| Types of Submarine Torpedoes
Demijohn Torpedoes
- McDaniel - Ewing 1862 Demijohn
Torpedo- This torpedo achieved some prominence only because ot
was the first torpedo ever to sink a man-of-war in combat. On December
12, 1862, a torpedo of this type, placed in the Yazoo River
with others, sank the USS Cairo, a Union ironclad vessel. Until this
time torpedoes were generally ineffective for one reason or another.
The sinking of the Cairo, at once, gave caution to the U.S. Navy and Hope
for the Confederacy.
This torpedo was engineered and developed by Zere
McDaniel and Francis M. Ewing. Both men had been commissioned as Acting
Masters in the Confederate Navy. They experimented with various fuze
mechanisms from May 1862 until thier success in December 1862. It is
believed that the fusing mechanism was developed by Gunner John Burton, CSN,
in conjunction with suggestions by Colonel Thomas Weldon, CSA.
This torpedo
consist of a 5 gallon glass demijohn filled with cannon powder. A common
artillery friction primer is inserted into the cannon powder. A
copper wire attached to the friction primer and extended out of the neck of
the demijohn. The neck of the demijohn is sealed with a wood shaft with
a groove in it for the wire. On top of the wooden shaft are placed
successive layers of gutta percha, beeswax, beef tallow, lead carbonate, and a
final covering of gutta percha.
With the torpedo
thus sealed, it is floated in the river using a piece of log. The log is
anchored to the bottom with a wire or rope. The copper wire trigger
of one torpedo is connected to the copper wire trigger of an identical torpedo
some distance away. Set up in this way, when the line between the
torpedoes is snagged by a passing boat, the torpedoes are drawn to the sides
of the boat and exploded when the anchored line tightens sufficently to allow
the trigger line to pull the firction primer wire.
If the torpedo
is not immediately against the side of the boat, the resultant explosion will
force its way harmlessly through the water to the surface. However, if
the torpedo is against the hull of the boat, the resultant explosion caves in
the hull of the boat and the boat usually sinks.
This type of
torpedo was used exclusively on western rivers and waterways as far as
research has shown.
-
1864 Demijohn
Torpedo- In August 1864, Rear Admiral David Porter reported
another type of demijohn torpedo used by Confederate forces in an attack on
the USS Lafayette on the Mississippi River. An identical device was used
in an attack on the USS Ozark at Tunica Bend, Mississippi River, in September
1864. The style is reminiscent of a similar attempt reported by McDaniel
and Ewing in late 1862. In their attempt, they used a hollow log as a
transport device to carry the torpedo downstream and up against the ship's
hull. The two men in the hollow log guided the following torpedo against
the hull and then command detonated the device by pulling a small rope
attached to the torpedoes detonator.
In the present instance,
a more complex machine was used. Two men still floated down the river
with the device using planks as buoyant devices for them. The torpedo, a
demijohn containing 40 pounds of blackpowder was contained in a frame which
held the torpedo underwater. The torpedo floated by a buoyant log
attached to the frame. A line from the plank was fed to a trigger bar on
the demijohn frame. The trigger bar was connected to four lines which,
in turn, connected to four friction primers buried in the demijohn. This
allowed for positive detonation in the event one primer failed.
Both attempts failed and
both devices were recovered by Union naval forces. This device was only used
on the Mississippi River.
Floating Keg Torpedo with Slowmatch
This type of early, and largely ineffective, torpedo
was one of the first encountered by Union forces in 1861. The device was a
metal container of gunpowder, suspended below and attached to a large keg.
A connecting tube ran from the keg into the container. The keg was left
open at the top. A slowmatch fuze was pushed into the container, through
the tube, and left in the open keg. When the tide and weather conditions
were right, the device was lowered into the water. The slow match is lit
and the device left to float on the tide toward the enemy ships. The
theory was that the device floated against the hull of a ship or fouled in
anchor chains. When the slowmatch burned down, the device exploded.
