torpedo

Examples of torpedo in the following topics:

• The Setbacks in the Atlantic

  • On September 14, 1939, Britain's most modern carrier, HMS Ark Royal, narrowly avoided being sunk when three torpedoes from U-39 exploded prematurely.
  • The resulting Norwegian campaign revealed serious flaws in the magnetic influence pistol (firing mechanism) of the U-boats' principal weapon, the torpedo.
  • Time and again, U-boat captains tracked British targets and fired, only to watch the ships sail on unharmed as the torpedoes exploded prematurely (due to the influence pistol), hit and failed to explode (because of a faulty contact pistol), or ran beneath the target without exploding (due to the influence feature or depth control not working correctly).

• Attack on Pearl Harbor

  • The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers.
  • Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked.
  • Navy battleship USS California (BB-44) slowly sinking alongside Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (USA), as a result of bomb and torpedo damage, December 7, 1941.

• Neutral Rights and Submarines

  • German submarines torpedoed ships without warning, and some sailors and passengers drowned.
  • On May 7, Germany torpedoed the British passenger liner RMS Lusitania, resulting in the loss of 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans .

• American Neutrality

  • German U-Boats torpedoed ships without warning, but claimed its submarines dared not surface near armed merchant ships and were too small to rescue passengers and crew, leaving many to drown in the frigid waters surrounding the United Kingdom.
  • In February 1915, the U.S. warned Germany about misuse of submarines, but on May 7, Germany torpedoed the Lusitania, resulting in the loss of 1,198 civilians, including 128 Americans.

• Initial Reactions

  • But after two more attacks – the sinking of the British steamer Arabic in August 1915 and the torpedoing of the French liner Sussex in March 1916 – Wilson issued an ultimatum threatening to break diplomatic relations unless Germany abandoned submarine warfare.

• Commitment to Vietnam

  • Maddox engaged 3 North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats in a sea battle, resulting in several North Vietnamese casualties.
  • Maddox, conducting an intelligence mission along the coast of North Vietnam, allegedly fired upon and damaged several torpedo boats; the boats had been stalking the Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin.

• Populism and Religion

  • President Wilson appointed him Secretary of State in 1913, but Wilson's strong demands on Germany after the Lusitania was torpedoed in 1915 caused Bryan to resign in protest.