Editing Torpedo (section)

==History==
=== Middle Ages ===
Torpedo-like weapons were first proposed many centuries before they were successfully developed. For example, in 1275, engineer [[Hasan al-Rammah]] – who worked as a military scientist for the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]] of Egypt – wrote that it might be possible to create a projectile resembling "an egg", which propelled itself through water, whilst carrying "fire".<ref>{{citation | first= James Riddick  | last= Partington | author-link = J. R. Partington | title=A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, Maryland | year=1999 | page=203 | isbn=0-8018-5954-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30IJLnwpc8EC}}</ref>

===Early naval mines===
{{Main|Naval mine}}
[[File:Fulton's torpedo.jpg|thumb|right|Fulton's torpedo<ref name=Lossing/>{{rp|238}}]]
[[File: Sinking torpedoes by moonlight in Charleston Harbor - Harper's Weekly, June 13, 1863.jpg|thumb|right|Confederates laying naval mines in Charleston Harbor]]

In modern language, a "torpedo" is an underwater self-propelled explosive, but historically, the term also applied to primitive naval mines and [[spar torpedoes]]. These were used on an ad-hoc basis during the early modern period up to the late 19th century.

In the early 17th century, the Dutchman [[Cornelius Drebbel]], in the employ of [[King James I of England]], invented the spar torpedo; he attached explosives to the end of a beam affixed to one of his submarines. These were used (to little effect) during the English [[Siege of La Rochelle|expeditions to La Rochelle]] in 1626.<ref name="gray">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Gray|2004}}</ref> The first use of a torpedo by a submarine was in 1775, by the American {{ship||Turtle|submersible|2}}, which attempted to lay a bomb with a timed fuse on the hull of {{HMS|Eagle|1774|6}} during the [[American Revolutionary War]], but failed in the attempt.

In the early 1800s, the American inventor [[Robert Fulton]], while in France, "conceived the idea of destroying ships by introducing floating mines under their bottoms in submarine boats".<!--Is that quote in Lossing?-->  He employed the term "torpedo" for the explosive charges with which he outfitted his submarine ''[[Nautilus (1800 submarine)|Nautilus]]''. However, both the French and the Dutch governments were uninterested in the submarine.  Fulton then concentrated on developing the torpedo-like weapon independent of a submarine deployment, and in 1804 succeeded in convincing the British government to employ his "catamaran" against the French.<ref name="davey">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Davey|2016}}</ref> An April 1804 torpedo attack on French ships anchored at [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]], and a [[Raid on Boulogne|follow-up attack in October]], produced several explosions but no significant damage, and the weapon was abandoned.

Fulton carried out a demonstration for the US government on 20 July 1807, destroying a vessel in [[New York Harbor|New York's harbor]].  Further development languished as Fulton focused on his "steam-boat matters". After the [[War of 1812]] broke out, the [[Royal Navy]] established a blockade of the [[East Coast of the United States]]. During the war, American forces unsuccessfully attempted to destroy the British [[Ship of the line|ship-of-the-line]] [[HMS Ramillies (1785)|HMS ''Ramillies'']] while it was lying at anchor in [[New London, Connecticut]]'s harbor with torpedoes launched from small boats. This prompted the captain of ''Ramillies'', [[Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet]], to warn the Americans to cease using this "cruel and unheard-of warfare" or he would "order every house near the shore to be destroyed". The fact that Hardy had been previously so lenient and considerate to the Americans led them to abandon such attempts with immediate effect.<ref name=Lossing>{{Cite book |last=Lossing |first=Benson |title=The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812 |publisher=Harper & Brothers, Publishers |location=New York |year=1868 |pages=240–243, 693 |oclc=886707577}}</ref>

Torpedoes were used by the [[Russian Empire]] during the [[Crimean War]] in 1855 against British warships in the [[Gulf of Finland]]. They used an early form of chemical detonator. During the [[American Civil War]], the term ''torpedo'' was used for what is today called a [[Naval mine#Contact mines|contact mine]], floating on or below the water surface using an air-filled [[Carboy|demijohn]] or similar flotation device. These devices were very primitive and apt to prematurely explode. They would be detonated on contact with the ship or after a set time, although electrical detonators were also occasionally used.  In 1862, the {{USS|Cairo}} became the first warship to be sunk by an electrically-detonated mine. Spar torpedoes were also used; an explosive device was mounted at the end of a spar up to {{convert|30|ft|m}} long projecting forward underwater from the bow of the attacking vessel, which would then ram the opponent with the explosives. These were used by the [[Confederate States Navy|Confederate]] submarine {{ship||H. L. Hunley|submarine|2}} to sink the {{USS|Housatonic|1861|6}}, although the weapon was apt to cause as much harm to its user as to its target. [[Rear Admiral]] [[David Farragut]]'s famous/apocryphal command during the [[Battle of Mobile Bay]] in 1864, "[[Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!]]", refers to a minefield laid at [[Mobile, Alabama]].

[[File:Romanian spar torpedo boat Rândunica.jpg|thumb|right|NMS ''Rândunica'']]

On 26 May 1877, during the [[Romanian War of Independence]], the Romanian spar torpedo boat {{ship|NMS|Rândunica||2}} attacked and sank the Ottoman [[river monitor]] ''Seyfi''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Cristian |last=Crăciunoiu |title=Romanian navy torpedo boats |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VilMAQAAIAAJ |year=2003 |publisher=Modelism |isbn=978-973-8101-17-3 |page=19}}</ref> This was the first instance in history when a torpedo boat sank its targets without also sinking.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lawrence Sondhaus|title=Navies of Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elbJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88|date=11 June 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-86978-8|pages=88–}}</ref>

