In naval usage, the American Robert Fulton introduced the name to refer to a towed gunpowder charge used by his French submarine (first tested in 1800) to demonstrate that it could sink warships. ==History== === Middle Ages === Torpedo-like weapons were first proposed many centuries before they were successfully developed.
On 15 October 1805, while in England, Fulton put on a public display of his "infernal machine", sinking the brig Dorothea with a submerged bomb filled with of gunpowder and a clock set to explode in 18 minutes.
Fulton carried out a similar demonstration for the US government on 20 July 1807, destroying a vessel in New York's harbor.
During the War of 1812, torpedoes were employed in attempts to destroy British vessels and protect American harbors.
This prompted the British Captain Hardy to warn the Americans to cease efforts with the use of any "torpedo boat" in this "cruel and unheard-of warfare", or he would "order every house near the shore to be destroyed". Torpedoes were used by the Russian Empire during the Crimean War in 1855 against British warships in the Gulf of Finland.
was the first warship to be sunk in 1862 by an electrically-detonated mine.
Rear Admiral David Farragut's famous/apocryphal command during the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" refers to a minefield laid at Mobile, Alabama. On 26 May 1877, during the Romanian War of Independence, the Romanian spar torpedo boat attacked and sank the Ottoman river monitor Seyfi.
In 1864, Luppis presented Whitehead with the plans of the Salvacoste ("Coastsaver"), a floating weapon driven by ropes from the land that had been dismissed by the naval authorities due to the impractical steering and propulsion mechanisms. In 1866, Whitehead invented the first effective self-propelled torpedo, the eponymous Whitehead torpedo.
In 1864, Luppis presented Whitehead with the plans of the Salvacoste ("Coastsaver"), a floating weapon driven by ropes from the land that had been dismissed by the naval authorities due to the impractical steering and propulsion mechanisms. In 1866, Whitehead invented the first effective self-propelled torpedo, the eponymous Whitehead torpedo.
The result was a submarine weapon, the Minenschiff (mine ship), the first modern self-propelled torpedo, officially presented to the Austrian Imperial Naval commission on 21 December 1866. The first trials were not successful as the weapon was unable to maintain a course at a steady depth.
Subsequent investigation concluded that the warship had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo fired by a midget submarine. ==Energy sources== ===Compressed air=== The Whitehead torpedo of 1866, the first successful self-propelled torpedo, used compressed air as its energy source.
After much work, Whitehead introduced his "secret" in 1868 which overcame this.
Whitehead went on to develop more efficient devices, demonstrating torpedoes capable of in 1876, in 1886, and, finally, in 1890. Royal Navy (RN) representatives visited Rijeka for a demonstration in late 1869, and in 1870 a batch of torpedoes was ordered.
In 1870, he improved the devices to travel up to approximately at a speed of up to , and by 1881 the factory was exporting torpedoes to ten other countries.
Whitehead went on to develop more efficient devices, demonstrating torpedoes capable of in 1876, in 1886, and, finally, in 1890. Royal Navy (RN) representatives visited Rijeka for a demonstration in late 1869, and in 1870 a batch of torpedoes was ordered.
A Torpedo Test Station was set up on Rhode Island in 1870.
In 1871, the British Admiralty paid Whitehead £15,000 for certain of his developments and production started at the Royal Laboratories in Woolwich the following year.
John Ericsson invented an electrically propelled torpedo in 1873, it was powered by a cable from an external power source, as batteries of the time had insufficient capacity.
The French Navy followed suit in 1878 with , launched in 1878 though she had been ordered in 1875.
Whitehead went on to develop more efficient devices, demonstrating torpedoes capable of in 1876, in 1886, and, finally, in 1890. Royal Navy (RN) representatives visited Rijeka for a demonstration in late 1869, and in 1870 a batch of torpedoes was ordered.
At the Tientsin Arsenal in 1876, the Chinese developed the capacity to manufacture these "electric torpedoes" on their own.
Rear Admiral David Farragut's famous/apocryphal command during the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" refers to a minefield laid at Mobile, Alabama. On 26 May 1877, during the Romanian War of Independence, the Romanian spar torpedo boat attacked and sank the Ottoman river monitor Seyfi.
The introduction of the torpedo provided a weapon that could cripple, or sink, any battleship. The first boat designed to fire the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo was , completed in 1877.
Prototypes were built by John Ericsson, John Louis Lay, and Victor von Scheliha, but the first practical guided missile was patented by Louis Brennan, an emigre to Australia, in 1877. It was designed to run at a consistent depth of , and was fitted with an indicator mast that just broke the surface of the water.
It was used throughout the British Empire for more than fifteen years. Around 1897, Nikola Tesla patented a remote-controlled boat and later demonstrated the feasibility of radio-guided torpedoes to the United States military, only to be turned down. ===Use in conflict=== The Royal Navy frigate was the first naval vessel to fire a torpedo in anger during the Battle of Pacocha against rebel Peruvian ironclad on 29 May 1877.
On 16 January 1878, the Turkish steamer Intibah became the first vessel to be sunk by self-propelled torpedoes, launched from torpedo boats operating from the tender under the command of Stepan Osipovich Makarov during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.
