Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 torpedo

Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 torpedo
Type	Anti-surface ship torpedo
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1904–1922
Used by	United States Navy
Production history
Designer	Frank McDowell Leavitt
Designed	1904
Manufacturer	E. W. Bliss Company
No. built	250
Variants	Mod 1 Mod 2
Specifications
Weight	approximately 1500 pounds
Length	197 inches (5.0 meters)
Diameter	21 inches (53.34 centimeters)
Effective firing range	4000 yards
Warhead	wet guncotton
Warhead weight	approximately 200 pounds
Detonation mechanism	War Nose Mk 1 contact exploder
Engine	Single, vertical turbine
Speed	27 knots
Guidance system	gyroscope
Launch platform	battleships, torpedo boats and cruisers

The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 torpedo was a Bliss-Leavitt torpedo adopted by the United States Navy for use in an anti-surface ship role after the E. W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, New York, which had been building Whitehead torpedoes for the US Navy, began designing and manufacturing their own torpedoes in 1904.

The air flask pressure of the Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 was 2,250 pounds per square inch (15,500 kPa); the earlier Whitehead models had a lower flask pressure of 1,500 psi (10,000 kPa). The air in the Mark 1 was heated by burning alcohol in a chamber upstream from the engine; the increased air flask pressure and heated air served to increase the range of the Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 to 4,000 yards (3,700 m) at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). However, it used a single vertical turbine wheel rotating about the torpedo's longitudinal axis and driving a single propeller. This caused an unbalanced torque that was sufficient to cause the Mark 1 to have a tendency to roll.

The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 1 was launched from battleships, torpedo boats and cruisers.