In 1866, Whitehead invented the first effective self-propelled torpedo, the eponymous Whitehead torpedo, the first modern torpedo. French and German inventions followed closely, and the term …

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.

Robert Whitehead’s Invention: The modern torpedo was pioneered by Robert Whitehead, an English engineer. In 1866, he developed the first self-propelled torpedo in Fiume (modern-day Rijeka, …

Torpedo comes to English by way of Latin torpēdō, which has two quite different meanings. It refers to a state of inertness, sluggishness, or lethargy, and it refers to a creature also known as the electric ray.

The development of Torpedo Mk 38, a 21-inch diameter, submarine-launched, antisurface ship torpedo with electric propulsion (primary battery) and active/passive acoustic homing, had been planned for …

Jun 7, 2024 · Torpedo development was minimal during World War I. The Mk 7 was the first steam-driven torpedo that could be fired from both destroyers and submarines. The post-World War I/pre- …

Aug 20, 2025 · Few weapons in naval warfare have captured the imagination and shaped maritime strategy quite like the torpedo. From its humble beginnings as a crude, unreliable explosive device to …

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact …

Modern torpedoes are wire-guided: a thin wire spooling from the torpedo links it to the submarine's fire control computer, from which guidance commands in the form of digital electronic signals flow.

Today’s definition of a torpedo is “a long metal cylinder with an explosive warhead, propelled through the water by an internal combustion engine or batteries.