The First Torpedoes in The First World War

Torpedoes were used in the First World War, against shipping and against submarines. Germany interrupted the supply lines to Britain largely by uses of submarine torpedoes which is also used very dangerous machinery and guns. Britain and its allies also used torpedoes throughout the war. “A torpedo tube is a cylinder shaped device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboard surface vessels.

One torpedo right now in the present time is called “Mark 48” Torpedo. The Mark 48 Torpedo is used to to sink deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships.” The average cost of this torpedo will be about 4 Million dollars. This torpedo isn’t just used for the United States Navy, its also used for Brazilian Navy Royal, Australian Navy Royal, Canadian Navy Royal, Netherlands Navy, and The Republic of China Navy. This torpedo weighs about 3,700 lbs! But, the length is about 19 feet max. This torpedo goes 63 miles per hour and is only used for submarines and torpedo boats not airplanes or jets, “Air Force.” Another torpedo is called an aerial torpedo, “airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, a torpedo, that an aircraft fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter drops in the water, after which the weapon propels itself to the target. The term "aerial torpedo" meant flying bombs and pilotless drone aircraft used as weapons, the precursor to modern cruise missiles. Today, the term refers primarily to water-borne torpedoes launched from the air.

On May 1, 1917, a German seaplane loosed a torpedo and sank the 2,784-long-ton (2,829 tons) British steamship Gena off Suffolk. A second German seaplane was downed by gunfire from the sinking Gena. German torpedo bomber squadrons were subsequently assembled at Ostend and Zeebrugge for further action in the North Sea. Given the way military technology spreads, once torpedo boats were introduced, a new class of small, fast warships had to be designed and built to defend capital ships from torpedo boats”. In addition to being relatively small and swift, these new warships had to be heavily armed so they could sink a lot of torpedo boats and big enough to screen the heavy battle fleet from this fearful swarm.

Technology provided an additional method for locating a submerged submarine. The destroyers were fitted with a microphone that detects sound waves on their bow and stern from the submarines motors. Three boats acting in concert, could by surveying pinpoint the exact location of the U-boat. To the everlasting confusion of naval historians as well as those who enjoy reading naval history, after World War One, the German Navy dropped the word “destroyer” and kept the words “torpedo boat.”