@@p_filippouz, they may use wire/wires/wire rope, but you’re mistaken for thinking that they use rope. Because ropes have lots of drag/resistance in water, which obviously goes up exponentially with the distance covered. And if they used a very thin rope, which would be a cord, then it would not be very strong, and it would be useless over any distance, such as fifty or a hundred yards. Especially the kind of ropes made in the Victorian period, before the man made fibres were used for rope. But if you are talking about braided or twisted Wire Rope, then you need to say that, because in English if you say rope, then you are talking about hemp; sisal and man made textile fibres, I am sorry if you think that I am just being pedantic, but you did sort of ask the question, didn’t you???
I'm surprised that pulling on the wires produced enough power to do 26 knots. So much faster and longer ranged than a Whitehead, but only suitable for shore installations. Just amazing, and so complicated. Then they made it guided as well!
History repeating itself. Modern MK 48 torpedos are wire guided, which I think is strange. This torpedo is wire guided and wire propelled, which I think is strange and wonderful. I like the differential steering mechanism. Because of the awesome and professional graphics you can clearly see how the mechanism works by tugging one wire or the other. What a very well done video. Many thanks.
Interesting idea - if we get practical room-temperature superconductors, you might see a switch to electric torpedoes which would once again be wire-powered.
Of course Mk. 48's are wire guided because it's a practical thing to have, being able to manually guide a torpedo rather than rely on on-board homing, especially when it comes to defeating torpedo countermeasures.
you are as smart as it takes to chose such a special music track which makes the audiance wants to keep watching even if they are not interested kn the content , in addition to that you are also more smarter that you even included the muaic credits in description which is a very great thing
There is one of these torpedoes in the Royal engineers Museum, Rochester Kent, I know a retired army officer, who was stationed in Hong Kong in the 60s, who says the steam engine was still in the long abandoned torpedo station, at that time.
I sometimes think technology is going backwards. The engineering knowledge and skill required to make this reliable is insane! But in 1887? Without computers, cnc machines, and a whole host of science and engineering advancements? Crazy!
If a picture paints a thousand words. I don't have anywhere big enough for the printed version. Not only how it works, but why it works. Next question How did Brennan dream it up in the first place?
Brennan was an extraordinary inventor and tinkerer. Sperry purchased rights to his gyroscope patents for instance, he invented automatic weighing and packaging machines, a helicopter, a monorail (that used his gyroscopic stabilizer) and a 'safety car'. Ironically he was killed by a car while walking on holiday in Switzerland at 70. No one knows exactly how the depth mechanism worked as in the only preserved example the box is empty, there are no manuals for it and all instruction was verbal to protect the 'secret' mechanism (like the Whitehead torpedo, but complete mechanisms for that still exist).
Bruce. The depth unit in the last Brennan is sealed, but not empty - I have copies of the X-rays, but they were taken 'in-situ' and unfortunately suffer from shading and reflections. The Royal Engineers, who operated the Brennans, promised not to open the units, and for the last 116 years they have kept that promise.
@@vbbsmyt Thanks for this information. Keeping this secret does them honour but it’s quite a shame for us they haven’t finally taken the decision to open it and explain its principle. Allowing X-ray photographies of it and not opening it is quite surprising. Any idea of the general design ?
@@SoManyInterests I believe making x-ray shots is not violating promise "not to open the units", since units still sealed. Its a shame if x-rays are not readable.
Thank you. Fascinating presentation as always! Making such great informative animations is rare art. Concept of the torpedo moving because wire is pulled from it is not very hard to grasp, but actual amount of engineering to design one and work of skilled machinists to produce it is staggering.
I think the thing that impresses me the most about this thing is that it's completely mechanical. No electronics, no gas or compressed air. Just wires, shafts, chains, and gears. And this was from 1887. A guided torpedo before the 1900s! Crazy cool!
it would have been interesting to know if a brennan torpedo was ever used in battle and if it ever struck an enemy vessel......its hard to imagine that such a rube goldberg device could be used successfully, especially in any kind of disturbed water or bad weather
@beingsentientAlmost 2 years, so I’ll answer for you. Wikipedia says no Brennan was ever used in warfare: they were exclusively coastal defence weapons, had a range of less than two miles, and were retired in 1906, well before WWI. They were deemed to be too difficult to use at night, and too short in range.
