In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln instituted a naval blockade of Southern ports, which crippled the South's efforts to obtain war materiel from abroad.
In 1864, Union Navy Lieutenant William B.
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. 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.
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 December 21, 1866. The first trials were not successful as the weapon was unable to maintain a course on a steady depth.
After much work, Whitehead introduced his "secret" in 1868 which overcame this.
Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945.
The French Navy followed suit in 1878 with Torpilleur No 1, launched in 1878 though she had been ordered in 1875. Another early such ship was the Norwegian warship , ordered from Thornycroft shipbuilding company, England, in either 1872 or 1873, and built at Thornycroft's shipyard at Church Wharf in Chiswick on the River Thames.
The introduction of the torpedo provided a weapon that could cripple, or even sink, any battleship. The first warship of any kind to carry self-propelled torpedoes was HMS Vesuvius of 1873.
The French Navy followed suit in 1878 with Torpilleur No 1, launched in 1878 though she had been ordered in 1875. Another early such ship was the Norwegian warship , ordered from Thornycroft shipbuilding company, England, in either 1872 or 1873, and built at Thornycroft's shipyard at Church Wharf in Chiswick on the River Thames.
The French Navy followed suit in 1878 with Torpilleur No 1, launched in 1878 though she had been ordered in 1875. Another early such ship was the Norwegian warship , ordered from Thornycroft shipbuilding company, England, in either 1872 or 1873, and built at Thornycroft's shipyard at Church Wharf in Chiswick on the River Thames.
It entered service in 1876 and was armed with self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. As originally built, Lightning had two drop collars to launch torpedoes; these were replaced in 1879 by a single torpedo tube in the bow.
Rap was outfitted with launch racks for the new self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes in 1879. ==Early use in combat== The first recorded launch of torpedoes from a torpedo boat—which itself was launched from a torpedo boat tender—in an actual battle was by future Russian Admiral Stepan Makarov on January 16, 1878, who used self-propelled Whitehead's torpedoes against the Ottoman gunboat İntibâh during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.
The French Navy followed suit in 1878 with Torpilleur No 1, launched in 1878 though she had been ordered in 1875. Another early such ship was the Norwegian warship , ordered from Thornycroft shipbuilding company, England, in either 1872 or 1873, and built at Thornycroft's shipyard at Church Wharf in Chiswick on the River Thames.
Rap was outfitted with launch racks for the new self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes in 1879. ==Early use in combat== The first recorded launch of torpedoes from a torpedo boat—which itself was launched from a torpedo boat tender—in an actual battle was by future Russian Admiral Stepan Makarov on January 16, 1878, who used self-propelled Whitehead's torpedoes against the Ottoman gunboat İntibâh during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.
It entered service in 1876 and was armed with self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. As originally built, Lightning had two drop collars to launch torpedoes; these were replaced in 1879 by a single torpedo tube in the bow.
Rap was outfitted with launch racks for the new self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes in 1879. ==Early use in combat== The first recorded launch of torpedoes from a torpedo boat—which itself was launched from a torpedo boat tender—in an actual battle was by future Russian Admiral Stepan Makarov on January 16, 1878, who used self-propelled Whitehead's torpedoes against the Ottoman gunboat İntibâh during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.
Four torpedo reloads were carried. A number of torpedo gunboat classes followed, including the , the , the and the – all built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s and the 1890s.
Essentially very small cruisers, torpedo gunboats were equipped with torpedo tubes and an adequate gun armament, intended for hunting down smaller enemy boats. The first example of this was , designed by Nathaniel Barnaby in 1885.
Four torpedo reloads were carried. A number of torpedo gunboat classes followed, including the , the , the and the – all built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s and the 1890s.
However, by the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats had been made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the torpedo boat destroyers, which were much faster. The first ships to bear the formal designation "torpedo boat destroyer" (TBD) were the of two ships and of two ships of the Royal Navy, ordered from Yarrows in 1892 by Rear Admiral Jackie Fisher.
The first sinking of an armoured ship by a torpedo boat using self-propelled torpedoes, the , occurred during the battle of Caldera Bay during 1891 Chilean Civil War. In the late 19th century, many navies started to build torpedo boats in length, armed with up to three torpedo launchers and small guns.
However, by the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats had been made obsolete by their more successful contemporaries, the torpedo boat destroyers, which were much faster. The first ships to bear the formal designation "torpedo boat destroyer" (TBD) were the of two ships and of two ships of the Royal Navy, ordered from Yarrows in 1892 by Rear Admiral Jackie Fisher.
The loss of even a squadron of torpedo boats to enemy fire would be more than outweighed by the sinking of a capital ship. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 was the first great war of the 20th century.
Russo-Japanese Naval War 1904–1905, Vol.
The IJN deployed approximately 21 TBs during the conflict, and on 27 May 1905 the Japanese torpedo boat destroyers and TBs launched 16 torpedoes at the battleship , Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky's flagship at the battle of Tsushima.
In 1915, the Admiralty produced a Staff Requirement requesting designs for a Coastal Motor Boat for service in the North Sea.
A total of 39 such vessels were built. In 1917 Thornycroft produced an enlarged overall version.
At least two unexplained losses due to fires in port are thought to have been caused by a build-up of petrol vapour igniting. Italian torpedo boats sank the Austrian-Hungarian in 1917, and in 1918.
At least two unexplained losses due to fires in port are thought to have been caused by a build-up of petrol vapour igniting. Italian torpedo boats sank the Austrian-Hungarian in 1917, and in 1918.
22) during Operation Pedestal on 13 August 1942.
United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland; 1977.
"Destroyer", Bison Books (London) 1977.
As a result, fast attack craft are being replaced for use in naval combat by larger corvettes, which are able to carry radar-guided anti-aircraft missiles for self-defense, and helicopters for over-the-horizon targeting. Although torpedo boats have disappeared from the majority of the world's navies, they remained in use until the late 1990s and early 2000s in a few specialised areas, most notably in the Baltic.
Chatham Publishing, 1 & 2 Faulkner's Alley, Cowcross Street, London, Great Britain, 1996.
As a result, fast attack craft are being replaced for use in naval combat by larger corvettes, which are able to carry radar-guided anti-aircraft missiles for self-defense, and helicopters for over-the-horizon targeting. Although torpedo boats have disappeared from the majority of the world's navies, they remained in use until the late 1990s and early 2000s in a few specialised areas, most notably in the Baltic.
"Hunters of the Night: Confederate Torpedo Boats in the War Between the States" Burd Street Press, 2001. Jentschura, Hansgeorg.
Published by Stratus s.c., 2010.
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