The French Navy followed suit in 1878 with , launched in 1878 though she had been ordered in 1875.
On 16 January 1878, the Turkish steamer Intibah became the first vessel to be sunk by self-propelled torpedoes, launched from torpedo boats operating from the tender under the command of Stepan Osipovich Makarov during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.
In 1870, he improved the devices to travel up to approximately at a speed of up to , and by 1881 the factory was exporting torpedoes to ten other countries.
By 1881, nearly 1,500 torpedoes had been produced.
However, the War Office proved more amenable, and in early August 1881 a special Royal Engineer committee was instructed to inspect the torpedo at Chatham and report back directly to the Secretary of State for War, Hugh Childers.
In 1883 an agreement was reached between the Brennan Torpedo Company and the government.
The newly appointed Inspector-General of Fortifications in England, Sir Andrew Clarke, appreciated the value of the torpedo and in spring 1883 an experimental station was established at Garrison Point Fort, Sheerness on the River Medway and a workshop for Brennan was set up at the Chatham Barracks, the home of the Royal Engineers.
Between 1883 and 1885 the Royal Engineers held trials and in 1886 the torpedo was recommended for adoption as a harbour defence torpedo.
In 1885, Britain ordered a batch of 50 as torpedo production at home and at Rijeka could not meet demand. By World War I, Whitehead's torpedo remained a worldwide success, and his company was able to maintain a monopoly on torpedo production.
It was produced from 1885 to 1895, and it ran straight, leaving no wake.
Between 1883 and 1885 the Royal Engineers held trials and in 1886 the torpedo was recommended for adoption as a harbour defence torpedo.
Whitehead went on to develop more efficient devices, demonstrating torpedoes capable of in 1876, in 1886, and, finally, in 1890. Royal Navy (RN) representatives visited Rijeka for a demonstration in late 1869, and in 1870 a batch of torpedoes was ordered.
Between 1883 and 1885 the Royal Engineers held trials and in 1886 the torpedo was recommended for adoption as a harbour defence torpedo.
Such systems were used for coastal defence of the British homeland and colonies from 1887 to 1903 and were purchased by, and under the control of, the Army as opposed to the Navy.
Whitehead also opened a factory at St Tropez in 1890 that exported torpedoes to Brazil, The Netherlands, Turkey and Greece. Whitehead purchased rights to the gyroscope of Ludwig Obry in 1888 but it was not sufficiently accurate, so in 1890 he purchased a better design to improve control of his designs, which came to be called the "Devil's Device".
Whitehead went on to develop more efficient devices, demonstrating torpedoes capable of in 1876, in 1886, and, finally, in 1890. Royal Navy (RN) representatives visited Rijeka for a demonstration in late 1869, and in 1870 a batch of torpedoes was ordered.
These are now closed. Whitehead opened a new factory near Portland Harbour, England in 1890, which continued making torpedoes until the end of World War II.
Whitehead also opened a factory at St Tropez in 1890 that exported torpedoes to Brazil, The Netherlands, Turkey and Greece. Whitehead purchased rights to the gyroscope of Ludwig Obry in 1888 but it was not sufficiently accurate, so in 1890 he purchased a better design to improve control of his designs, which came to be called the "Devil's Device".
In another early use of the torpedo, the Chilean ironclad was sunk on 23 April 1891 by a self-propelled torpedo from gunboat , during the Chilean Civil War of 1891, becoming the first ironclad warship sunk by this weapon.
The United States Navy started using the Whitehead torpedo in 1892 after an American company, E.W.
In 1893, RN torpedo production was transferred to the Royal Gun Factory.
The three-bladed propeller came in 1893 and the four-bladed one in 1897.
The Howell torpedo was the only United States Navy model until Whitehead torpedoes produced by Bliss and Williams entered service in 1894.
The Chinese turret ship was purportedly hit and disabled by a torpedo after numerous attacks by Japanese torpedo boats during the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894.
It was produced from 1885 to 1895, and it ran straight, leaving no wake.
It was used throughout the British Empire for more than fifteen years. Around 1897, Nikola Tesla patented a remote-controlled boat and later demonstrated the feasibility of radio-guided torpedoes to the United States military, only to be turned down. ===Use in conflict=== The Royal Navy frigate was the first naval vessel to fire a torpedo in anger during the Battle of Pacocha against rebel Peruvian ironclad on 29 May 1877.
The three-bladed propeller came in 1893 and the four-bladed one in 1897.
By 1900, the term no longer included mines and booby-traps as the navies of the world added submarines, torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers to their fleets. Whitehead was unable to improve the machine substantially, since the clockwork motor, attached ropes, and surface attack mode all contributed to a slow and cumbersome weapon.
Such systems were used for coastal defence of the British homeland and colonies from 1887 to 1903 and were purchased by, and under the control of, the Army as opposed to the Navy.
Construction of such heated torpedoes started circa 1904 by Whitehead's company. ===Wet-heater=== A further improvement was the use of water to cool the combustion chamber of the fuel-burning torpedo.