Raines Keg Torpedo
Photo Courtesy of West Point Museum
Probably the most common type of torpedo used by the
Confederate forces was the Raines keg torpedo, first developed by General
Gabriel Raines. The construction of the torpedo body was very
simple. It was a 5-gallon beer keg. The interior of the keg was
coated with a tar/resin combination to make it watertight. The exterior of
the keg was also coated with tar/resin as a precaution. With the keg thus
watertight, the keg was filled with gunpowder. One of the several
different types of fuzes were placed in a hole drilled in the keg. Common
contact fuzes of the Savannah variant using Raines sensitive friction primers,
sulphuric acid chemical fuze, or electrical fuses were used.
After initial experimentation, it was discovered
that the keg required coneshaped ends to prevent the the keg from rolling in the
current or tide and being dislodged or destroyed. Solid pieces of pine log,
shaped like a cone, were affixed to each end of the keg, giving the torpedoes
thier "football appearance".
These torpedoes used and anchor to hold them in
place. An air chamber was left in the top of the torpedo to give it some
buoyancy. The torpedo would bob just below the surface of the water
waiting for a ship to come in contact with it. These torpedoes,
manufactured in the thousands, were used extensively on the southeastern U.S.
coast from North Carolina to Mississippi, particularly at Mobile Bay,
Alabama.
Raines Style Metal Case Torpedo
Photo Courtesy of West Point Museum
Simply a variation in materials. This torpedo
was a metal casing syled in the manner of the Raines keg torpedo. It was
fired with a mechanical percussion device, but could have been fitted with any
type of fuse.
Fretwell-Singer Torpedo
Photo Courtesy of West Point Museum
One of Dr. J.R. Fretwell and E.C. Singer's (of
Singer sewing machines) more important inventions was thier joint effort metal
case torpedo. This torpedo is uniquely allowed the 20 to 150 pound
blackpowder charge and the detonating device to remain sealed inside the
container. This eliminated the problem of water contamination of the main
charge or the detonator.
Fretwell and Singer had overcome two major problems
with torpedoes: water damage to tthe detonator and main charge; and, an obvious
float which marked the location of some early torpedoes. Too, it was a
truley self-detonating device which did away with the necessity of an operator
to pull a lanyard or close a switch.
This torpedo used the air chamber above the main
charge to float the device in an upright position. The torpedo was
anchored with the usual mushroom anchor. The spring loaded plunger was
externally mounted on a shaft extending through the container.
The somewhat unique triggering device involved a
large metal plate situated on the top of the torpedo. This plate was
arranged with a hole in the middle which fit over a small protrusion of the of
the central shaft. To the plate was connected a wire. This wire, in
turn, was connected to the release mechanism on the spring loaded plunger.
This torpedo was relatively safe and easy to
plant. A rope was threaded through the eye of the bolt at upper end of the
torpedo. The torpedo was lowered into the water with the rope. When
set at the appropriate depth, the rope was pulled through the eye. There
was a safety pin at the bottom of the the release mechanism. This safety
pin was connected to a long line. When safely away from the torpedo, the
safety pin line was pulled, the pin came out and the torpedo was armed.
In theory, a passing ship dislodged the metal plate,
which fell to the waterway floor. In so doing, the plate wire pulled the
release mechanism. and fired the torpedo directly under the ship.
Brooke's Swaying Torpedo
Photo Courtesy of West Point Museum
Widely used in the Virginia waterway
system, this torpedo is attributed to Confederate artillery genius, John
Brooke. It consists of a cone toped by a dome. Construction material
was either tin or copper. The dome portion was fitted with with several
fuzes that contained Raines sensitive primers.
The dome portion was placed in the up postition with
the pointed end of the cone pointing down. At the pointed end of the cone,
a wooden spar was inserted. At the other end of the spar, a flexible,
universal joint was fixed. The universal joint was attached to an
anchor. This set up allowed the torpedo to "sway" with the current.
keeping it under the waterline.
