
Jon Baddeley
Specialist Consultant Collectors, Science & Marine
Sold for £3,570 inc. premium
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Robert Whitehead (1823-1905) a British engineer working in Austria, developed the self propelled torpedo in the 1850's at the instigation of the Austrian Navy. Initially controlled by a pendulum and hydrostatic device, this was replaced by a sophisticated gyroscopic control gear based on a design patented by Ludwig Obry in 1896. Whitehead purchased the rights to fit this in his torpedoes in 1898 and it remained in service, in various marks of the Whitehead torpedo, right up until the First World War. The gyroscope was fitted with a clockwork coil spring, pre-tensioned to give a starting spin to the gyroscope of 2,400rpm when the torpedo was fired.
The carrying case could double as a portable test-bed and winding station before installation.
The Whitehead Torpedo Works was set up at Portland in 1891 and was the world leader in torpedo production until WW1. Purchased from the family on Whitehead's death in 1905 by Armstrong-Whitworth and Vickers, it remained in production until 1966.