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CSS Wasp
The ''Squib'' class torpedo boats were built for the Confederate States Navy during the later stages of the American Civil War. After the torpedo boat CSS ''David'' attacked and damaged the ironclad USS ''New Ironsides'', the Confederates continued building torpedo boats with hopes of breaking the Union blockade. Four vessels of the classCSS Hornet, CSS ''Hornet'', CSS Wasp, CSS ''Wasp'', CSS Squib, CSS ''Squib'', and CSS Scorpion, CSS ''Scorpion'' were constructed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1864. All were armed with a single spar torpedo and were powered by steam engines. ''Squib'' damaged the gunboat USS Minnesota (1855), USS ''Minnesota'' in an attack on April 9, 1864, and was later sent to Wilmington, North Carolina, where she was scuttled in February 1865. The other three vessels of the class were all part of the James River Squadron and participated in the Battle of Trent's Reach on the night of January 23 and 24, 1865. ''Scorpion'' ran aground during the battle, and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torpedo Boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. These were inshore craft created to counter both the threat of battleships and other slow and heavily armed ships by using speed, agility, and powerful torpedoes, and the overwhelming expense of building a like number of capital ships to counter an enemy's. A swarm of expendable torpedo boats attacking en masse could overwhelm a larger ship's ability to fight them off using its large but cumbersome guns. A fleet of torpedo boats could pose a similar threat to an adversary's capital ships, albeit only in the coastal areas to which their small size and limited fuel load restricted them. The introduction of fast torpedo boats in the late 19th century was a serious concern to the era's naval strategists, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
