bruce d Posted July 2, 2022 Share #1 Posted July 2, 2022 spartorpedoinstr00unit.pdf mtaylor and thibaultron 1 1 Quote 🌻 STAY SAFE A model shipwright and an amateur historian are heads & tails of the same coin current builds: HMS Berwick 1775, 1/192 scratchbuild; a Slade 74 in the Navy Board style Mediator sloop, 1/48 - an 18th century transport scratchbuild French longboat - CAF - 1/48, on hold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Pellett Posted July 2, 2022 Share #2 Posted July 2, 2022 Interesting stuff! It is amazing that by 1890 anyone would have expected a crew in a small craft to still be able steam up to a major warship and poke it with a spar torpedo. I guess it’s all about the generals, or in this case admirals, being ready to fight the last war. Roger thibaultron, mtaylor and bruce d 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cleek Posted July 2, 2022 Share #3 Posted July 2, 2022 (edited) Well, the inside cover of the book bears the name of a "Major Robert S. Meade," and since there were no majors in the Navy, this may explain why "by 1890 anyone would have expected a crew in a small craft to still be able steam up to a major warship and poke it with a spar torpedo." Edited July 2, 2022 by Bob Cleek thibaultron, catopower, bruce d and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtaylor Posted July 2, 2022 Share #4 Posted July 2, 2022 13 minutes ago, Bob Cleek said: Well, the inside cover of the book bears the name of a "Major Robert S. Meade," and since there were no majors in the Navy, this may explain why "by 1890 anyone would have expected a crew in a small craft to still be able steam up to a major warship and poke it with a spar torpedo." Ah.... maybe it was for guerilla warfare? Or for river graft? Heaven knows what that author was thinking... by perchance did he do instructions on how do a charge by a light brigade? thibaultron and bruce d 2 Quote Mark "The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me Current Build: Past Builds: La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD Triton Cross-Section NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64 Non-Ship Model: On hold, maybe forever: CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BANYAN Posted July 3, 2022 Share #5 Posted July 3, 2022 Interesting find Bruce, thanks for sharing. cheers Pat thibaultron, mtaylor and bruce d 3 Quote If at first you do not suceed, try, and then try again!Current build: HMCSS Victoria (Scratch) Next build: HMAS Vampire (3D printed resin, scratch 1:350) Built: Battle Station (Scratch) and HM Bark Endeavour 1768 (kit 1:64) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wefalck Posted July 3, 2022 Share #6 Posted July 3, 2022 Nice find, thanks. This Major Meade was just one previous owner of the book. I own a set of 1894-1902 set of intruction books for torpedo-handling in the Austria-Hungarian Navy in which also one still finds a detailed description of spar-torpedos to be deployed from ships' steam-launches. At the moment I don't have access to my library, so I cannot check what tactical concepts they had in mind. In any case, they would not be effective against the capital warships of the time. One could think of attacking commercial craft or perhaps piers or lock-gates with little anti-torpedo craft defences - a task for which today you would employ underwater demolition teams. bruce d, mtaylor, thibaultron and 1 other 4 Quote wefalck panta rhei - Everything is in flux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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