===Invention of the modern torpedo===
[[File:Whitehead torpedo General Profile, The Whitehead Torpedo U.S.N.1898.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|right|Whitehead torpedo's general profile: '''A'''. war-head '''B'''. air-flask. '''B{{`}}'''. immersion chamber '''C{{`}}'''. after-body '''C'''. engine room '''D'''. drain holes '''E'''. shaft tube '''F'''. steering-engine '''G'''. bevel gear box '''H'''. depth index '''I'''. tail '''K'''. charging and stop-valves '''L'''. locking-gear '''M'''. engine bed-plate '''P'''. primer case '''R'''. rudder '''S'''. steering-rod tube '''T'''. guide stud '''U'''. propellers '''V'''. valve-group '''W'''. war nose{{refn|The war nose consisted of a detonator, fuse, and protection mechanism which armed the fuse after the torpedo had traveled a short distance.}} '''Z'''. strengthening band]]

A prototype of the self-propelled torpedo was created on a commission placed by [[Giovanni Luppis]], an [[Austro-Hungarian Navy|Austro-Hungarian naval officer]] from [[Rijeka]] (modern-day [[Croatia]]), at the time a port city of the [[Austro-Hungarian Monarchy]] and [[Robert Whitehead (engineer)|Robert Whitehead]], an English engineer who was the manager of a town factory, ''Stabilimento Tecnico di Fiume'' (STF). In 1864, Luppis presented Whitehead with the plans of the ''[[Salvacoste]]'' ("Coastsaver"), a floating weapon driven by ropes from the land that had been dismissed by the naval authorities due to the impractical steering and propulsion mechanisms.

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'' came to describe self-propelled projectiles that traveled under or on water. By 1900, the term no longer included mines and booby-traps, as the navies of the world added submarines, [[torpedo boat]]s, and [[destroyer|torpedo boat destroyer]]s to their fleets.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Gray|1975}}</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Epstein|2014}}</ref>

Whitehead was unable to improve the machine substantially, since the clockwork motor, attached ropes, and surface attack mode all contributed to a slow and cumbersome weapon. However, he kept considering the problem after the contract had finished, and eventually developed a tubular device, designed to run underwater on its own, and powered by compressed air. The result was a submarine weapon, the ''Minenschiff'' (mine ship), the first modern self-propelled torpedo, officially presented to the Austrian Imperial Naval commission on 21 December 1866.

The first trials were not successful, as the weapon was unable to maintain a course at a steady depth. After much work, Whitehead introduced his "secret" in 1868 which overcame this. It was a mechanism consisting of a [[Pendulum-and-hydrostat control|hydrostatic valve and pendulum]] that caused the torpedo's hydroplanes to be adjusted to maintain a preset depth.

===Production and spread===
[[File: Robert Whitehead with battered test torpedo Fiume c1875.jpg|thumb|right|[[Robert Whitehead (engineer)|Robert Whitehead]] (right) invented the first modern torpedo in 1866. Pictured examining a battered test torpedo in [[Rijeka]] c. 1875.]]

The Austrian government decided to invest in the invention, and the factory in Rijeka started producing more Whitehead torpedoes. In 1870, he improved the devices to travel up to approximately {{convert|1000|yards|m}} at a speed of up to {{convert|6|knot|km/h|lk=in}}. [[Royal Navy]] (RN) representatives visited Rijeka for a demonstration in late 1869, and in 1870 a batch of torpedoes was ordered. In 1871, the British Admiralty paid Whitehead [[Pound sterling|£]]15,000 for certain of his developments, and production started at the Royal Laboratories in [[Woolwich]] the following year.

The company in Fiume went bankrupt in 1873, but was reformed as [[Whitehead Torpedo Works]] a few years later, and by 1881 it was exporting torpedoes to ten other countries. The torpedo was powered by compressed air and had an explosive charge of [[gun-cotton]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maritime.org/doc/whitehead3/pg13.htm |title=The Whitehead Torpedo, notes on handling etc., U.S.N. |website=maritime.org |year=1890 |access-date=10 December 2018}}</ref> Whitehead went on to develop more efficient devices, demonstrating torpedoes capable of {{convert|18|knots|km/h}} in 1876, {{convert|24|knots|km/h}} in 1886, and, finally, {{convert|30|knots|km/h}} in 1890.

In the 1880s, a British committee, informed by hydrodynamicist Dr. [[Robert Edmund Froude|R. E. Froude]], conducted comparative tests and determined that a blunt nose, contrary to prior assumptions, did not hinder speed: in fact, the blunt nose provided a speed advantage of approximately one knot compared to the traditional pointed-nose design. This discovery allowed for larger explosive payloads and increased air storage for propulsion without compromising speed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of U.S. Navy Torpedo Development - Part 1 |url=https://www.maritime.org/doc/jolie/part1.php#page011 |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=www.maritime.org}}</ref>

[[File:Ottoman submarine Abdulhamid 1886.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Thorsten Nordenfelt|Nordenfelt]]-class [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] submarine [[Ottoman submarine Abdül Hamid|''Abdülhamid'']] (1886) was the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while submerged.]]
Whitehead opened a new factory adjacent to [[Portland Harbour]], England, in 1890, which continued making torpedoes until the end of [[World War II]]. Because orders from the RN were not as large as expected, torpedoes were mostly exported. A series of devices was produced at Rijeka, with diameters from {{convert|14|in|cm|abbr=on}} upward. The largest Whitehead torpedo was {{convert|18|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} in diameter and {{convert|19|ft|m|abbr=on}} long, made of polished steel or [[phosphor bronze]], with a {{convert|200|lb|kg|adj=on}} gun-cotton warhead. It was propelled by a three-cylinder [[Peter Brotherhood#Peter Brotherhood|Brotherhood]] radial engine, using compressed air at around {{convert|1300|psi|MPa|abbr=on|lk=on}} and driving two [[contra-rotating]] propellers, and was designed to self-regulate its course and depth as far as possible. By 1881, nearly 1,500 torpedoes had been produced. Whitehead also opened a factory at [[St Tropez]] in 1890 that exported torpedoes to Brazil, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Greece.

