WWI Torpedoes

Torpedoes were used by the Germans in the First World War to blow up or sink ships carrying supplies to Briton or any of the other allied powers. German submarines were smaller than British submarines and had five torpedo tubes.

One of the types of torpedoes used in the First World War was called the Bangalore torpedo. The Bangalore torpedo dated back to British use in India, hence the name. This torpedo was not used in the water. It was actually used to clear barbed wire and traps on the battlefield. One of the torpedoes that the Germans used was the Schwartzkopf torpedo. The Schwartzkopf torpedo was used in the water.

The Germans sank the passenger liner Lusitania killing 1,195 people. This angered the American people not only because it was a passenger ship, but it carried Americans some of whom had died. The ship was sunk on May 1, 1915 and America entered the war in 1917 on account of those Americans who had died two years earlier.

Torpedoes in WWI were wet burn torpedoes. They were called wet burning torpedoes because water was added to the fuel burning engine. This solved over heating problems with the torpedoes, and increased the distance traveled by the torpedo by recycling the steam put off by the water cooled engine.