mrw311 - AnthologyMain MenuIntroductionThe Gatling Gun and Machine GunsRifles and HandgunsIronclad Battleships and Torpedo TechnologyThe Boer WarsStagnation and Fear of DestructionAnxious, Fictional Accounts of the FutureBibliographyMatthew Werkheiserbaf3c422a98f36dbd4c83c180176ff0854fcbc18
12016-11-27T03:02:05-05:00Trial of Torpedoes4plain2016-12-16T13:07:20-05:00This selection from an 1870 edition of The London Reader contains news of the testing of a torpedo and its effectiveness. Brief and surrounded by various other explanatory articles not pertaining to the torpedo itself, the conclusion made is that, had the torpedoes been loaded with a live warhead, they would have sunk every vessel they were used against. The torpedo itself was not a new concept, but the use of self-propelled weapons launched from tubes aboard ships was still a difficult technology to master. The worldwide adoption of armored-warships necessitated the development of a weapon capable of punching through the thick armor of a ship as cannonballs were no longer effective against steel plating. Whereas normal guns were capable of inflicting damage above the waterline, torpedoes were capable of exploiting a battleship's weight and use of water displacement - rather than trying to knock out the crew, a well placed hole below the waterline would cause a ship to lose ballast and inevitably sink or roll, thus knocking it out of action.