In fact USN pilots in ww2 used a disc calculator to determine whether they were inside the limits of the envelop before dropping their torpedoes as the various Mk13 mods had quite different proprieties.
here's a pic of such a disc calculator for the Mk13 mod1:
and for the Mk13 Mod 2
On the lower part you can see the speed scale and launch altitude scale and on the upper part the resulting torpedo speed after correct entry and its resulting range.
Previous to that they used an abaccus - a data chart where they plotted before take off (or by the observer during the flight for aircraft such as the Avenger) the correct relationship for speed and height as here:
This picture is taken from an instructional movie of the US Navy called Technical Operation of the US Mk13 Torpedo (part of a longer movie which original title was "Aerial Torpedo Attack: High Speed, High Altitude", a movie produced in 1944 for instruction to the use of the late mods of the Mk13 that could be dropped at high speed and high altitude)
A similar instructional movie is also available on Youtube concerning the MkXII British torpedo with its different versions
I think than I can to arrange my excel form with the torpedoes data into some kind of pilot calculator, or to organiuze some kind of abaccus. I need to check how I can do this.
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Topic: Mk 13 torpedoes (Read 2101 times)