1,5 mile range - and no they were never used in combat, because they were replaced by newer torpedoes. But Whitehead torpedoes were over 2 decades older and look what they did to "Blücher" ;)
Awesome animation, as always. The propulsion system is counter-intuitive as it appears that the torpedo is being slowed by the wires pulling on it, however the forward propulsion generated by the propellers is always greater than the negative force of the wire pull powering it (up to a point). The torpedo is effectively getting lighter as it goes but this is cancelled out by the increase of the weight of the wires behind it which is increasing as it goes. It all balances out in the end, up to an effective range of 1800 meters, which is impressive for the time. The mast sticking out of the top is a bit of a give away though. It would have only been effective against large targets that were not capable of manoeuvring out of the way.
In the heat of battle, when attacking a naval port (lots of smoke), the target ship would only have about 90-120 seconds to spot the spray, recognise it as a threat, report it to the captain and then try to manoeuver away. The torpedo was also faster than the ships of the period. Probably just enough time to say 'Oh S**t'.
@@vbbsmyt Yup. Not only faster, but also more maneuverable than any ship large enough to warrant launching a torpedo at. The only chance the enemy ship had would be to get out of range.
@@Crosshair84 One can pour enough firepower at the torpedo fort that you either disable the crew working the weapon or disable the mechanism driving the weapon (a stray shell fragment severing the cables for example).
@@ach3909 As I understand it the fort had to have, or pop up, an elevated observation platform/position where someone could use high powered binoculars to observe that thin mast sticking up out of the water and then provide steering input. That's because at 2,000 yards you can't track it by naked eye, and from lower down you can't see it as easily, nor judge distance. That observer/operator might be the weakest link in the chain and be disabled, distracted, or killed, by prompt firing on the fort.
Amazing system. I'm always amazed to see solutions like this. Great animation by the way too. I was just randomly reading about torpedo's when I came upon this.
I think one of the last existing launch sites is still intact in Hong Kong guarding the Eastern entrance to the harbour. I visited it years ago, obviously all the mechanisms had long been removed.
Never ceases to amaze me how clever some people are. Hard to realize the atoms of the brains of these people that thought these out.............are in us all.
There were the remains of a Brennan launch facility at Cliffe Fort on the Thames when I was in school. I had to make a mockup on a toy boat to convince myself that you could propel something forwards by pulling backwards!
I've seen one of these torpedoes and its launch bays in the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense! Very cool system, especially for its time, and you can see how it was ideal for defending inshore waters like the Kowloon Straights.
I was researching this torpedo and couldn't belevie i found this video on my first search through google. all my questions answered in 8 and a half minute! great job!
Search my channel (vbbsmyt) for 2 videos showing the Brennan torpedo installation at Camden Fort Meagher/Fort Camden walk. This fort is in Cork, Republic of Ireland.
These Brennan torpedoes were tested at cliff fort in kent on the river Thames opposite coalhouse fort essex you can still see the tracks the torpedoes run on into the river ,with binoculars you can see the tracks from coalhouse fort across the river to cliff fort
Use of these in conjunction with a moored sea mine field would be terrifying. Use this to cover the open channels and the moored mines to do the area denial
Think big picture. The purpose of this brilliant machinery was to prevent the destruction of critical ports and shipping by an attacking fleet. It may have been complex and expensive, but it also could guarantee a one-shot kill of even the largest warship of the day.
I feel a little bit of difficulty understanding some parts of it. But overall is intriguing for anyone who would like to do some further studies and share with us.
Louis Brennan was very secretive about his depth and steering units, so each unit was sealed (with a wire and lead seal that would have to be broken in order to open the unit) when the torpedo was issued. The Royal Engineers, who operated the Torpedo stations, promised never to open these units. The Depth units themselves were kept locked in a safe with two keys until needed. So, from 1887 to the present day, the Royal Engineers have kept that promise. X-rays were taken a few years back, but these were made with the depth unit still in the torpedo, so while they show some interesting shapes (springs, rods etc) the are totally useless for working out the internal mechanism.
Genius design. But one problem i see is you can only launch one at a time for each motor unit. As i understand it torpedo's was typically lunched in volleys for a better chanse of a hit that siks the ship.
Great Video! But what exactly would happen if the Brennan Torpedo ran out of wire, or completely miss a target? Would it be possible to salvage it, or is there some sort of antitampering device in place to keep it from being captured by the enemy?