A novelty of this type of torpedo is that the
Confederate designed a device to inhibit its removal (now called and anti-lift
device). A second torpedo, in the general shape of a turtle was affixed to
the swaying torpedo by a line. The turtle was a simple device with a
friction pull fuze and an explosive charge. If someone attempted to
remove the swaying torpedo, that attached line would fire the turtle torpedo
and, if the boat was near it, destroy the boat.
Large Boiler Torpedo
These were the giants of the torpedo
business. Once Confederates discovered that the torpedo could be detonated
accurately with electricity, they set about building torpedoes large enough to
sit on the bottom of a waterway and still sink a boat with thier
explosion. They had experimented enough to discover that water rapidly
dissipated the strength of the explosion. A torpedo set too deep for the
size of its charge will not injur a ship. Boiler casings of 3/4 inch, 1/2
inch, 3/8 inch thick material have been reported.
Initially, old boilers were used. These
boilers were able to contain several hundred pounds of blackpowder.
Through experimentation, Confederates found that bigger was better. They
ultimately were able to feild boiler torpedoes, including custom made cases,
containing 5,000 pounds of black powder. When these torpedoes were used
operationally, they completely destroyed the vessels over them.
Large boiler torpedoes never really went away.
During the Vietnam war, one author observed Viet Cong makeshift torpedoes of
this variety. Those interested should see Dept. of the Army Technical
Manual 31-200-1, April 1966, pages 152-153, for examples of this type of
electrically detonated, boiler torpedoes used against allied vessels.
Frame Torpedoes
This torpedo was designed and used in
the waters around Charleston, SC. The torpedo was a large wooden frame built
in the shape of a wedge. At the top of the frame, one each one of the
five or six, stanchions was affixed an explosive warhead, This warhead
was cast iron (400 pounds), filled with about 27 pounds of blackpowder and
fuzed with a variant of the Screw thread adjustment Raines sensitive fuze
cantaining 3 Raines sensitive primers. When a ship ran upon the torpedo,
it exploded and blew a hole in the hull of the ship.
A drawback of the frames was thier vulnerbility to
rot, worms, and other sealife. After a period of time in the water, the
frames were rotted and had to be replaced. They had to be used in areas
of little tidal flow since they would usually be exposed if the water dropped
significantly.
- Frame Mortar Torpedo- This torpedo is a variant
of the Fixed frame torpedo. The difference was the warhead
configuration. In this model, the holder is a tube with the warhead
inserted in the tube. When a boat ran up on the war head, the warhead
was pushed down and a primer in the base of the warhead struck against the
base of the tube. A small flat spring kept the warhead off the primer until it
was pushed by contact. There was also a set screwon the side which aided
in holding the warhead away from the primer. The primer in the base of
the warhead ignited a charge in the warhead. This explosion shot the
warhead out of the tube and into the hull of the ship.
This type was also referred to as a
submarine mortar battery. These torpedoes were known in use at Fort
McAllister, GA, near Savannah.
Drift Percussion Propeller Torpedoes
Photo Courtesy of West Point Museum
This torpedo was used exclusively on
the Altlantic coast. It is of technical manufacture indicating significant
equipment was available to fabricate the parts. The body of the torpedo
and the explosive magazine are formed of sheet metal.
A float was attached to teh ring bolt in the top of
the torpedo. The torpedo was released upstream to float on the current
toward enemy ships. When the torpedo ran up against an enemy ship, it
stopped. The current of the waterway then began turning the propeller at
the bottom. Upon a couple of revolutions, the striker was released and
exploded the torpedo. Of course, if the torpedo hit any other obstacle
such as a piling, a tree in the waterway, a rock or anything else , it
exploded.
The propeller for this type of torpedo was housed
inside a wooden box. The purpose for this is unknown. However, it
could have been a device to prevent the propeller from fouling of jamming
against the hull.
