Royal Navy Torpedo Vessels 1870-1914 is praised for drawings and photographs that make a confused experimental era legible. The spar torpedo appears as a dangerous dead end because the attacking craft was at least as likely to be destroyed as its target. TB81 illustrates more productive experimentation: a special bow form, configurable guns and torpedo tubes, high manoeuvrability, and later refits. Her First World War use of hydrophones and depth charges, directed by a seaplane toward a submarine contact, shows how an 1880s torpedo boat could evolve into a patrol and anti-submarine craft.
Chapter · 3:30:35-3:44:39
Early Royal Navy torpedo craft mixed invention with dead ends
Use Les Brown's illustrated design history to examine spar torpedoes, ramming boats, modular armament, and TB81's later ASW service.