Good question. The torpedo will be positively buoyant once it has lost all its wire so will be just floating around, easily visible due to the tracking mast. However, the warhead will be armed and bumping it or lifting it will trip the detonating pendulum. You do not want to be near the 250-350 lbs of Guncotton when that happens. Also the torpedo will still be about 1 mile from the launching station (and more importantly from angry shore batteries) so it would not be easy to snag a spent torpedo and tow it out of range. I have not seen anything in the documentation about how the torpedo station would deal with a spent but armed warshot, but I assume it would be sunk by rifle/gunfire once things have quietened down.
@@vbbsmyt The whole concept, of having such a simple mechanical way to steer something back in that age is interesting, unfortunately it was never used for anything else. Remebering those large wheels with explosives, which were ment to break through the fortifications on the beaches in normandy, and which suffered from problems like "returning to sender" i wonder why such a simple method of steering was not employed.
I gotta admit, it's very clever, but it feels cumbersome. Can't help but feel building a standard gun emplacement would have been a better use of resources.
This is not in fact the Brennan torpedo at all. This 1887 design is the Maxim torpedo, a design based upon, but significantly different from, the 1874 Brennan design (which itself underwent some significant changes in a second revision).
@@vbbsmyt I suggest, in turn, not regarding "a few minutes web search" as the way to find out stuff. That is what broadcasts ignorance to the world. Rather, go and read Charles William Sleeman's _Torpedoes and Torpedo Warfare_ (1889 edition not the 1880 one that the WWW gives you, obviously, since this is an 1887 design). It has section and plan diagrams of both of the Brennan designs and of Hudson Maxim's (2-wire) modification to the Brennan; some of the history; and some of the critique that was published in naval journals of locomotive torpedoes. The drums in the animation here, for starters, are straight out of the Maxim diagrams. Brennan's drums were different.
As I have delved inside the only remaining Brennan torpedo, and inspected the Brennan drawings at the British National Archives, and British Library, as well as visited the few remaining Brennan torpedo stations. I know what I have modelled. Edywn Grey (The Devil's Device) states that Hudson Maxim patented a dirigible torpedo in 1885 (widely thought to be a pirated copy of Brennan's design lock-stock-and-barrel), which quickly vanished from the scene for reasons unstated but easily guessed. Maxim's torpedo was never built and nothing further was heard of it. I agree that Sleeeman (1889) does describe a Maxim torpedo, but as stated above, this was is based on Brennan's patent, and was never built.
@@vbbsmyt It seems to me that it _was_ built, going by the museum piece. That isn't the contemporary recorded Brennan design. It's not that the "Maxim" was not built; it is that it was built and labelled as a "Brennan", it is the (at least) third iteration on the original design, and the diagrams that it matches in several respects where it differs from Brennan version 2 are the design that Sleeman says is Maxim's. We know that the RE changed Brennan's original 1874 design at least once. Maxim cited the second version as prior art! Things probably evolved a lot over the years; the "Brennan" design has numerous obvious flaws to overcome in implementation, some even mentioned in Sleeman's journal quote. So has the "Maxim", for that matter.
Louis Brennan made a prototype torpedo that he showed to a committee of Naval Officers from the Australian Station who reported favourably. The torpedo used two drums of wire. Both wires were used to propel the torpedo and by manipulating the relative speed of the two wires the torpedo’s rudder could be deflected left or right as required, allowing it to be steered towards its target. (incidentally, I almost stepped on this prototype, which still exists, whilst examining the Brennan torpedo in Chatham) Brennan was invited to London in 1879, but the Admiralty declined to fund further trials, as the device was not suitable for use on ships at sea. Admiralty reports suggested that the Brennan torpedo might be useful from forts, so Brennan approached the War Department. Various trials were carried out and in 1882 the Royal Engineers recommended continuing trials. In March 1883, Brennan received £5,000 for his expenses and was put on a salary of £1,000 a year to continue development, which was now being carried out at the Brompton Barracks, Chatham, assisted by the Royal Engineers. Testing started at Garrison Point Fort in 1884. A successful trial in October 1886 was followed by the War Department negotiating an exclusive use contract with Brennan. Brennan stations were built in 7 locations around the world, and the system was finally declared obsolete in 1905. So apart from the 'patent' which seems to have sprung fully formed from the mind of that well known explosives expert Hunter Maxim, the 'Maxim' torpedo reported by Sleeman was never heard of again. In contrast, Brennan invented the steerable torpedo, demonstrated it, won a contract to develop it and oversaw it's entry into service. The Brennan torpedo that I have modelled has nothing owing to Hunter Maxim.
