Schwartzkopff torpedo

Schwartzkopff torpedo
Schwartzkopff torpedo adopted by the Russian Navy ca. 1904
Type	Anti-surface ship torpedo
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
Used by	United States Navy  Imperial Russian Navy  Imperial Japanese Navy  Spanish Navy  Imperial Chinese Navy
Wars	First Sino-Japanese War Spanish–American War
Production history
Designed	1873
Manufacturer	Berliner Maschinenbau A.G. Vs Schwarzkopf
Specifications
Weight	616 pounds
Length	14 feet, 9 inches
Diameter	14 inches
Effective firing range	220-440 yards
Warhead	guncotton
Warhead weight	44 pounds
Detonation mechanism	contact
Speed	22–25 knots
Guidance system	depth control, gyroscope
Launch platform	battleships and torpedo boats

The Schwartzkopff torpedo was a torpedo manufactured in the late 19th century by the German firm Eisengießerei und Maschinen-Fabrik von L. Schwartzkopff, later known as Berliner Maschinenbau, based on the Whitehead design. Unlike the Whitehead torpedo, which was manufactured out of steel, the Schwartzkopff was made out of bronze, enhancing corrosion resistance.

In 1866 Robert Whitehead, working on a design by Giovanni Luppis, perfected what came to be known as the Whitehead torpedo. Whitehead's Fiume torpedo works then became a meeting place for business associates and potential customers. One such visitor was Louis Victor Robert Schwartzkopff, the owner of the German firm Berliner Maschinenbau. On the last night of Schwartzkopff's visit, a disturbance had reportedly taken place in the plant's drawing room. In the morning, it was discovered that someone had broken in and stolen a set of torpedo plans. Whitehead maintained that Schwartzkopff had nothing to do with the affair. A few months after, Schwartzkopff's company unveiled a new product, the Schwartzkopff torpedo. It looked very similar to the Whitehead torpedo and in fact featured Whitehead's "Secret" pendulum-and-hydrostat control system.

At least one source states that Whitehead, "restrained by British security, had to invent a different torpedo for the Germans called the Schwarzkopf [sic].

An 1887 Australian reporter's account of the Schwartzkopff's operation states that the weapon was launched from a torpedo boat and that it was driven by compressed air. A torpedo could be fully charged with air within 7 or 8 minutes and that this was enough to drive the torpedo for 600 yards. The explosive utilized was compressed guncotton which was fired by a detonator placed at the point of the torpedo and ignited by percussion when the torpedo hits a resisting body.