Abstract: An open end one way torque wrench has a wrench head recess in which a pair of articulated jaw members is adapted to receive and apply torque to a multifaced element by turning the wrench in one direction, and the jaw members automatically release and move into engagement with the next succeeding faces of the element by swinging the wrench in the opposite direction. The wrench head has a substantially semicircular track on which one of the jaw members rides. The other jaw member rides a tangential extension of the track. The jaw assembly is normally biased toward a torquing shoulder from which the assembly retreats during the release and re-engagement action of the jaw assembly.