Another brilliant video, that perfectly shows the inner workings of torpedoes...... I would’ve thought, that some or most of the museums, which are about warfare, and especially the ones that deal with naval warfare, would be interested in buying these videos for use in their museums. And if they are not, then they either have their own videos, or they are run by nearsighted idiots.........
problem is, the design was pretty unreliable due to the need of an internal steam engine inside the ship and a cord driving the propellers, and the tracking mast can show the torpedo's position to the target ship. nice job on the video btw
How can you claim it was pretty unreliable? Do you have access to the results of the practice runs for the period it was operational -1887 to 1905? They were fired regularly by their crews for practice, then recovered to have new wire drums fitted. Steam engines were in fact very reliable - being used to power virtually all ships, trains and factories by every industrialised country. As for the spray being visible, you haven’t really thought this through. The Brennan torpedo was a coastal defence torpedo, with a range of about 2,000 m and speed 26 knots. That means it had a run time of about 2 minutes 18 seconds. An attacking battleship would be firing its guns (lots of smoke) and would be under fire from the land based coastal artillery (more smoke). Assuming the spray was spotted shortly after launch, the message has to be passed to the bridge for action to be taken. Probably leaving only enough time to say a few rude words. There are 4 options:1 direct your main armament to fire at the fort (if you can see it) and hope to break the wire - almost impossible since the torpedo ramp is about the size of a man, the ship MUST steer a steady course and it takes time to redirect the individual guns (you have only 2 minutes before the torpedo will hit remember). Option 2 - allow the torpedo to close to about 100 m and try to explode it with rapid fire guns (will the shells explode on hitting the water?), but as before your ship has to steer a steady course to allow proper aim. Very risky. Option 3: Try to evade. This will prevent your main armament from shooting with any accuracy, but the Brennan can be steered to intercept you on your new course. Not good. Option 4: turn and run away and hope you can get beyond its range. The torpedo is, however, faster (26 knots) and battleships could make about 15 knots. This is the best option, but you have only about 120 seconds to turn your lumbering ship away. So the torpedo has won - it has prevented an attack on the harbour. But I am very glad you liked the video.
The CIA 'dragonfly drone' was steered/powered much the same way! Two tiny engines, one for each wing, was the power-plant, an external laser acted as the 'spark plug'! Polarized lenses would receive pulses of laser light, and activate only one motor at a time. Turning left or right was a matter of sending pulse of the proper orientation. Level flight was realized by not polarizing the laser pulses, which activated both motors at the same time. When not being pulsed, the 'bug' would simply glide. This was 1970's tech, who know what they got now?
Very nice simulation … only I had to switch off the sound because the music track was too much … of the good Without the meaningless and totally distracting “music” vbbsmyt would have done a excellent job
Me at the beginning: Why is that flywheel disposable ... why does it need a mast ... why are the guide wires on that beefy flywheel ... HOLD UP ... WTF
So simple and complicated at the same time. So much engineering went in there and you explained it so awesome. Great job keep it up
Torpedo on ropes? I seem to have missed a very interesting layer of History.
Добро пожаловать. Это уже 3 серия. Это самый удивительный дрон 19- ого в.
The next logical step after soap-on-a-rope!
Similar to modern day TOW missiles
Today's torpedoes still use a rope if I'm not mistaken
@@p_filippouz, they may use wire/wires/wire rope, but you’re mistaken for thinking that they use rope. Because ropes have lots of drag/resistance in water, which obviously goes up exponentially with the distance covered. And if they used a very thin rope, which would be a cord, then it would not be very strong, and it would be useless over any distance, such as fifty or a hundred yards. Especially the kind of ropes made in the Victorian period, before the man made fibres were used for rope. But if you are talking about braided or twisted Wire Rope, then you need to say that, because in English if you say rope, then you are talking about hemp; sisal and man made textile fibres, I am sorry if you think that I am just being pedantic, but you did sort of ask the question, didn’t you???
