What was the use of the Hunley torpedo?

Answer 1

The H.L. Hunley didn't use a torpedo in the modern sense; it used what it known as a "spar torpedo", which is an explosive charge on the end of a long ramming pole, designed to be attached to, or punched through, the hull of a wooden vessel, set, and ignited by timer or switch.

Hunley successfully planted a 135lb spar torpedo and used a 150' detonation rope to detonate the charge (after she had backed far enough away from the hull) to sink the Union Sloop-of-War USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor. It was the first successful sinking and effective use of a submarine during war. Though David Bushnell's Turtle was used in the Revolutionary War, it never accomplished any military objectives.

It was long believed until the Hunley was found and recovered several years ago that she had perished and sank as a result of the spar torpedo explosion; however, it is now known that not only did she successfully complete her mission, she was on her way back to base when her crew apparently succumbed to oxygen deprivation, and not flooding, as had been long believed. Had they made it back to base, submarine warfare might have had a different history altogether, since it was long believed the technology wasn't viable to continue with until the turn of the century, when diesel engines and electric motors were developed enough for use in a submarine design.

Answer 2

I need weed, I know. I need weed. Aye, Aye. Okay, Imma get in trouble. Kay, Byee.

Answer 3

Torpedoes are used to sink ships and submarines.