"My invention relates to firing devices for torpedoes in general, and the objects of my invention are to produce such a device as will not offer any material resistance to the passage of the torpedo through the water, one that will not tend to deflect the same during flight, one that will be certain to act no matter at which angle the torpedo may strike the object attacked, one that will be safe under all conditions of handling and which is simple and certain in action and cheap to construct."