The firing mechanism is similar to that of the
Fretwell-Singer percussion torpedo. When the spring is released, it allows
a four-pointed stricker to hit the bottom of the torpedo, firing four percussion
primers situated in the pase of the powder magazine. There were four
percussion primers in this model to provide a redundant firing system. The
primers were fixed against the lower end of the magazine by attaching them to
the central axial rod.
This is also known as a current torpedo.
Spar Torpedoes
- CSS Hunley Singer type spar
torpedo-
This spar torpedo was developed by E.C. Singer (of
Singer Sewing Machine Fame) specifically for use on the submarine, CSS
Hunley. Its development was nessutated by earlier trials aboard the
Hunley which involved the use of Raines Keg torpedoes. In attempting to
release keg torpedoes, the crew found that they couldn not control thier
movement and the uncontrolled, floating kegs offered a dangerous opportunity
to sink the submarine.
Singer was asked to develop a spar torpedo for use
aboard the submarine. The result was a can shaped torpedo with a
redundant, triple primer in the front of the torpedo. Each primer was a
rod, fitted with a spring which held the rod under tension. When the
torpedo was struck against the hull of a ship, a lanyard pull released the
rod, which pushed into the primer and struck another fixed rod, which held a
percussion cap on each end. The percussion caps were surrounded by
mealed powder, leading into the main charge. A safety pin was fitted
into the top of the main rodso that the torpedo could be handled safely.
The pin was removed after the torpedo had been mounted and prepared for
use.
Historians, preservationist, and reenactors are
studying the recovered Hunley for more information about the torpedo.
This toroedo was only used once, to sink the USS
Housatonic in Charleston Harbor.
- CSS David type spar torpedo-
This is a very simple construction.
This torpedo is simply a container of poweder on the end of a pole. The
end of the container is fitted with Captain Lee's acid/chemical fuze or
several Raines sensitive primers.
The pole was affixed to a torpedo boat or
gunboat at the bow. The torpedo was kept above the waterline until just
prior to ramming. Care had to be taken that when the torpedo was placed
in the water, that the pole did not break allowing the torpedo to buckle back
under the torpedo boat.
The torpedo had to be lowered into and
under the water to allow it to strike the hull of the enemy ship below the
waterline. It was desirable that the torpedo be command detonated.
Early trials found a problem with this though in that if the torpedo was
command detonated and the person firing the devise hesitated even slightly,
that a rebound would take place and the intervening body of water cushioned
the explosion.
There were a couple of varinats of the
Confederate torpedo boat. The semisubmersuble, of which several were
made, was generically referred to as a David, after the name of the first of
these boats launched by the Confederates, the CSS David. This boat was
submerged except for the very top of the boat. The boat was never
designed to be a submarine, but simply to be a stealthy boat for approaching
enemy ships.
A second torpedo boat was simply a small,
steam powered launch with a spar torpedo fixed to the bow. These drew
about as much water as a boat's launch. This type of torpedo boat,
commanded by Lt. Hunter Davidson, CSN, attacked and severly damaged the USS
Minnesota at Newport News, VA, in April 1864.
A general rule of thumb was that the torpedo on
the spar had to be at least 15 and preferrably 25 feet forward of the
bow.
Some readers might be of the opinion that spar
torpedoes are only rammed into sides of ships. This manner of attack
would only blow a hole in the side of the ship. If the hole was not
below that waterline, the ship will not sink. So, it is imperative that
the torpedo explode as far below the waterline of a vessel as possible.
Too, the force of the explosion is dissipated in the atmosphere if not
underwater where a tamping effect is created by the water. Lt. William
B. Cushing, USN, attacked the CSS Albemarle with a spar torpedo that operated
in a different manner.
The novelty of this torpedo is that it is command
detonated by a sailor, after it has been released from its spar socket and it
has been allowed to sink slightly below the target vessels waterline.
