Editing Torpedo (section)

===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]]