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A spar torpedo is a
Perhaps the most famous use of spar torpedoes during the U.S. Civil War was by the Confederate submarine '' H. L. Hunley'', which managed to sink the Union screw sloop USS ''Housatonic'' on February 17, 1864, although the ''Hunley'' was lost. Spar torpedoes were also used by the ''David''-class of semi-submersible attack boats. In April 1864, Confederate torpedo boat CSS ''Squib'' employed a spar torpedo against USS ''Minnesota''.
At night on October 27–28, 1864, Lieutenant Cushing employed a spar torpedo to sink the Confederate ironclad ram CSS ''Albemarle''. The sinking of the ''Albemarle'' was the Union navy's only successful sinking of a Confederate vessel by torpedo. Lieutenant Cushing employed a spar torpedo designed by John Lay.
The semi-submersible 1864 Union craft USS ''Spuyten Duyvil'' employed a spar torpedo, but not with a barbed attachment to the target. Owing to an innovative directable and extensible spar, this craft could release a slightly buoyant mine underneath the target, which would be exploded by the means described above. (This craft was not employed against Confederate targets, but was used to clear wreckage from rivers.)
Spar torpedoes were also used on small wooden launches in the late 19th century, although they were not very useful weapons. The locomotive torpedo (the contemporary term for the modern self-propelled
A spar torpedo is a weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...
consisting of a bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
placed at the end of a long pole, or spar, and attached to a boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...
. The weapon is used by running the end of the spar into the enemy ship. Spar torpedoes were often equipped with a barbed spear at the end, so it would stick to wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
en hulls. A fuse could then be used to detonate it.
Invention
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...
had written about submarine (i.e., subsurface) marine torpedoes in 1810, and experiments were conducted using spar torpedoes that year. Boats carrying spar torpedoes were used during the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
.
E. C. Singer, a private engineer who worked on secret projects for the benefit of the Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...
, constructed a spar torpedo during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. His torpedo was detonated by means of a trigger mechanism adapted from a rifle lock (see flintlock mechanism
The flintlock mechanism is a type of lock (firearm), lock used on muskets, rifles, and pistols from the early 17th to the mid-19th century. It is commonly referred to as a "flintlock" (without the word ''mechanism''). The term is also used for th ...
for a similar device). The spring-loaded trigger was detonated by means of a long cord attached to the attacking vessel. The attacking vessel rammed its target, embedding the barbed torpedo in its hull, then backed off. When the attacker reached the limit of the trigger cord, the torpedo was detonated.
Use
Perhaps the most famous use of spar torpedoes during the U.S. Civil War was by the Confederate submarine '' H. L. Hunley'', which managed to sink the Union screw sloop USS ''Housatonic'' on February 17, 1864, although the ''Hunley'' was lost. Spar torpedoes were also used by the ''David''-class of semi-submersible attack boats. In April 1864, Confederate torpedo boat CSS ''Squib'' employed a spar torpedo against USS ''Minnesota''.
At night on October 27–28, 1864, Lieutenant Cushing employed a spar torpedo to sink the Confederate ironclad ram CSS ''Albemarle''. The sinking of the ''Albemarle'' was the Union navy's only successful sinking of a Confederate vessel by torpedo. Lieutenant Cushing employed a spar torpedo designed by John Lay.
The semi-submersible 1864 Union craft USS ''Spuyten Duyvil'' employed a spar torpedo, but not with a barbed attachment to the target. Owing to an innovative directable and extensible spar, this craft could release a slightly buoyant mine underneath the target, which would be exploded by the means described above. (This craft was not employed against Confederate targets, but was used to clear wreckage from rivers.)
Spar torpedoes were also used on small wooden launches in the late 19th century, although they were not very useful weapons. The locomotive torpedo (the contemporary term for the modern self-propelled torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
) replaced the spar torpedo as a weapon for submarines
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or info ...
and small boats in the 1870s.
Spar torpedoes were also used by Romanian forces during the country's war of independence. On May 26, 1877, the craft '' Rândunica'' sank the Ottoman river monitor ''Seyfi'' on the Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
.
French admiral Courbet made good use of two spar torpedo boats at the Battle of Fuzhou on August 23, 1884, which sank the flagship of the Chinese Fujian Fleet - corvette ''Yangwu'' and a gunboat ''Fuxing''. It showed that spar torpedoes can be effective against ships at anchor, not protected by torpedo nets and without a proper look-out. On February 14, 1885, Courbet also sank Chinese frigate ''Yuyuan'' in Battle of Shipu with two spar torpedo boats.
Spar torpedoes were superseded by the automotive torpedo.
See also
* Ramming * Fire ship * Naval drones * MTM explosive motorboat * ''Shinyo'' (suicide motorboat)Sources