Mk VIII 21 inch torpedo arming pistol storage box

Grey painted reinforced wooden container box for a Mk 8 21 inch torpedo arming pistol. The exterior of the box has heavy paint chipping and scratches to the surface. There are several stencilled markings, stampings and a sticker on the front of the box. The most prominent marking being stencilled in white '21" PISTOL / 545 042 / BES006'. Under this in red stencil is 'IMPACT ONLY'. A centrally mounted key lock is located on the front of the box along the top edge. '1000 Y.S.P' is stencilled in white above the key hole and 16287 impressed below the key hole. A white paper sticker with hand written faded blue ink 'C? as in IV TIAD 9/5/84' is located to the left of the key hole. The box is fitted with a pair of rope handles. A pair of brass hooks secure the folding lid to the box. A rectangular piece of white paper with modifications and other data printed and hand written on it is glued inside the lid. A pair of vertically arranged concave wooden supports with felt covers are fitted to the inside of the lid. On either side of these supports is handwritten in white chalk 'BE8006' and what appears to have been where a glued piece of paper was removed. The bottom half of the box has an reinforced oval shaped hole for the storage of the arming pistol. Within the bottom of the box are five circular natural metal containers each measuring 42 mm in diameter by 15 mm depth. The top and bottom surface of each one has a perforated surface which is stamped 'SILICA GEL / AIR DRYER'. A metal key is also stored loosely within the base, attached to this key via a piece of twine is an metal tag with '16287' stamped into one side. A pair of circular 32 mm diameter brass screws with threaded end pieces are also stored within the base. Attached to this larger screw is a smaller 25 mm diameter brass screw. A pair of black painted T-shaped metal bars measuring 142 mm height x 76 mm width x 9 mm depth for lifting the heavy torpedo arming pistol are stored inside the base of the box on the lower right and lower left sides. These two T bars are screwed into a diagonally opposed holes for lifting the pistol out of the box. A rectangular plastic bag is also stored inside the box. This bag contains an oval shaped rubber seal.

This torpedo arming pistol storage box is a type example from the submarine launched Mk 8 (Mark VIII) 21 inch torpedo which was first introduced into British service in 1925. The full torpedo measures 533 mm (21 inches) in diameter and is 6.6 metres long. It carries a 365kg Torpex explosive warhead in the nose and is capable of moving at 41 knots (76km/h) for 10,000 metres or at 35 knots (65 km/h) for 13,700 metres. This torpedo type was used heavily during the Second World War onboard Royal Navy submarines and torpedo boats and it saw service up to the 1980s with many Western navies around the world including the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The Mk8 was last operationally during the Falklands conflict where a Royal Navy Submarine, the HMS Conqueror sank the Argentinian cruiser Belgrano with a pair Mk8 21 inch torpedoes. It was the standard anti-ship torpedo of many Western Navies including the Royal Australian Navy where it was used onboard RAN Oberon 'O boat' class submarines alongside other torpedo types and encapsulated Harpoon missiles.