Whitehead purchased rights to the [[gyroscope]] of [[Ludwig Obry]] in 1888, but it was not sufficiently accurate, so in 1890 he purchased a better design to improve control of his designs, which came to be called the "Devil's Device". The firm of [[Schwartzkopff torpedo|L. Schwartzkopff]] in Germany also produced torpedoes and exported them to Russia, Japan, and Spain. In 1885, Britain ordered a batch of 50 as torpedo production at home and Rijeka could not meet demand.

In 1893, Royal Navy torpedo production was transferred to the [[Royal Gun Factory]]. The British later established a [[Torpedo Experimental Establishment]] at {{HMS|Vernon|shore establishment|6}} and a production facility at the [[Royal Naval Torpedo Factory, Greenock|Royal Naval Torpedo Factory]], [[Greenock]], in 1910. These are now closed.

By World War I, Whitehead's torpedo remained a worldwide success, and his company was able to maintain a monopoly on torpedo production. By that point, his torpedo had grown to a diameter of 18 inches with a maximum speed of {{convert|30.5|kn}} with a warhead weighing {{convert|170|lb|kg}}.

Whitehead faced competition from the American [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[John Adams Howell|John A. Howell]], whose [[Howell torpedo|design]], driven by a [[flywheel]], was simpler and cheaper. It was produced from 1885 to 1895, and it ran straight, leaving no wake. A Torpedo Test Station was set up in [[Rhode Island]] in 1870. The Howell torpedo was the only [[United States Navy]] model until an American company, [[E. W. Bliss Company|Bliss and Williams]], secured manufacturing rights to produce Whitehead torpedoes. These were put into service for the U.S. Navy in 1892. Five varieties were produced, all 18 inches in diameter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://navalunderseamuseum.org/media/6c06204b6731dd48ffff8336ffffe906.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512032155/http://navalunderseamuseum.org/media/6c06204b6731dd48ffff8336ffffe906.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 May 2013|title=Artifact Spotlight: Whitehead torpedo |website=navalunderseamuseum.org |access-date=18 December 2012}}</ref>

The Royal Navy introduced the Brotherhood wet heater engine in 1907 with the [[British 18-inch torpedo#Mark VII and VII*|18 in. Mk. VII & VII*]], which greatly increased the speed and range over compressed-air engines, and wet heater type engines became the standard in many major navies up to and during the Second World War.

[[File: The first modern-day torpedo launching station in Rijeka, 2020.jpg|thumb|The first modern-day torpedo launching station in Rijeka, 2020]]

===Torpedo boats and guidance systems===
[[File: HMS Lightning - Torpedo Boat 1877.jpg|right|thumb|{{HMS|Lightning|1876|6}}, built in 1877 as a small attack boat armed with torpedoes.]]

[[Ship of the line|Ships of the line]] were superseded by [[ironclad warship|ironclads]], large steam-powered ships with heavy gun armament and heavy armor, in the mid-19th century. Ultimately this line of development led to the [[dreadnought]] category of all-big-gun battleships, starting with {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6}}.

Although these ships were incredibly powerful, the new weight of armor slowed them down, and the huge guns needed to penetrate that armor fired at very slow rates. The development of torpedoes allowed for the possibility that small and fast vessels could credibly threaten if not sink even the most powerful battleships. While such attacks would carry enormous risks to the attacking boats and their crews (which would likely need to expose themselves to artillery fire which their small vessels were not designed to withstand), this was offset by the ability to construct large numbers of small vessels far more quickly and for a much lower unit cost compared to a capital ship.

The first boat designed to fire the self-propelled [[#Self-propelled torpedoes|Whitehead torpedo]] was {{HMS|Lightning|1876|6}}, completed in 1877. The [[French Navy]] followed suit in 1878 with {{ship|French torpedo boat|Torpilleur No 1||2}}, launched in 1878, though she had been ordered in 1875. The first torpedo boats were built at the shipyards of Sir [[John Isaac Thornycroft|John Thornycroft]] and gained recognition for their effectiveness.

At the same time, inventors were working on building a guided torpedo. Prototypes were built by [[John Ericsson]], [[John Louis Lay]], and Victor von Scheliha, but the first practical guided missile was patented by [[Louis Brennan]], an emigre to Australia, in 1877.<ref name=gray/>

[[File: Brennan torpedo launching.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Brennan torpedo]] was the first practical guided torpedo.]]
It was designed to run at a consistent depth of {{convert|12|ft|m}}, and was fitted with an indicator mast that just broke the surface of the water. At night the mast had a small light, visible only from the rear. Two steel drums were mounted one behind the other inside the torpedo, each carrying several thousand yards of high-tensile steel wire. The drums connected via a [[Differential (mechanical device)|differential gear]] to twin [[contra-rotating]] propellers. If one drum was rotated faster than the other, then the rudder was activated. The other ends of the wires were connected to steam-powered winding engines, which were arranged so that speeds could be varied within fine limits, giving sensitive steering control for the torpedo.<ref>National Archive in WO32/6064 In minute to Director of Artillery from Inspector General of Fortifications.</ref>

The torpedo attained a speed of {{convert|20|kn}} using a wire {{convert|0.04|in|mm|order=flip}} in diameter, but later this was changed to {{convert|0.07|in|mm|order=flip|abbr=on}} to increase the speed to {{convert|27|kn}}. The torpedo was fitted with elevators controlled by a depth-keeping mechanism, and the fore and aft rudders operated by the differential between the drums.<ref name="Beanse">The Brennan Torpedo by Alec Beanse {{ISBN|978-0-9548453-6-0}}</ref>

Brennan traveled to Britain, where the Admiralty examined the torpedo and found it unsuitable for shipboard use. However, the [[War Office]] proved more amenable, and in early August 1881, a special [[Royal Engineer]] committee was instructed to inspect the torpedo at Chatham and report back directly to the Secretary of State for War, [[Hugh Childers]]. The report strongly recommended that an improved model be built at government expense. In 1883 an agreement was reached between the Brennan Torpedo Company and the government. The newly appointed Inspector-General of Fortifications in England, [[Andrew Clarke (British Army officer, born 1824)|Sir Andrew Clarke]], appreciated the value of the torpedo, and in spring 1883 an experimental station was established at [[Garrison Point Fort]], [[Sheerness]], on the [[River Medway]], and a workshop for Brennan was set up at the [[Chatham Barracks]], the home of the Royal Engineers. Between 1883 and 1885 the Royal Engineers held trials, and in 1886 the torpedo was recommended for adoption as a harbor defense torpedo. It was used throughout the [[British Empire]] for more than fifteen years.<ref name="Beanse" />

