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Torpedo. A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially ...
torpedo, cigar-shaped, self-propelled underwater missile, launched from a submarine, surface vessel, or airplane and designed for exploding upon contact with the hulls of surface vessels and submarines. A modern torpedo contains intricate devices to control its depth and direction according to a preset plan or in response to signals received ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jan 1, 2021 · The torpedo’s offensive mode, known as compact rapid attack weapon (CRAW), is designed to give even the smallest platforms the capability to hunt submarines. The small torpedo could be carried ...
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Nov 28, 2023 · The earliest known use of the torpedo dates back to 1585 by the Dutch, which was actually a ship packed with explosives. The torpedo is a direct descendant of the mine. During the American Revolution, kegs of gunpowder took the place of ships in the 1778 Battle of the Kegs. The first American use of the torpedo dates back to 1775 when David Bushnell discovered gunpowder could explode ...
The pilot responded, “Channels full of torpedoes.”. Milner then relates that without hesitation Farragut cried: “Damn the torpedoes! Go on!”. John Crittenden Watson, Farragut’s flag lieutenant, standing on the poop deck during the battle, recounted that Farragut said: “Starboard, ring four bells, sixteen bells.”.
Jun 27, 2018 · views 3,765,089 updated Jun 27 2018. Torpedoes. The torpedo, a self‐propelled and self‐guided underwater explosive device, was invented in 1866 by Robert Whitehead, a British engineer working for the Austro‐Hungarian Navy. The U.S. Navy evinced early interest in the device and established in 1869 the Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island.
A U.S. naval officer, John Adams Howell (1840–1918), is credited with developing a self-steering torpedo; its 128-pound flywheel, spun to 10,000 rpm before launch, creating gyroscopic properties for guidance. The U.S. Navy had ordered 50 of the torpedoes in 1889.
