World War II Database

Country of Origin	United States
Type	Other Weapons
Caliber	54.000 mm
Length	1.500 m
Weight	4.100 kg
Explosive Charge	4.1kg of TNT and amatol

Contributor: Alan Chanter

ww2dbaseDesigned in 1912 by Captain R. L. McClintock of the British Royal Engineers the Bangalore torpedo was consisted of a number of explosive filled tubes that could be screwed together and detonated to clear a path through booby traps and mine fields. Used extensively during the 1914-18 war, often to destroy barbed wire entanglements without exposing the sapper to enemy fire, by the Second World War the more fluid style of warfare saw much less need for the device (except against the strong Italian defences on the Libya/Egypt border in 1941). Nonetheless, from February 1943, the United States Army would adopt the Bangalore torpedo for use by its own combat engineers with the designation M1A1.

The M1A1 Bangalore torpedoes came packed in wooden crates, each containing ten sections, ten connecting sleeves, and 1 nose sleeve; the total weight of a crate was 176 pounds (80 kilograms). Each torpedo section was 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, 2.125 inches (54 millimeters) in diameter, and weighed 13 pounds (5.9 kilograms). Each end of the torpedo was filled with 4 inches (102 millimeters) of TNT booster, while the middle section contained an 80-20 amatol mixture; the explosive charge weighed about 9 pounds (4.1 kilograms). Each end of the torpedo had a recess to accommodate a standard blasting cap. Up to ten sections could be attached together via spring clip-equipped connecting sleeves, and a blunt nose sleeve was provided so that the assembled torpedoes could be pushed through obstacles or across terrain without getting stuck.

By the D-Day landings in 1944 the Bangalore torpedo was largely obsolete in British service, having been superseded by the rocket-launched Congers system launched from a Universal Carrier and Churchill-AVRE vehicles. The Americans, however, continued to employ it to clear mine fields or barbed wire fortifications. Approximately 3,255,000 torpedo sections were built during this design's production life.

More modern versions such as the American M1A2 and M1A3 devices and the British Advanced Performance Bangalore Torpedo are still used on the front lines at the time of this writing in 2022. ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Feb 2022

M1A1 Bangalore Torpedo Interactive Map

Photographs

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