torpedo boat

A ve el carrying torpedoes, and either exploding them against the side of another ve el beneath the water line, or launching them against the enemy's ve el from a point wherever they may be trusted to reach their destina tion by the force of the impulse, or by the aid of a motor within the body of the weapon. torpedo-boat destroyer, s . A torpedo boat of a of ordinary torpedo boats. The destroyers are most formidable kind, designed for the destruction usually armed with one 12-pounder gun and from three to five 6-pounder guns, besides their equip ment of torpedoes, and carry a crew of four officers and about forty men. They are capable of thirty knots an hour, and as they carry from seventy to a hundred tons of coal, can make a voyage of 1,300 to 1,500 miles without recoaling. torpedo-boom, s. 1. A spar bearing a torpedo on its upper end, the lower end swiveled and anchored to the bottom of the channel. The boom sways backward and forward, and is difficult to catch by any form of drag or grapple. 2. A boom or spar, supporting a torpedo in front of the bows of a ve el. 3. A spar, of wood or iron, supporting a steel crinoline designed for the protection of a ship against torpedo attack. torpedo-catcher, s . 1. A forked spar or boom extending under water, ahead of a ve el, to displace or explode torpedoes. 2. A swift ve el, designed to catch and destroy hostile torpedo-boats. torpedo-drag, subst . A cable bearing grappling. hooks to catch torpedoes. The ends of the cable are generally carried in boats which are propelled up and down the channel some distance apart. Sometimes the drag-rope is thrown ahead of a ves sel by a shell from a small mortar, and is drawn in by the windla .