This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK. Motor torpedo boat development began in the early 1900s, and the vessels first saw service during World War I. However, it was not until the late 1930s that the US Navy commenced the development of the Patrol Torpedo or PT boat. The PT boat was designed for attacking larger warships with torpedoes using its 'stealth' ability, high-speed and small size to launch and survive these attacks – although they were employed in a wide variety of other missions, including rescuing General MacArthur and his entourage from the Philippines. This book examines the design and development of these unique craft, very few of which survive today, and goes on to examine their role and combat deployment in World War II.

Excerpt from Torpedoes and Torpedo-Vessels Torpedoes and Torpedo-Vessels was written by G. E. Armstrong in 1896. This is a 305 page book, containing 79020 words and 56 pictures. Search Inside is enabled for this title. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The self-propelled or locomotive torpedo was probably the greatest game-changer in the history of naval warfare. For the first time the largest warship could be sunk by a weapon carried by the smallest, and most navies were quick to see the potential. Although the 19th-century Royal Navy had a reputation for technological conservatism, it was an ‘early adopter’ of the torpedo and was instrumental in the development of the small fast craft that became the delivery system of choice, the steam torpedo boat. Britain’s most important contribution to torpedo warfare, however, was the invention of its antidote, the torpedo boat destroyer, or ‘destroyer’ as it came to be called. This often-told story has overshadowed the earlier but no less significant history of the torpedo boat itself in the Royal Navy, an injustice set to right by this new book. Torpedoes were derived from earlier underwater explosive devices – mines, spar and towed torpedoes, and the like – so the first chapter briefly reviews their history before moving on to Robert Whitehead’s revolutionary invention that made the self-propelled torpedo a practical weapon. The Admiralty was so impressed it purchased the rights to Whitehead’s device, and thereafter the Royal Navy made much of the early running in torpedo boat design. In this they were greatly assisted by existing boatbuilders like Thornycroft and Yarrow who already specialized in small fast craft. The core of this book is a detailed developmental history of British torpedo craft, from the early experiments like Vesuvius and Polyphemus, through the 1st Class TBs to the so-called Coastal Destroyers of the early 20th century. There are also separate chapters on 2nd Class boats, on Torpedo Gunboats and on the ‘Torpedo Depot Ships’ Hecla and Vulcan. The book concludes with a number of appendices devoted to background issues like quick-firing guns and reports on performance of the boats in various circumstances. As it fills a surprising gap in the technical history of British warships, this book will be welcomed by naval enthusiasts, modelmakers and historians.

The torpedo was the greatest single game-changer in the history of naval warfare. For the first time it allowed any small, cheap torpedo-firing vessel Ð and by extension a small, minor navy Ð to threaten the largest and most powerful warships afloat. The

The primary Union strategy during the American Civil War was a massive naval blockade of the entire Southern coastline of the Confederacy, and it was in the effort to counter this blockade that the Confederates developed their first submarines and torpedo boats. This book traces the development of these new technologies, including the CSS 'Little David' and 'Hunley' - respectively the first torpedo boat and submarine to sink an enemy warship. The wreck of the 'Hunley' was raised in 2000, and this is the first book ever to integrate details of its recovery with an account of Confederate submarines in action.