say, that the Mark 14 torpedoes had problems! Why, we were all assured by BuOrd that they worked exactly as specified, and any perceived problems were the result of user error.

If I remember my history correctly, some of the torpedoes were supposed to detonate under the ship, breaking the keel. It didn't work well, but it would explain having the 50 foot depth setting.

Paul, The TDC absolutely deserves a video of its own. It was such an amazing piece of technology for its time, and making it reliable enough to operate on a sub was a major accomplishment of itself.

I wondered for decades how the settings were put into the fish.

The level of planning and manufacture of WWII weapons of war will never cease to amaze me. Electronic function with at least one, sometimes two, mechanical contingency backups was very standard in US war-time design. It's not just what they did that amazes me, but how they managed to cram them into spaces that could still be long-term functional. If something just went completely wrong with the TDC and it wasn't reparable by the geniuses in the electronic gang, you could still finish the patrol with the IS-Was and Banjo and manually firing the torpedoes with only slight reduction in efficiency. Other systems were just as resilient and backed up. It wouldn't be pleasant and would be a lot of hard work, but that was the Navy, in war, and the enemy was still out there needing their date with the bottom.

The Mark 14 had the ability to fail more than half the time at the start of the war. Some boats got nothing but duds, then the Navy tried to blame the commanders and their crews.

I believe a lot of the early war successes used the mark 10, no magnetic pistol , contact detonator worked, and only ran a little deeper that set.

Thanks to this site, I started playing Silent Hunter IV, and have learned how to hit a target by setting various range and angles on the rudimentary controls. Problem is, the Game is 'Historically accurate' in that my early-war career is sunk before I fire - all my Fish are indeed running 15 or more feet below setting. Greetings and Respect from the Great White North, eh!

Paul and crew, thank you so much for these “deep dives” into submarine tech. They are appreciated!

"I've got two fish in the water running hot and true." Some gato or baleo class sub captain while talking to an admiral in charge of a nuclear submarine.

man, those analog dial is really beautiful.

Finally, I understand what is meant when someone in the conning tower yells, "Fired electrically!" Thanks!

My dads first boat was the Redfin, in the '60's. He got me hooked on the boats with " Run silent, Run Deep, and Dust on the sea.

I bet submarine movies would have been more interesting with these steps. Love the pushing of pins in and out of the torp and the backup firing.

Thanks Paul and Evan, and members of USS Cod staff. Now if I watch another movie about WWII American subs, as least I can have a good idea of what really happened, other than the CO giving the order to fire, and someone pushing the plunger. As always, thanks for another informative and entertaining video. Greetings from Texas.

The fire button always shown on silent service..............took me a long time to learn where that button is !!!

IIRC Ryan has stated the max draft on an Iowa was 38 ft. I think some of the Japanese battleships were heavier so may have had a deeper draft. Didn't the later torpedoes have magnetic detonators? Those work best when exploding under the Keel don't they? That would explain the 50 foot running depth setting.