The deployment of these new underwater weapons resulted in one battleship, two armoured cruisers, and two destroyers being sunk in action, with the remainder of the roughly 80 warships being sunk by the more conventional methods of gunfire, mines, and scuttling. On 27 May 1905, during the Battle of Tsushima, Admiral Rozhestvensky's flagship, the battleship , had been gunned to a wreck by Admiral Tōgō's 12-inch gunned battleline.
In 1906 Whitehead built torpedoes that could cover nearly at an average speed of . At higher pressures the adiabatic cooling experienced by the air as it expanded in the engine caused icing problems.
A simpler system was introduced by the British Royal Gun factory in 1908.
The British later established a Torpedo Experimental Establishment at and a production facility at the Royal Naval Torpedo Factory, Greenock in 1910.
The flagship slipped under the waves shortly thereafter, taking over 900 men with her to the bottom. ===Aerial torpedo=== The end of the Russo-Japanese War fuelled new theories, and the idea of dropping lightweight torpedoes from aircraft was conceived in the early 1910s by Bradley A.
Awarded a patent in 1912, Fiske worked out the mechanics of carrying and releasing the aerial torpedo from a bomber, and defined tactics that included a night-time approach so that the target ship would be less able to defend itself.
The first successful aerial torpedo drop was performed by Gordon Bell in 1914 – dropping a Whitehead torpedo from a Short S.64 seaplane.
Fiske reported in 1915 that, using this method, enemy fleets could be attacked within their own harbors if there was enough room for the torpedo track. Meanwhile, the Royal Naval Air Service began actively experimenting with this possibility.
The success of these experiments led to the construction of the first purpose-built operational torpedo aircraft, the Short Type 184, built from 1915. An order for ten aircraft was placed, and 936 aircraft were built by ten different British aircraft companies during the First World War.
The two prototype aircraft were embarked upon , which sailed for the Aegean on 21 March 1915 to take part in the Gallipoli campaign. On 12 August 1915 one of these, piloted by Flight Commander Charles Edmonds, was the first aircraft in the world to attack an enemy ship with an air-launched torpedo. On 17 August 1915 Flight Commander Edmonds torpedoed and sank an Ottoman transport ship a few miles north of the Dardanelles.
Two Royal Italian Navy torpedo boats scored a success against an Austrian-Hungarian squadron, sinking the battleship with two torpedoes. Initially the Imperial Japanese Navy purchased Whitehead or Schwartzkopf torpedoes but by 1917 they were conducting experiments with pure oxygen instead of compressed air.
Because of explosions they abandoned the experiments but resumed them in 1926 and by 1933 had a working torpedo.
Since compressed air contains only about 21% oxygen, engineers in Japan developed the Type 93 (nicknamed "Long Lance" postwar) for destroyers and cruisers in the 1930s.
A later version tested in the 1930s was claimed to have an effective range of . Modern torpedoes use an umbilical wire, which nowadays allows the computer processing-power of the submarine or ship to be used.
One possible exception to the pre-war neglect of torpedo development was the 45-cm calibre, 1931-premiered Japanese Type 91 torpedo, the sole aerial torpedo (Koku Gyorai) developed and brought into service by the Japanese Empire before the war.
Because of explosions they abandoned the experiments but resumed them in 1926 and by 1933 had a working torpedo.
The Type 91 had an advanced PID controller and jettisonable, wooden Kyoban aerial stabilizing surfaces which released upon entering the water, making it a formidable anti-ship weapon; Nazi Germany considered manufacturing it as the Luftorpedo LT 850 after August 1942. Many classes of surface ships, submarines, and aircraft were armed with torpedoes.
The largest warship sunk by torpedoes from small craft in World War II was the British cruiser , sunk by Italian MAS boats on the night of 12/13 August 1942 during Operation Pedestal.
Torpex was popular until the 1950s, but has been superseded by PBX compositions.
Although the US Navy did not adopt the technology until the 1960s, various spread-spectrum techniques are incorporated into Bluetooth technology and are similar to methods used in legacy versions of Wi-Fi.
The earlier version, FaT, ran out after launch in a straight line, and then weaved backwards and forwards parallel to that initial course, whilst the more advanced LuT could transit to a different angle after launch, and then enter a more complex weaving pattern. ===Radio and wire guidance=== Though Luppis' original design had been rope guided, torpedoes were not wire-guided until the 1960s. During the First World War the U.S.
The stranded boat was later recovered by Croatian trawlers, salvaged and put in service with the Croatian Navy as OB-02 Šolta. On 26 March 2010 the South Korean Navy ship ROKS Cheonan was sunk with the loss of 46 personnel.
Other damage is usually limited. The Baengnyeong incident, in which broke in half and sank off the coast South Korea in 2010, was caused by the bubble jet effect, according to an international investigation. ====Shock effect==== If the torpedo detonates at a distance from the ship, and especially under the keel, the change in water pressure causes the ship to resonate.
This work led to their induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014. === Post–World War II === Because of improved submarine strength and speed, torpedoes had to be given improved warheads and better motors.
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