With the nose of the torpedo in a downward position, a pull on the lanyard
released the grapeshot to fall and hit the primer, detonating the torpedo.
This torpedo was used on one occasion to sink the
CSS Ablemarle.
Hydrogen Torpedo
This torpedo was developed very late in
the war and is not known to have been specifially used. However, it was
reported and illustrated by Lt. Mitchie. The torpedo works on a chemical
reaction theory. A small container of pressurized hydrogen gasis placed on
the torpedo. A valve to release the gas is put in line between the gas
container and a piece of spongy platinum inside the torpedo case.
A release valve was designed that operated when a
ship contacted a four bladed spinner floating near the the surface. When
the spinner turned, the valve opened the hydrogen gas flowed through a pipe to
the spongy platinum. When the hydrogen mixed with the platinum, the
platinum became very hot. This heat detonated the main charge of the
torpedo.
Floating Metal Case Torpedo
Photo Courtesy of West Point Museum
This torpedo is considered seperately
because it was a transitional model and there are three known variation.
It used a fraction primer firing device. After the torpedo was filled with
powder and the friction primer affixed to the center of the main charge, the
case was sealed. The line from the friction primer pull was attached to
the wire through a box on the side of the casing. The box was filled with
beeswax and tallow for waterproofing. When the trigger line was pulled,
the wire attached to the friction primer pulled and fired the
torpedo.
Variation A of this
torpedo is the original design, wherein the friction primer was held in place by
three wires soldered to various locations on the interior of the container.
Variation B of this
torpedo was changed so that the friction primer was held in place by a metal bar
soldered between the two sided of the container.
Variation C of this
torpedo was unique in that it had a redundant firing mechanism using two
friction primers held in place near the end of the torpedo.
The filling hole on two of the variations is a small
funnel shaped fixture which was reportedly filled with gutta percha after
filling.
The container used for these torpedoes appeared to
be common tin can, which may have been used to contain oils or syrups.
These were reported used in three configurations:
(1) Attached in a series so that the torpedoes could be fired by each other in a
string, (2) anchored on the bottom with several trigger lines floated on the
water, connected to small debris, and (3) command detonated.
Musket Torpedo
An odd torpedo, or local construction,
was found in the Stono River near Charleston, SC. The torpedo was
constructed of a large powder magazine of powder, held underwater by a bag
containing two artillery solid shot. The firing device was a standard
percussion musket with the barrel pointed down into the powder. The musket
was placed on a floating disk of wood. This disk contained four paddles,
each of which was constructed so as to pull the trigger of the cocked
musket. When a boat or other object came into contact with one of the
paddles, the lever attached to teh padcdle would trip the trigger, firing the
musket and subsequently the main charge.
The obvious problem with this torpedo was its
susceptibility to water damage at the lock location, The slightest wavelet
would either dampen the percussion cap or possibly even wash it away. Also
any floating debris which hit the paddle would detonate the device.
There is one report that this torpedo was made by
Major Stephen Elliott, CSA.
Percussion Cap Lock Torpedo
This is an early war, crude torpedo.
Its unique design quality was that it intended to let waterway traffic traverse
it safely in one direction and destroy them in the opposite
direction.
The container was a simple cylinder with cones at
both ends, similar to the Raines keg torpedo. The cylinder contained the
explosive main charge. The firing mechanism was a common percussion lock
fitted inside the cylinder. A trigger line was extended outside the
case. To the trigger line was affixed a rod with a "snake's tongue" prong
at the end.
The torpedo wa anchored low at the end from which
friendly traffic would emerge and hich at the end where enemy traffic would
come. The prong was situated so that a ship passing at the high end passed
safely over the prong. However, a ship coming from the other direction,
would engage the prong and fire the torpedo.
There is little evidence that these torpedoes were
used in any great quanity. They were known to be used only on the western
waters near Fort Henry and possibly Memphis.
Floating Horological
See section on special
operations torpedoes.
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