The torpedo, named after an electric shock-giving fish, was originally applied to explosive charges moored at sea (now called mines). The same name was also applied to explosive charges attached to the ends of spars projecting from the bows of small boats or attached to lines and towed by boats. This type of torpedo was used in the American Civil War by the Confederate submersible H.L. Hunley to sink the U.S.S. Housatonic in 1864.

In 1865 the modern torpedo appeared. An Austrian captain named Luppis devised a clockwork-driven, boat-shaped craft guided by lines attached to its rudder. It was, in effect, a small electric boat with an explosive bow steered fromshore. This proved to be too difficult to operate effectively, so Luppis took his idea to Robert Whitehead (1823-1905), the English manager of a marine engine factory in Austria. Whitehead developed a much better torpedo. His design...