A torpedo is a self-propelled underwater weapon with an explosive warhead.
It was a British engineer Richard Whitehead who invented the self-propelled torpedo in 1866. He designed a missile launched from a ship in an underwater tube, powered by compressed air and with an internal mechanism that adjusted itself to stay at a constant depth.
Whitehead was the manager of a factory in Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). A prototype of the world's first self-propelled torpedo was constructed in Fiume by a commission placed by Whitehead and an Austro-Hungarian naval officer Giovanni Luppis.
The first ship to be sunk by Whitehead's invention was the Turkish steamer Intibah in 1878, after being hit by a torpedo launched from a Russian warship.
In August 1915 during a World War I encounter, a British Short Type 184 seaplane dropped a torpedo and sank a Turkish supply ship near the coast of Gallipoli, becoming the world's first torpedo bomber.
On May 7, 1915, U-20 torpedoed and sank the ocean liner Lusitania off the west of Ireland. Almost 1200 died including 120 Americans. The sinking was an important factor in the USA's decision to join the Allied cause.
15 year-old World War One Royal Navy officer Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave, survived being torpedoed on three different ships within one hour, all of which sunk, swimming to each after abandonment of the last. Musgrave went on to survive the war and live a full life until 1989.
The Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr, once described as the most beautiful woman in the world, helped invent a torpedo guidance system during World War II. It led to the development of GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology.
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It was a British engineer Richard Whitehead who invented the self-propelled torpedo in 1866. He designed a missile launched from a ship in an underwater tube, powered by compressed air and with an internal mechanism that adjusted itself to stay at a constant depth.
Whitehead was the manager of a factory in Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). A prototype of the world's first self-propelled torpedo was constructed in Fiume by a commission placed by Whitehead and an Austro-Hungarian naval officer Giovanni Luppis.
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| Robert Whitehead (right) examining a battered test torpedo in Fiume c. 1875. |
The first ship to be sunk by Whitehead's invention was the Turkish steamer Intibah in 1878, after being hit by a torpedo launched from a Russian warship.
In August 1915 during a World War I encounter, a British Short Type 184 seaplane dropped a torpedo and sank a Turkish supply ship near the coast of Gallipoli, becoming the world's first torpedo bomber.
On May 7, 1915, U-20 torpedoed and sank the ocean liner Lusitania off the west of Ireland. Almost 1200 died including 120 Americans. The sinking was an important factor in the USA's decision to join the Allied cause.
15 year-old World War One Royal Navy officer Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave, survived being torpedoed on three different ships within one hour, all of which sunk, swimming to each after abandonment of the last. Musgrave went on to survive the war and live a full life until 1989.
The Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr, once described as the most beautiful woman in the world, helped invent a torpedo guidance system during World War II. It led to the development of GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology.
Not all torpedoes are designed to pierce hulls then explode, some detonate below the target ship without making contact. This creates a gas bubble that causes the ship to be thrust out of the water then dropped back into the resulting void, often breaking the vessel in half and sinking it.
Source Iwm
Source Iwm
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