===Use in conflict===
[[File:Combate de Caldera.JPG|thumb|right|Sinking of Chilean ironclad {{ship|Chilean ironclad|Blanco Encalada||2}} by a torpedo in the [[Battle of Caldera Bay]], during the [[Chilean Civil War of 1891]].]]
The [[Royal Navy]] frigate {{HMS|Shah|1873|6}} was the first naval vessel to fire a self-propelled torpedo in anger during the [[Battle of Pacocha]] against rebel Peruvian ironclad {{ship||Huáscar|ironclad|2}} on 29 May 1877. The Peruvian ship successfully outran the device.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Ironclads At War: The Origin And Development Of The Armored Battleship |last1 = Greene |first1 = Jack |publisher = Da Capo Press |location=Pennsylvania |year = 1997|isbn = 0-78674-298-4 |pages = 290|last2 = Massignani |first2 = Alessandro }}</ref> On 16 January 1878, the Turkish steamer ''Intibah'' became the first vessel to be sunk by self-propelled torpedoes, launched from torpedo boats operating from the tender {{ship|Russian tender|Velikiy Knyaz Konstantin||2}} under the command of [[Stepan Osipovich Makarov]] during the [[Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78]].

In another early use of the torpedo, during the [[War of the Pacific]], the Peruvian [[ironclad]] [[Huáscar (ironclad)|Huáscar]] commanded by captain [[Miguel Grau Seminario|Miguel Grau]] attacked the [[Chilean corvette Abtao]] on 28 August 1879 at [[Antofagasta]] with a self-propelled [[John Louis Lay|Lay torpedo]] only to have it reverse course. The ''Huascar'' was saved when an officer jumped overboard to divert it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unjbg.edu.pe/libro/Basadre/la_Verdadera_epopeya/epopeya_cap2.pdf |title=El Huáscar Muralla Móvil Del Perú |first=Eduardo |last=Avaroa |work=[[Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University|Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann]] |year=2013 |accessdate=31 August 2013 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071732/http://www.unjbg.edu.pe/libro/Basadre/la_Verdadera_epopeya/epopeya_cap2.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Chilean [[ironclad]] {{ship|Chilean ironclad|Blanco Encalada||2}} was sunk on 23 April 1891 by a self-propelled torpedo from the ''Almirante Lynch'', during the [[Chilean Civil War of 1891]], becoming the first ironclad warship sunk by this weapon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Scheina |first=Robert L. |date=1987 |title=Latin America: A Naval History, 1810–1987  |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-87021-295-8 |page=64 }}</ref> The Chinese [[turret ship]] {{ship|Chinese turret ship|Dingyuan||2}} was purportedly hit and disabled by a torpedo after numerous attacks by Japanese torpedo boats during the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] in 1894. At this time torpedo attacks were still very close range and very dangerous to the attackers.

[[File: Knyaz'Suvorov1904Reval.jpg|thumb|left|{{ship|Russian battleship|Knyaz Suvorov||2}} was sunk by Japanese torpedo boats during the [[Russo-Japanese War]].]]
Several western sources reported that the [[Qing dynasty]] Imperial Chinese military, under the direction of [[Li Hongzhang]], acquired ''electric torpedoes,'' which they deployed in numerous waterways, along with fortresses and numerous other modern military weapons acquired by China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1U4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA425 |title=Overland monthly and Out West magazine|editor-first=Bret |editor-last=Harte|year=1886 |publisher=A. Roman & Company|location=San Francisco, California|page=425|oclc=10002180}}</ref> At the [[Tianjin|Tientsin]] Arsenal in 1876, the Chinese developed the capacity to manufacture these "electric torpedoes" on their own.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEfWaxPhdnIC&pg=PA249 |title=The Cambridge History of China: Late Ch'ing, 1800–1911 Part 2 |editor-first=John King 
 |editor-last=Fairbank |editor-first2=Kwang-Ching |editor-last2=Liu|editor1-link=John K. Fairbank|editor2-link=Kwang-Ching Liu |year=1980 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=249|isbn=0-521-22029-7}}</ref> Although a form of Chinese art, the [[Nianhua]], depict such torpedoes being used against Russian ships during the [[Boxer Rebellion]], whether they were actually used in battle against them is undocumented and unknown.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWvl9O4Gn1UC&pg=PA204 |title=Some Did it for Civilisation, Some did it for Their Country: A Revised View of the Boxer War |first=Jane E. |last=Elliott |year=2002 |publisher=Chinese University Press|location=Hong Kong |page=204 |isbn=962-996-066-4}}</ref>

The [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904–1905) was the first great war of the 20th century.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Olender|2010|p=233}}</ref>  During the war, the [[Imperial Russian]] and [[Imperial Japanese]] navies launched nearly 300 torpedoes at each other, all of them of the "self-propelled automotive" type.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Olender|2010|p=236}}</ref>  The deployment of these new underwater weapons resulted in one battleship, two armored cruisers, and two destroyers being sunk in action, with the remainder of the roughly 80 warships being sunk by the more conventional methods of gunfire, mines, and [[scuttling]].<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Olender|2010|p=234}}</ref>

