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CHAPTER 22
TORPEDO: THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF A KILLING MACHINE
(Excerpted from an unpublished manuscript [pages 102–104] and
reprinted by permission of the author, Retired Master Chief Sonar
Technician David M. Hardy, USN)
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were
assassinated in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The gunman was a young
Serbian nationalist and a member of the Black Hand terrorist organization.
Archduke Ferdinand had been heir to the throne of Austria. A month after
his murder, Austria declared war on Serbia and, over the next several
months, the conflict spread to every major country in Europe. World War
I had begun.
Germany, a relative latecomer to submarine technology, put its
unterseeboots (undersea boats) to excellent use. In short order, German Uboats
dominated the seas surrounding Europe, stalking Allied supply ships
and sinking them at will. The torpedo, which had been a relatively
obscure weapon at the outset of the war, became an object of terror. The
German U-boat captains wielded their torpedoes with skill and cruelty—
painting the seas with fire and blood, and littering the bottom of the ocean
with the broken ships of their enemies.
Situated safely on the far side of the Atlantic Ocean, the United States
adopted a policy of strict isolationism. America turned a blind eye as the
death toll in Europe skyrocketed. It was a European war, after all, and
Americans were overwhelmingly in favor of letting the Europeans handle
it themselves.
On May 7, 1915, a single event shifted public opinion in America: a
German submarine, U-20, torpedoed the British passenger ship Lusitania.
Two perfectly aimed torpedoes blasted through the hull of the ocean liner,
sending the ship to the bottom of the ocean, along with 1,195 civilian
passengers. Unfortunately for the Germans, 123 of those passengers were
American citizens.
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