31 Aug 1943
Hawaii
Hawaii
- Under the direction of the irascible Commander Charles "Swede" Momsen and acting on orders from US Commander of Submarines Pacific Area Rear Admiral Charles Lockwood, submarine USS Muskellunge fired three Mark XIV torpedoes at the underwater cliffs of Kahoolawe Island, Hawaii to test the torpedo’s contact exploders. Two exploded and one did not. Momsen himself dove on the damaged but unexploded torpedo and rigged it for recovery. He then delicately dismantled the exploder device and revealed the design defects that had caused it to fail. ww2dbase [Mark XIV | Kahoolawe | DS]
Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Please help us spread the word: Stay updated with WW2DB: |
Search WW2DB
News
- » Wreck of M-49 Found (10 Apr 2025)
- » Japanese Emperor Visited Iwoto (Iwo Jima) (8 Apr 2025)
- » Race, Holocaust, and African-American WW2 Histories Removed from the US Naval Academy Library (7 Apr 2025)
- » US Government Plans to Purge WW2 Information (17 Mar 2025)
- » See all news
Random Photograph
Emperor Showa, Empress Kojun, and Crown Prince Akihito greeting the public, Japan, 10 Nov 1952Current Site Statistics
- » 1,167 biographies
- » 337 events
- » 44,606 timeline entries
- » 1,243 ships
- » 350 aircraft models
- » 207 vehicle models
- » 376 weapon models
- » 123 historical documents
- » 261 facilities
- » 470 book reviews
- » 28,501 photos
- » 365 maps
Famous WW2 Quote
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."Winston Churchill, on the RAF
Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!