Torpedo Ram
From The Dreadnought Project
The Torpedo Ram is one of the most unusual warship types that appeared with the advent of steam and armor in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The slow rate of fire of heavy naval guns and their hypothesized troubles in penetrating the ever thicker armor carried by ironclads led to the revival of the ancient technique of ramming–a reasonable reaction, given that the way to sink a ship is to let water in–and the development of various types of "torpedo".[1] The torpedo ram was an attempt combine both these forms of underwater warfare into one ship. Only a few torpedo rams actually built, and they were widely different from each other in form and mission.
Footnotes
- ↑ The term "torpedo" was used at the time for a variety of explosive devices which, besides the self-propelled variety, included the sea mine and explosive charges either towed by a ship or mounted on a protruding "spar".
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