On 27 May 1905, during the [[Battle of Tsushima]], Admiral [[Zinovy Rozhestvensky|Rozhestvensky]]'s [[flagship]], the battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Knyaz Suvorov||2}}, had been gunned to a wreck by [[Tōgō Heihachirō|Admiral Tōgō]]'s {{Convert|12|in|4=-gunned|adj=mid}} [[battleline]].  With the Russians sunk and scattering, Tōgō prepared for pursuit, and while doing so ordered his [[torpedo boat destroyer]]s (TBDs) (mostly referred to as just ''destroyers'' in most written accounts) to finish off the Russian battleship. ''Knyaz Suvorov'' was set upon by 17 torpedo-firing warships, ten of which were destroyers and four torpedo boats. Twenty-one torpedoes were launched at the [[pre-dreadnought]], and three struck home, one fired from the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Murasame|1903|2}} and two from torpedo boats ''No. 72'' and ''No. 75''.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Olender|2010|p=235}}</ref>  The flagship slipped under the waves shortly thereafter, taking over 900 men with her to the bottom.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Olender|2010|p=225}}</ref>

On December 9, 1912, the Greek submarine "Dolphin" launched a torpedo against the Ottoman cruiser "Medjidieh".<ref>[https://www.hellenicnavy.gr/el/istoria/palaia-polemika-ploia/229-gr/istoria/palaia-polemika-ploia/ellinika-ypovryxia-kata-tous-valkanikoys-polemous/1728-katadyomeno-delfin.html "Submersible Dolphin", Hellenic Navy] (in Greek)</ref>

===Aerial torpedo===
[[File:1915 Aerial torpedo.jpg|thumb|right|upright|In 1915, Rear Admiral [[Bradley A. Fiske]] conceived of the [[aerial torpedo]].]]

The end of the Russo-Japanese War fueled new theories, and the idea of dropping lightweight torpedoes from aircraft was conceived in the early 1910s by [[Bradley A. Fiske]], an officer in the [[United States Navy]].<ref name="Hopkins">Hopkins, Albert Allis. ''The Scientific American War Book: The Mechanism and Technique of War'', Chapter XLV: Aerial Torpedoes and Torpedo Mines. Munn & Company, Incorporated, 1915</ref> Awarded a patent in 1912,<ref>{{US patent reference|number=1032394|y=1912|m=07|d=16|inventor=Bradley A. Fiske|title=Method of and apparatus for delivering submarine torpedoes from airships}}</ref><ref name="Hart">Hart, Albert Bushnell. ''Harper's pictorial library of the world war, Volume 4''. Harper, 1920, p. 335.</ref> Fiske worked out the mechanics of carrying and releasing the [[aerial torpedo]] from a [[bomber]], and defined tactics that included a night-time approach so that the target ship would be less able to defend itself. Fiske determined that the notional [[torpedo bomber]] should descend rapidly in a sharp spiral to evade enemy guns, then when about {{convert|10|to|20|ft|0}} above the water, the aircraft would straighten its flight long enough to line up with the torpedo's intended path. The aircraft would release the torpedo at a distance of {{convert|1500|to|2000|yd|-2}} from the target.<ref name=Hopkins/> Fiske reported in 1915 that, using this method, enemy fleets could be attacked within their harbors if there was enough room for the torpedo track.<ref>{{cite web |work=The New York Times |date=23 July 1915 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B00E6D71038E633A25750C2A9619C946496D6CF |title=Torpedo Boat That Flies. Admiral Fiske Invents a Craft to Attack Fleets in Harbors |access-date=29 September 2009}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] began actively experimenting with this possibility. The first successful aerial torpedo drop was performed by Gordon Bell in 1914 – dropping a Whitehead torpedo from a [[Short Brothers|Short S.64]] [[seaplane]]. The success of these experiments led to the construction of the first purpose-built operational torpedo aircraft, the [[Short Type 184]], built-in 1915.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6z7quhWS-BoC|title=Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events, Volume II: 1946–2006 |first=Norman |last=Polmar|year=2008|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc. |location=Washington, D.C. |page=16 |isbn=978-1-57488-665-8}}</ref>

[[File: Short 184.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Short Type 184]] was the first torpedo aircraft when built-in 1915.]]
An order for ten aircraft was placed, and 936 aircraft were built by ten different British aircraft companies during the [[First World War]]. The two prototype aircraft were embarked upon {{HMS|Ben-my-Chree}}, which sailed for the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] on 21 March 1915 to take part in the [[Gallipoli campaign]].<ref>{{cite book|first=C. H. |last=Barnes |title=Shorts Aircraft Since 1900 |location=London |publisher=Putnam|year=1967|page=113 |oclc=463063844}}</ref> On 12 August 1915 one of these, piloted by [[Flight Commander]] [[Charles H. K. Edmonds|Charles Edmonds]], was the first aircraft in the world to attack an enemy ship with an air-launched torpedo.<ref name="Guinness" >{{cite book|title=Guinness Book of Air Facts and Feats|edition=3rd|year=1977 |publisher=Book Club Associates |location=London |oclc=11494729 |quote=The first air attack using a torpedo dropped by an airplane was carried out by Flight Commander Charles H. K. Edmonds, flying a Short 184 seaplane from ''Ben-my-Chree'' on 12 August 1915, against a 5,000-ton Turkish supply ship in the [[Sea of Marmara]]. Although the enemy ship was hit and sunk, the captain of a British submarine claimed to have fired a torpedo simultaneously and sunk the ship. It was further stated that the British submarine E14 had attacked and immobilized the ship four days earlier.}}</ref>

On 17 August 1915 Flight Commander Edmonds torpedoed and sank an Ottoman transport ship a few miles north of the Dardanelles. His formation colleague, [[Flight Lieutenant]] G B Dacre, was forced to land on the water owing to engine trouble but, seeing an enemy [[tug]] close by, taxied up to it and released his torpedo, sinking the tug. Without the weight of the torpedo, Dacre was able to take off and return to ''Ben-My-Chree''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bruce |first=J. M. |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%201835.html |title=The Short Seaplanes: Historic Military Aircraft No. 14: Part 3 |work=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=28 December 1956 |pages=1000}}</ref>

===World War I===
[[File: Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-61-28, Am Torpedorohr.jpg|thumb|Launching a torpedo in 1915 during [[World War I]]]]
[[File:Момент вылета мины из орудия (1916).png|thumb|Torpedo launch in 1916]]

Torpedoes were widely used in [[World War I]], both against shipping and against submarines.<ref name=uboat>{{cite web |url=https://uboat.net/wwi/fates/losses.html |title=U-boat Losses 1914–1918 |website=uboat.net |access-date=10 December 2018}}</ref> Germany disrupted the supply lines to Britain largely by use of submarine torpedoes, though submarines also extensively used guns. Britain and its allies also used torpedoes throughout the war. U-boats themselves were often targeted, twenty being sunk by torpedo.<ref name=uboat/> Two Royal Italian Navy [[MAS (boat)|torpedo boats]] scored a success against an Austrian-Hungarian [[Squadron (naval)|squadron]], sinking the battleship {{SMS|Szent István}} with two torpedoes.

