Torpedo-Juice.

[Del Boy]

Is the story of US Navy 'Torpedo-Juice' in WW11 widely known?

 

[Mark Conley]

well...its well known that the only way to get a drink of alcohol on board a ship was:

1. bribe the doctor or the pharmacist mates. or

2. Be envolved with the care and feeding of the steam torpedoes on submarines, destroyers, or motor torpedo boats.

The power plant of a gas-steam torpedo consists of a pair of turbines and a gear-reduction engine. In most of the gas-steam torpedoes, energy is provided by compressed air and alcohol. In the Mark 16 type, the energy source is alcohol and a concentrated solution of hydrogen peroxide.

either way the best source of alcohol was ethyl alcohol...grain alcohol.

The navy denatured it with certain disagreeable substances which didnt inpair its combustion abilitys. usually the people with time on their hands re-distilled it and got the alcohol back to a drinkable nature.

it was very potent stuff. close to 190 proof, much like ever clear is. you had to cut it to make it drinkable. orange juice worked well. any kind of fruit punch was tolerable.

i once went to a grain alcohol party....once

 

[gman992]

That stuff could've gotten a lot of people...dead!


Grain alcohal parties at college ruled too...I once drank some honest to goodness moonshine...you could start a car on it...

 

[rattler]

One of the reasons, I heard, for the many duds.

Rattler

well...its well known that the only way to get a drink of alcohol on board a ship was:

1. bribe the doctor or the pharmacist mates. or

2. Be envolved with the care and feeding of the steam torpedoes on submarines, destroyers, or motor torpedo boats.

The power plant of a gas-steam torpedo consists of a pair of turbines and a gear-reduction engine. In most of the gas-steam torpedoes, energy is provided by compressed air and alcohol. In the Mark 16 type, the energy source is alcohol and a concentrated solution of hydrogen peroxide.

either way the best source of alcohol was ethyl alcohol...grain alcohol.

The navy denatured it with certain disagreeable substances which didnt inpair its combustion abilitys. usually the people with time on their hands re-distilled it and got the alcohol back to a drinkable nature.

it was very potent stuff. close to 190 proof, much like ever clear is. you had to cut it to make it drinkable. orange juice worked well. any kind of fruit punch was tolerable.

i once went to a grain alcohol party....once