It incorporated war-tested improvements into a weapon designed to be used in unmodified United States fleet submarines.

Due to high unit cost and the Mark 14's unreliability issues being solved by mid-1943, they were never put into mass production.

The weapon was considered the United States' standard anti-shipping torpedo for twenty years;[2] despite significant numbers of Mark 14 torpedoes left over from wartime production.

This hydrogen peroxide propelled, 21-inch (53 cm) torpedo was 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 m) long and weighed 2.0 short tons (1,800 kg).

The Mod 1 Variant of the Mk 16 only contained 960 pounds (440 kg) of TPX explosive but could run around 4,500 yards longer as a result.