The Royal Navy had been experimenting with ways to further increase the range of torpedoes during World War 1 using pure oxygen instead of compressed air, this work ultimately leading to the development of the oxygen-enriched air [[British 24.5 inch torpedo|24.5 in. Mk. I]] intended originally for the {{sclass2|G3|battlecruiser|2}}<nowiki/>s and {{sclass2|N3|battleship|4}} battleships of 1921, both of which were cancelled due to the [[Washington Naval Treaty]].

Initially, the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] purchased Whitehead or Schwartzkopf torpedoes but by 1917, like the Royal Navy, they were conducting experiments with pure oxygen instead of compressed air. Because of explosions, they abandoned the experiments but resumed them in 1926 and by 1933 had a working torpedo. They also used conventional [[#Wet heater|wet heater]] torpedoes.

=== World War II ===
In the [[interwar period|inter-war years]], financial stringency caused nearly all navies to skimp on testing their torpedoes. Only the British and Japanese had fully tested new technologies for torpedoes (in particular the [[Type 93 torpedo|Type 93]], nicknamed ''Long Lance'' postwar by the US official historian [[Samuel E. Morison]])<ref name="Morison, Samuel Eliot 1950 p.195">{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |title=History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier |location=New York |year=1950 |pages=195}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |page=195 |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |title=The Two Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War |publisher=Little, Brown |year=1963}}</ref> <!--And unless you can find a ''wartime'' record of it being called Long Lance, this ''postwar'' account gives Morison precedence.--> at the start of World War II. Unreliable torpedoes caused many problems for the American submarine force in the early years of the war, primarily in the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]]. One possible exception to the pre-war neglect of torpedo development was the {{Convert|45|cm|4=-caliber|adj=mid}}, 1931-premiered Japanese [[Type 91 torpedo]], the sole aerial torpedo (''Koku Gyorai'') developed and brought into service by the Japanese Empire before the war.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTJAP_WWII.htm| title=Japan Torpedoes of World War II| website=NavWeaps.com| access-date=2009-08-05}}</ref> The Type 91 had an advanced [[PID controller]] and jettisonable, wooden[[Type 91 torpedo#Kyoban stabilizer plates|'' Kyoban'' aerial stabilizing surfaces]] which released upon entering the water, making it a formidable anti-ship weapon; Nazi Germany considered manufacturing it as the ''Luftorpedo LT 850'' [[Yanagi missions|after August 1942]].<ref>{{cite book |page=13 |author=Fumio Aikō |date=July 25, 1985 |title=Koku Gyorai Note |language=ja |publisher=Privately printed book}}</ref>

The Royal Navy's {{Convert|24.5|in|adj=on}} oxygen-enriched air torpedo saw service in the two {{sclass|Nelson|battleship|4}} battleships, although by World War II, the use of enriched oxygen had been discontinued due to safety concerns.<ref name="ReferenceA">'' Washington's Cherry trees, The Evolution of the British 1921-22 Capital Ships'', NJM Campbell, Warship Volume 1, Conway Maritime Press, Greenwich, {{ISBN| 0 85177 132 7}}, pp. 9-10.</ref> In the final phase of the action against {{ship|German battleship|Bismarck||2|up=y}}, {{HMS|Rodney|29|2}} fired a pair of {{Convert|24.5|in|adj=on}} torpedoes from her port-side tube and claimed one hit.<ref>''Reports of Proceedings 1921-1964'', G.G.O. Gatacre, Nautical Press & Publications, Sydney, 1982, {{ISBN|0 949756 02 4}}, pg.140</ref><ref>''On His Majesty's Service, 1940-41'', Joseph H. Wellings, http://www.ibiblio.org/anrs/docs/D/D7/1002wellings_onhismajestysservice.pdf</ref><ref>Ballantyne, p. 142</ref><ref>''Killing the Bismarck'', Iain Ballantyne, Pen & Sword Books, Yorkshire, {{ISBN|978 1 84415 983 3}}, pp. 258–260.</ref> According to [[Ludovic Kennedy]], "if true, [this is] the only instance in history of one battleship torpedoing another".<ref>'' Pursuit: The Sinking of the Bismarck'', Ludovic Kennedy, William Collins, {{ISBN|0 00 211739 8}}</ref> The Royal Navy continued the development of oxygen-enriched air torpedoes with the [[British 21 inch torpedo#21 inch Mark VII|21 in. Mk. VII]] of the 1920s designed for the {{sclass2|County|cruiser|2}}<nowiki/>s although once again these were converted to run on normal air at the start of World War II. Around this time too the Royal Navy were perfecting the Brotherhood burner cycle engine which offered a performance as good as the oxygen-enriched air engine but without the issues arising from the oxygen equipment and which was first used in the extremely successful and long-lived [[British 21 inch torpedo#21 inch Mark VIII|21 in. Mk. VIII]] torpedo of 1925. This torpedo served throughout WWII (with 3,732 being fired by September 1944) and is still in limited service in the 21st century. The improved Mark VIII** was used in two particularly notable incidents: on 6 February 1945, the only intentional wartime sinking of one submarine by another while both were submerged took place when [[HMS Venturer (P68)|HMS ''Venturer'']] [[Action of 9 February 1945|sank the German submarine]] [[German submarine U-864|''U-864'']] with four Mark VIII** torpedoes, and on 2 May 1982 the Royal Navy submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} sank the Argentine cruiser {{ship|ARA|General Belgrano}} with two Mark VIII** torpedoes during the [[Falklands War]].<ref name="Belgrano sinking">{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Colin |title=Sinking the Belgrano: the Pinochet connection |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/sinking-the-belgrano-the-pinochet-connection-7609047.html?origin=internalSearch |access-date=2012-05-02 |newspaper=The Independent |date=2012-04-03 |author2=Kim Sengupta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623025157/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/sinking-the-belgrano-the-pinochet-connection-7609047.html?origin=internalSearch |archive-date=23 June 2015 |location=London |url-status=dead }}</ref> This is the only sinking of a surface ship by a nuclear-powered submarine in wartime and the second (of three) sinkings of a surface ship by any submarine since the end of World War II.  The [[List of submarine actions#Post-World War II|other two]] sinkings were of the [[India]]n frigate {{INS|Khukri|F149|6}} and the South Korean corvette [[ROKS Cheonan (PCC-772)|ROKS ''Cheonan'']].
{{clear}}

