- HMS Lightning (1877)
HMS "Lightning" was a
torpedo boat , built by John Thornycroft for theRoyal Navy , which entered service in1876 and was the first seagoing vessel to be armed with self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. She was later renamed "Torpedo Boat No. 1".As originally built, "Lightning" had two
drop collar s to launch torpedoes; these were replaced in 1879 by a single torpedo tube in the bow. She carried also two reload torpedoes amidships.The "Lightning" spent her life as a tender to the torpedo school HMS Vernon at Portsmouth and was used for some experiments. She was broken up in
1896 .Sources
*Chesneau, Roger and Eugène Kolesnik, "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905". London: Conway Maritime Press, 1979, ISBN 0-85177-133-5
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