Torpedo

A modern torpedo, historically called a self-propelled torpedo, is a self-propelled guided projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. Torpedoes are weapons that may be launched from submarines, surface ships, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned naval mines and naval fortresses

History

The first torpedoes driven at the target were spar torpedoes – the explosive device was on the end of a spar up to 40 feet long projecting forward under the water from the attacking vessel. When driven up against the enemy and detonated a hole would be caused below the water line. These devices were used in the American Civil War.

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Attempts had been made to develop unpowered but directable towed torpedoes, such as the torpedo created by John and Frederick Harvey. Matthew F. Maury worked on an electric torpedo design during the American Civil War, but the result wasn't an effective weapon.

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The first prototypes of a self-propelled torpedo were created by Ivan Lupis-Vukić, a retired Croatian naval engineer who served in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The design was presented to the Emperor Franz Joseph in the port city of Rijeka in 1860. Robert Whitehead, an English engineer/entrepreneur, was working in the Trieste port on navy projects, so in 1864 Lupis made a contract with him in order to perfect the invention. This resulted in Minenschiff, the first self-propelling torpedo, officially presented to the Imperial Naval commission on December 21, 1866.

Related Topics:
Ivan Lupis-Vukić - Croatia - Austro-Hungarian Navy - Franz Joseph - Rijeka - 1860 - Robert Whitehead - English - Trieste - 1864 - December 21 - 1866

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After the government decided to invest in the invention, Whitehead started the first torpedo factory in Rijeka. In 1870, they improved the devices to travel up to 1,000 yards (914 m) at a speed of up to six knots, and by 1881 the factory was exporting its torpedoes to ten other countries. The torpedo was powered by compressed air and had an explosive charge of gloxyline or gun-cotton. Whitehead went on to develop more efficient devices, demonstrating torpedoes capable of 18 knots (1876), 24 knots (1886) and finally 30 knots (1890).

Related Topics:
1870 - Knot - 1881 - Gloxyline - Gun-cotton - 1876 - 1886 - 1890

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Whitehead purchased rights to the gyroscope in 1890 to improve self-regulation of his designs. Whitehead's torpedoes came to be called the Devil's device.

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In 1877 the British Admiralty paid him £15,000 for certain of his developments and he opened a new factory near Portland harbour in 1891. The largest Whitehead torpedo was 19 feet (5.8 m) long, 18 inches (457 mm) in diameter made of polished steel or phosphor-bronze, the explosive charge was up to 200 lb (90 kg) of gun-cotton. The air was compressed to around 1,300 lb/in² (approx 90 times atmospheric pressure) and drove two propellers through a three cylinder Brotherhood engine. Considerable effort was taken in trying to ensure that the torpedo self-regulated its course and depth.

Related Topics:
1877 - Admiralty - Portland harbour - 1891

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Blanco Encalada was the first ship sunk in a military action by a self-propelled torpedo from the torpedo gunboat Lynch, during the Chilean civil war on April 23 1891. During this time, the torpedo boat invented by John Ericsson gained recognition for its efficiency, and the first torpedo boat destroyers were built to counter it.

Related Topics:
Chile - April 23 - 1891 - Torpedo boat - John Ericsson - Destroyer

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Around 1897, Nikola Tesla patented a remote controlled boat and later demonstrated the feasibility of radio-guided torpedoes to the United States military. Radio remote controlled torpedoes remained uninvestigated until the 1960s.

Related Topics:
1897 - Nikola Tesla - Remote control - Boat - United States - 1960s

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During World War I, torpedoes came to mean self-propelled projectiles fired from a ship or submarine. Later, torpedoes were given (homing) guidance systems.

Related Topics:
World War I - Guidance system

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The compressed air system was improved by the addition of the heater, petrol sprayed into the expansion chamber and ignited increased the volume of gas and so more power and range was developed. Modern versions are propelled by powerful electromotors which are driven by the batteries that can deliver around 600 kW during about 10 min.

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In the inter-war years, tight budgets in nearly all navies caused them to skimp on testing their torpedoes. As a result, only the Japanese had fully-tested torpedoes at the start of the Second World War. The instrument used in German torpedoes to gauge running depth changed over time, so torpedoes of this design ran ever deeper than that dialed-in at firing as the U-Boat continued its voyage. The contact fuzes of US Navy torpedoes would not detonate with straight-on, but only at an angle, while those of the German navy had directly the opposite problem. The Royal Navy had problems as well.

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All classes of ship from destroyers to battleships were armed with torpedoes.

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