[[File:Type93torpedo.jpg|thumb|left|A Japanese [[Type 93 torpedo]] – nicknamed "Long Lance" after the war]]
Many classes of surface ships, submarines, and aircraft were armed with torpedoes. Naval strategy at the time was to use torpedoes, launched from submarines or warships, against enemy warships in a fleet action on the high seas.  There were concerns that torpedoes would be ineffective against warships' heavy armor; an answer to this was to detonate torpedoes underneath a ship, badly damaging its [[keel]] and the other structural members in the hull, commonly called "breaking its back". This was demonstrated by [[Naval mine#Influence mines|magnetic influence mine]]s in World War I. The torpedo would be set to run at a depth just beneath the ship, relying on a magnetic exploder to activate at the appropriate time.

Germany, Britain, and the U.S. independently devised ways to do this; German and American torpedoes, however, suffered problems with their depth-keeping mechanisms, coupled with faults in [[magnetic pistol]]s shared by all designs. Inadequate testing had failed to reveal the effect of the Earth's magnetic field on ships and exploder mechanisms, which resulted in premature detonation. The ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' and Royal Navy promptly identified and eliminated the problems. In the United States Navy (USN), there was an extended wrangle over the problems plaguing the [[Mark 14 torpedo]] (and its [[Mark 6 exploder]]). Cursory trials had allowed bad designs to enter service, and both the Navy [[Bureau of Ordnance]] and the [[United States Congress]] were too busy protecting their interests to correct the errors.  Fully functioning torpedoes only became available to the USN twenty-one months into the Pacific War.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Blair|1975|p=20}}</ref>

[[File: Vickers wellington VIII torpedo.jpg|thumb|right|Loading [[British 21 inch torpedo#21 inch Mark VIII|21-inch RNTF Mark VIII]] torpedoes into a [[Vickers Wellington]] medium bomber, May 1942. This type of torpedo was used to sink the Argentinian cruiser {{ship|ARA|General Belgrano||2}} during the 1982 [[Falklands War]].]]

British submarines used torpedoes to interdict the Axis supply shipping to [[North Africa]], while [[Fleet Air Arm]] [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]] [[Battle of Taranto|sank three Italian battleships at Taranto]] by a torpedo and (after a mistaken, but abortive, attack on {{HMS|Sheffield|C24|2}}) scored one crucial hit in the hunt for the German battleship {{ship|German battleship|Bismarck||2}}. Large tonnages of merchant shipping were sunk by submarines with torpedoes in both the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] and the Pacific War.

Torpedo boats, such as [[Motor Torpedo Boat|MTBs]], [[PT boat]]s, or [[E-boat|S-boats]], enabled the relatively small but fast craft to carry enough firepower, in theory, to destroy a larger ship, though this rarely occurred in practice. The largest warship sunk by torpedoes from small craft in World War II was the British cruiser {{HMS|Manchester|15|2}}, sunk by Italian [[MAS boat]]s on the night of 12/13 August 1942 during [[Operation Pedestal]]. Destroyers of all navies were also armed with torpedoes to attack larger ships. In the [[Battle off Samar]], destroyer torpedoes from the escorts of the American task force "Taffy 3" showed effectiveness at defeating armor. Damage and confusion caused by torpedo attacks were instrumental {{Original research inline|date=September 2011}} <!--Remove FACT TAG as the statement is cited but not directly supported by citation--> in beating back a superior Japanese force of battleships and cruisers. In the [[Battle of the North Cape]] in December 1943, torpedo hits from British destroyers {{HMS|Savage|G20|2}} and {{HMS|Saumarez|G12|2}} slowed the German battleship {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} enough for the British battleship {{HMS|Duke of York|17|2}} to catch and sink her, and in May 1945 the British 26th Destroyer Flotilla (coincidentally led by ''Saumarez'' again) ambushed and sank Japanese heavy cruiser {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Haguro||2}}.

As a result of the "[[Channel Dash]]" of 1942, when three German warships successfully evaded Royal Navy and Royal Air Force attacks and passed the length of the [[English Channel]] from the Atlantic to the North Sea, Britain's [[Minister of Aircraft Production|Ministry of Aircraft Production]] commissioned the [[Helmover torpedo]], a five-ton air-launched weapon, but it did not enter service until 1945 and saw no action.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCloskey |first1=Keith |title=Airwork: a history |date=2012 |publisher=The History Press Ltd |location=Stroud, England |isbn=978-0-7524-7972-9 |pages=29–30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_607AwAAQBAJ&dq=helmore+torpedo&pg=PT37}}</ref>

