The Time When U.S. Navy Dolphins Recovered a Rare 19th Century Torpedo

[rangerrebew]

The Time When U.S. Navy Dolphins Recovered a Rare 19th Century Torpedo

Going above and beyond the call of duty.
By Kyle Mizokami   
May 17, 2020

    The Howell torpedo was used by the U.S. Navy in the 19th century.
    Only 50 of the torpedoes were ever built, with just three in existence today.
    One of the three torpedoes that was discovered was actually recovered in 2013 by navy dolphins during a routine training exercise.

No. 24 isn't any normal torpedo. With only 50 every being built, three are only in existence today—and one owes its deep sea discovery to a commando of Navy dolphins.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a32477708/navy-dolphin-torpedo/

[PeteS in CA]

From the linked article,

... The Underwater Archaeology Branch used the information to discover the identity of the torpedo:

(The branch) “conducted extensive archival research, leading to the discovery of a 20 December 1899 entry in USS Iowa's deck log that stated, "Lost H. Mark I, No. 24 torpedo...". USS Iowa had anchored off the coast of San Diego to conduct target practice. A practice warhead was used in training exercises, fastened onto the torpedo with only four pins and a screw. The practice head may have become detached from the torpedo body, which could explain why it was never recovered.

This USS Iowa is the pre-Dreadnought BB-4, http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/battlesh/bb4.htm , a one-off improvement of the previous Indiana (BB-1) class. Most USN pre-Dreadnoughts and many USN Dreadnoughts and super-Dreadnoughts started out with torpedo tubes. By the time WW2 came around, USN BBs either had their torpedo tubes removed or never had them.