Invention The Berdan Torpedo (c. 1885 - )

From
c. 1885

Summary

The Berdan Torpedo was designed by Hiram Berdan.

It was a remote-controlled double attack torpedo, which could be operated from a ship or the shore. The Berdan torpedo system was in fact two torpedoes connected by a tow line. The first torpedo was engineered to hit and duck under torpedo nets, leaving the second, towed by the first, a cleared path to the target.

Published resources

Books

  • Gray, Edwyn, Nineteenth Century Torpedoes and Their Inventors, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2004. Details
  • Marcot, R. M., Hiram Berdan Military Commander and Firearms Inventor, Northwood Heritage Press, Irvine, California, 1989, 308-315 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • 'The Berdan Torpedo System', Engineering, vol. 45, 3 February 1888, pp. 125-126. Details

Newspaper Articles

Sources used to compile this entry: Gray, Edwyn, Nineteenth Century Torpedoes and Their Inventors, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2004; Marcot, R. M., Hiram Berdan Military Commander and Firearms Inventor, Northwood Heritage Press, Irvine, California, 1989, 308-315 pp.

Prepared by: Rebecca Rigby