=== Frequency-hopping ===
{{main|Hedy Lamarr}}
During [[World War II]], [[Hedy Lamarr]] and composer [[George Antheil]] developed a radio guidance system for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] torpedoes; it intended to use [[frequency-hopping]] technology to defeat the threat of [[Radio jamming|jamming]] by the [[Axis powers]]. As radio guidance had been abandoned some years earlier, it was not pursued.<ref name="EFF1997">{{cite press release|title=Movie Legend Hedy Lamarr to be Given Special Award at EFF's Sixth Annual Pioneer Awards|publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation|date=March 11, 1997|url=http://w2.eff.org/awards/pioneer/1997.php|access-date=February 1, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016063043/http://w2.eff.org/awards/pioneer/1997.php|archive-date=October 16, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Although the [[US Navy]] never adopted the technology, it did, in the 1960s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279374|title=short history of spread spectrum|date=26 January 2012|website=Electronic Engineering (EE) Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826005036/https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279374|archive-date=August 26, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> investigate various spread-spectrum techniques. Spread-spectrum techniques are incorporated into [[Bluetooth]] technology and are similar to methods used in legacy versions of [[Wi-Fi]].<ref name="newscientist20112">[https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2011/12/hedylamarr.html "Hollywood star whose invention paved the way for Wi-Fi"], ''New Scientist'', December 8, 2011; retrieved February 4, 2014.</ref><ref name="WiredEFF2">{{cite magazine|url=http://archive.wired.com/politics/law/news/1997/03/2507|access-date=November 9, 2013|title=Privacy Implications of Hedy Lamarr's Idea|magazine=Wired|publisher=Condé Nast Digital|date=March 11, 1997|first=Ashley|last=Craddock|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805043848/http://archive.wired.com/politics/law/news/1997/03/2507|archive-date=August 5, 2015|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="NYT19412">{{cite news|url=http://ipmall.info/hosted_resources/nic/nic_LamarrNYT.pdf|title=Hedy Lamarr Inventor|work=The New York Times|date=October 1, 1941|access-date=February 1, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410084732/http://ipmall.info/hosted_resources/nic/nic_LamarrNYT.pdf|archive-date=April 10, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> This work led to their induction into the [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] in 2014.<ref name="EFF1997"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://invent.org/inductee-detail/?IID=501|title=Spotlight – National Inventors Hall of Fame|publisher=invent.org|access-date=May 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501105813/http://invent.org/inductee-detail/?IID=501|archive-date=May 1, 2015|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

=== Post–World War II ===
[[File:Type 123K Torpedo boat Bangladesh Navy T 8224 (23317190180).jpg|thumb|Decommissioned [[P 4-class torpedo boat]] of the [[Bangladesh Navy]]. Preserved at the [[Bangabandhu Military Museum]].]] 
Because of improved submarine strength and speed, torpedoes had to be given improved warheads and better motors. During the [[Cold War]], torpedoes were an important asset with the advent of [[nuclear-powered submarine]]s, which did not have to surface often, particularly those carrying strategic [[nuclear missile]]s.

Several navies have launched torpedo strikes since World War II, including:
* During the [[Korean War]], the United States Navy successfully attacked a dam with air-launched torpedoes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Faltum |first=Andrew |title=The Essex Aircraft Carriers
|publisher=The Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America |year=1996 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |pages=125–126 |isbn=1-877853-26-7}}</ref>
* Israeli Navy [[fast attack craft]] crippled the American electronic intelligence vessel [[USS Liberty incident|USS ''Liberty'']] with gunfire and torpedoes during the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], resulting in the loss of 34 crew.
* A [[Pakistan Navy]] {{sclass|Daphné|submarine|2}} sank the Indian frigate {{INS|Khukri|1958|6}} on 9 December 1971 during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]], with the loss of over 18 officers and 176 sailors.
* The British Royal Navy nuclear attack submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} sank the [[Argentine Navy]] [[light cruiser]] {{ship|ARA|General Belgrano}} on 2 May 1982 with two [[British 21 inch torpedo#21 inch Mark VIII|Mark 8]] torpedoes during the [[Falklands War]] with the loss of 323 lives.
* On 16 June 1982, during the [[1982 Lebanon War|Lebanon War]], an unnamed [[Gal-class submarine|Israeli submarine]] torpedoed and sank the Lebanese coaster ''Transit'',<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Stichting Maritiem Historische Data - Schip |url=https://www.marhisdata.nl/schip&id=2654 |access-date=11 February 2021 |website=www.marhisdata.nl |language=dutch}}</ref> which was carrying 56 Palestinian refugees to [[Cyprus]], in the belief that the vessel was evacuating anti-Israeli militias. The ship was hit by two torpedoes, managed to run aground but eventually sank. There were 25 dead, including her captain. The [[Israeli Navy]] disclosed the incident in November 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=22 November 2018 |title=Israel admits it sank Lebanese refugee boat in 1982 war error, killing 25 — TV |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-admits-it-sank-lebanese-refugee-boat-in-1982-war-error-killing-25-tv/ |access-date=11 February 2021 |website=www.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
* The [[Croatian Navy]] disabled the Yugoslav patrol boat [[PČ-176 Mukos|PČ-176 ''Mukos'']] with a torpedo launched by Croatian [[Frogman|naval commandos]] from an improvised device during the [[Battle of the Dalmatian channels]] on 14 November 1991, in the course of the [[Croatian War of Independence]]. Three members of the crew were killed. The stranded boat was later recovered by Croatian trawlers, salvaged, and put in service with the Croatian Navy as OB-02 ''Šolta''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uhddr-hrm.com/clanci/2011/premijera-hrvatskog-minitorpeda.html |title=Premijera hrvatskog monitored |first=Stjepan Bernadić |last=Kula |language=hr |access-date=10 December 2018 |archive-date=29 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129012738/http://uhddr-hrm.com/clanci/2011/premijera-hrvatskog-minitorpeda.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* On 26 March 2010, the South Korean Navy ship [[ROKS Cheonan sinking|ROKS ''Cheonan'']] was sunk with the loss of 46 personnel. A subsequent investigation concluded that the warship had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo fired by a [[Yono-class submarine|midget submarine]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-09-13 |title=Seoul reaffirms N. Korea's torpedo attack in final report |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/09/205_72997.html |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=The Korea Times |language=en}}</ref>