Vessel The Destroyer

Summary

The Destroyer was a torpedo boat designed by Captain John Ericsson. The principal feature of the torpedo vessel Destroyer (length 130 feet, beam 12 feet, draught 11 feet) was the fine lines of the hull terminating in a slender wedge-shape at both ends.

The Destroyer carried torpedoes also designed by Ericsson that were 16 inches in diameter; 10 feet long, and had a 16-inch shell with percussion detonators inserted in the forward end for a warhead.

Related entries

Published resources

Books

  • Gray, Edwyn, Nineteenth Century Torpedoes and Their Inventors, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2004. Details

Journal Articles

  • 'The torpedo vessel Destroyer', The Engineer, vol. 46, 8 November 1878, p. 340. Details
  • 'The torpedo vessel Destroyer', The Engineer, vol. 46, 8 November 1878, p. 339 and 340. Details
  • 'The Destroyer', The Engineer, vol. 52, 16 December 1881, pp. 442-443. Details
  • 'The United States Torpedo Ship "Destroyer"', Engineering, vol. 39, 13 March 1885, p. 270. Details
  • 'The Destroyer', American Machinist, vol. 8, no. 10, 7 March 1885, p. 8. Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Gray, Edwyn, Nineteenth Century Torpedoes and Their Inventors, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2004.

Prepared by: Rebecca Rigby