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Photo # NH 92539:  Firing a torpedo from USS Walke's starboard tubes, circa 1914

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Walke (Destroyer # 34), 1911-1935 --
Ship's Torpedo Battery and Torpedomen, circa 1914

USS Walke, like her twenty "sisters" of the Paulding class, had six torpedoes as her offensive "main battery". Carried in three twin torpedo tube mountings (one on each beam amidships and one on the centerline aft), these 17.7-inch diameter (generally called "18-inch") ship-killing weapons were of Whitehead or Bliss-Leavitt design. They were 204 inches long, weighed between 1452 and 1800 pounds, and had high-explosive warheads of 200 to 326 pounds, capable of blowing a hole fifteen to twenty feet in diameter in the side of an enemy warship. These torpedoes' maximum speed was about 35 knots, some five knots faster than the destroyers that carried them. With their courses stabilized by gyroscopes, they could strike targets as much as two or three miles distant, though reliable hitting was usually only feasible at much closer ranges.

These complex devices required regular maintenance to keep them functioning properly, and to restore them to service after they had been fired in practice. This work was the responsibility of specially trained enlisted men, who from 1912 until 1921 were a subset of the Gunner's Mate rating, wearing torpedomen speciality insignia just below their uniform sleeve rating badge chevrons.

This page features some of the photographs from a collection related to the crew and activities of USS Walke (Destroyer # 34) in about 1914.

For a general description of this collection and more images from it, see:

  • USS Walke (Destroyer # 34) -- Crew and Activities, circa 1914.

    For overall photographs of USS Walke, see:

  • USS Walke (Destroyer # 34, later DD-34), 1911-1935.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 99824

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Chief Petty Officer performs pre-launching maintenance on an 18-inch torpedo, which is partially withdrawn from the starboard twin torpedo tubes, 31 March 1914.
    Note torpedo davit at right and steam issuing from smokestack steam pipes in the background.

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 58KB; 440 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 92538

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Starboard side twin 18-inch torpedo tubes trained out for practice firing, 31 March 1914.
    Note the trainer's position and sight mounted atop the tubes, torpedo davit at the deck edge, engine lathe in the left foreground, and awning frames.

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 92539

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Firing an 18-inch torpedo from the ship's starboard twin torpedo tubes during practice, circa 1914.
    Note the trainer using a telescopic sight atop the tubes.

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 52KB; 740 x 465 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 92540

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Launches an 18-inch torpedo during practice, circa 1914.
    Note spoon of the torpedo tube at right.

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99825

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Launches an 18-inch torpedo during practice, circa 1914.

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 53KB; 740 x 460 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 92541

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Hoists aboard an 18-inch torpedo, circa 1914.
    The ship's after (centerline) twin torpedo tubes are at left.
    Note torpedo cart on deck, line running over pulley at the end of the torpedo davit, and the torpedo's contrarotating propellers.

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 92537

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Crew members pose with the ship's port side twin 18-inch torpedo tubes, with the torpedoes partially withdrawn for maintenance, circa 1914.
    Note the training gear and sight mounted atop the tubes, the torpedoes' four-blade propellers, and belled tops of the smokestack steam pipes.

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 92536

    USS Walke
    (Destroyer # 34)

    Sailor holds a gyro for an 18-inch torpedo, circa 1914.
    Note the ragged condition of his "white hat".

    Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 71KB; 440 x 765 pixels

     

    For a general description of this collection and more images from it, see:

  • USS Walke (Destroyer # 34) -- Crew and Activities, circa 1914.

    For overall photographs of USS Walke, see:

  • USS Walke (Destroyer # 34, later DD-34), 1911-1935.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 31 December 2004