Torpedo

A torpedo is a self-propelled naval missile (guided or unguided) that travels underwater to it's target. The term originally applied to static devices that we would call "sea mines" today. Giovanni Luppis first demonstrated an unmanned, self-propelled explosive boat in 1860, and he worked with Robert Whitehead to develop an actual weapon that Whitehead successfully demonstrated in 1866. The term became associated with the new weapon.

The word torpedo originally descends from a variety of electric ray.

Torpedoes in Science Fiction

In Science Fiction, the term torpedo is often used to describe space-based missiles.

• Photon Torpedo (Star Trek)
• Proton torpedo (Star Wars)
• Quantum Torpedo (Star Trek)
• Transphasic Torpedo (Star Trek)
• Gravimetric Torpedo (Star Trek)
• Disruptor Torpedo (Mass Effect)
• Plasma Torpedo (Halo)