# Aircraft Torpedo Royal Air Force Instructional Film Mark XII Torpedo 75624

This instructional film made by the Royal Air Force describes the Mark XII aircraft launched torpedo, used by Fleet Air Arm and RAF Coastal Command. There have been a number of 18 inch torpedoes in service with the United Kingdom. These have been used on ships of the Royal Navy and aircraft of both the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force, while Royal Navy surface ships and submarines use 21 inch torpedoes. The 18 inch MK XII torpedo was used by the Swordfish in sinking the German battleship Bismarck. The contact pistol (seen at the 2:51 mark) is fitted and when the point of one of the "whiskers" strikes the enemy hull, the detonator is fired and the TNT warhead explodes. Date Of Design: 1935 Date In Service: 1937 Weight: 1,548 lbs. (702 kg) Overall Length: 16 ft 3 in (4.953 m) Negative Buoyancy: about 230 lbs. (104 kg) Explosive Charge: 388 lbs. (176 kg) TNT Range / Speed: 1,500 yards (1,370 m) / 40 knots 3,500 yards (3,200 m) / 37 knots Power Burner-cycle, about 140 hp @ 40 knots Note: The Mark XII was an improved Mark XI. It was the standard airborne torpedo for the first half of World War II and still in limited use until the end. The modern torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it. Historically, it was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive or fish torpedo; colloquially called a fish.…

- Kind: Educational
- Genres: War, Education, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/75624AircraftTorpedo)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

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