An alternative to the Marx circuit for the production of high voltage, high current pulses is developed. It employs a water‐immersed spiral‐wound stepup transformer to go from a capacitor bank charged to 100 kV to an output of 1 MV. A method for using such a transformer to pulse charge a second capacitor bank efficiently without very tight coupling is derived. It is shown that for total transfer of energy (except for dissipation) the two resonant frequencies of the primary and secondary LC circuits (each measured with the other circuit open) should be equal, while the two normal mode frequencies of the coupled circuit should be in the ratio of 2:1, implying a coupling coefficient of 3/5. The design and operation of such a system is described.