Robert Whitehead - Use of The Torpedo

Use of The Torpedo

Most of the world's major navies took note of the development of this device by the late 1880s. Even the extremely reduced post-Civil War United States Navy was involved in torpedo development; and established a Torpedo Facility in Newport, Rhode Island in 1870.

The first vessel sunk by self-propelled torpedoes was the Turkish steamer Intibah, on 16 January 1878, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. She was hit by torpedoes launched from torpedo boats operating from the tender Velikiy Knyaz Konstantin under the command of Stepan Osipovich Makarov.

Three naval actions during the late nineteenth century changed the world navies' perception of the torpedo:

1. In 1891, in the Chilean Civil War, the Chilean vessel Almirante Lynch, torpedoed and sank in port the rebel frigate Blanco Encalada with a 14-inch (360 mm) Whitehead torpedo at the close range of one hundred yards.
2. In 1894, in the Revolta da Armada, the rebel Brazilian vessel Aquidaban was torpedoed and sunk at night while moored in a roadstead by the Brazilian torpedo gunboat Gustavo Sampaio with a 14-inch (360 mm) Schwartzkopf torpedo, and perhaps also by the torpedo boat Affonso Pedro.
3. In 1895 during the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese battleship Dingyuan was put out of action in port by multiple torpedo hits over the course of two nights by several Japanese torpedo boats.

The risks of torpedoes to the ships that carried them were shown, however, at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, in July 1898, when the Spanish cruiser Vizcaya was severely damaged by a shell hit that detonated one of her own internally mounted bow torpedoes while it lay armed in its above-water tube. The USS Texas, who also fought in the battle, had its bow and stern tubes removed before the war under just such a concern. One of the major concerns of the US Navy in the Santiago campaign was Spanish torpedoes. All ships during the blockade of Santiago, despite the heat and to the great discomfiture of the crews, kept their portholes shut to delay sinking if the ships were struck by torpedoes or mines. During the Battle of Santiago, the Americans tried to keep about 2,000 yards from the Spanish ships, out of range of the torpedoes, although Spanish Vizcaya and Reina Mercedes tried to close the range. The USS Brooklyn had been forced into the infamous "Schley turn" in the battle by the aggressive tactics of the Reina Mercedes which would have launched torpedoes, and then was placed in long torpedo range, 1,100 yards, to the Vizcaya which was preparing to launch torpedoes before the explosion. At that time, pre-torpedo concern recommended battle ranges were about 1,000 yards so it an be presumed that the mere presence of Whitehead torpedoes significantly changed Naval combat tactics. It may have also contributed to the abysmal inaccuracy of the Spanish and American ship's guns, the American's only prevailing through overwhelming force, their telescopic and iron sights proving inadequate. It could be argued that the old doctrine of getting one's ship as close to the enemy and overwhelming them with superior firepower was defeated by the Whitehead torpedo. Ranges would very quickly extend much further and lead to the development of the first dreadnoughts and more scientific long range gunnery optics.

In 1940, the German heavy cruiser Blücher was sunk during the invasion of Norway by two, at that time very antiquated, Whitehead torpedoes, launched underwater from fixed, shore-mounted tubes.