The torpedo was the greatest single game-changer in the history of naval warfare. For the first time it allowed a small, cheap torpedo-firing vessel--and by extension a small, minor navy--to threaten the largest and most powerful warships afloat. The traditional concept of seapower, based on huge fleets of expensive capital ships, required radical rethinking because of this important naval weapon. This book is a broadranging international history of the weapon, tracing not only its origins and technical progress down to the present day, but also its massive impact on all subsequent naval wars.

Torpedo contains much new technical information that has come to light over the past thirty years and covers all of the improved capabilities of the weapon. Heavily illustrated with photos and technical drawings this is a book no enthusiast or historian can afford to miss.