I'm surprised that pulling on the wires produced enough power to do 26 knots. So much faster and longer ranged than a Whitehead, but only suitable for shore installations. Just amazing, and so complicated. Then they made it guided as well!
Brian, glad you find my little animations interesting. Rob
It’s like trying to sink a ship with a giant steam watch!
History repeating itself. Modern MK 48 torpedos are wire guided, which I think is strange. This torpedo is wire guided and wire propelled, which I think is strange and wonderful. I like the differential steering mechanism. Because of the awesome and professional graphics you can clearly see how the mechanism works by tugging one wire or the other. What a very well done video. Many thanks.
Interesting idea - if we get practical room-temperature superconductors, you might see a switch to electric torpedoes which would once again be wire-powered.
Of course Mk. 48's are wire guided because it's a practical thing to have, being able to manually guide a torpedo rather than rely on on-board homing, especially when it comes to defeating torpedo countermeasures.
@@nightraven836 the Mk 48 is wire and sonar guided. Once the wire is detached, the torpedo uses sonar to find its target
you are as smart as it takes to chose such a special music track which makes the audiance wants to keep watching even if they are not interested kn the content , in addition to that you are also more smarter that you even included the muaic credits in description which is a very great thing
Incredible Victorian engineering! Thanks for the revision!
great Animation! You explained a complicated mechanical torpedo very well!
There is one of these torpedoes in the Royal engineers Museum, Rochester Kent, I know a retired army officer, who was stationed in Hong Kong in the 60s, who says the steam engine was still in the long abandoned torpedo station, at that time.
I love the steam powered clockwork insanity of these torpedoes; and it was amazing to see it all animated out like this!
I sometimes think technology is going backwards. The engineering knowledge and skill required to make this reliable is insane! But in 1887? Without computers, cnc machines, and a whole host of science and engineering advancements? Crazy!
Exactly. It’s as if a fine watchmaker building on a giant scale
The fact this had to be designed without computers proves your first sentence entirely wrong.
If a picture paints a thousand words. I don't have anywhere big enough for the printed version. Not only how it works, but why it works. Next question How did Brennan dream it up in the first place?
Brennan was an extraordinary inventor and tinkerer. Sperry purchased rights to his gyroscope patents for instance, he invented automatic weighing and packaging machines, a helicopter, a monorail (that used his gyroscopic stabilizer) and a 'safety car'. Ironically he was killed by a car while walking on holiday in Switzerland at 70. No one knows exactly how the depth mechanism worked as in the only preserved example the box is empty, there are no manuals for it and all instruction was verbal to protect the 'secret' mechanism (like the Whitehead torpedo, but complete mechanisms for that still exist).
@@brucelee3388 People tend to assocoiate the Scots with enginnering. The Irish have come up with just as many.
Bruce. The depth unit in the last Brennan is sealed, but not empty - I have copies of the X-rays, but they were taken 'in-situ' and unfortunately suffer from shading and reflections. The Royal Engineers, who operated the Brennans, promised not to open the units, and for the last 116 years they have kept that promise.
@@vbbsmyt Thanks for this information. Keeping this secret does them honour but it’s quite a shame for us they haven’t finally taken the decision to open it and explain its principle. Allowing X-ray photographies of it and not opening it is quite surprising. Any idea of the general design ?
@@SoManyInterests I believe making x-ray shots is not violating promise "not to open the units", since units still sealed. Its a shame if x-rays are not readable.
Thank you. Fascinating presentation as always!
Making such great informative animations is rare art.
Concept of the torpedo moving because wire is pulled from it is not very hard to grasp, but actual amount of engineering to design one and work of skilled machinists to produce it is staggering.
Many thanks for this revised version. The first one was already first class, this one surpasses it.
I think the thing that impresses me the most about this thing is that it's completely mechanical. No electronics, no gas or compressed air. Just wires, shafts, chains, and gears. And this was from 1887. A guided torpedo before the 1900s! Crazy cool!
it would have been interesting to know if a brennan torpedo was ever used in battle and if it ever struck an enemy vessel......its hard to imagine that such a rube goldberg device could be used successfully, especially in any kind of disturbed water or bad weather
10 month and still no reaction from the video creator. very sad.
@memyself he hates us all :(
@beingsentientAlmost 2 years, so I’ll answer for you. Wikipedia says no Brennan was ever used in warfare: they were exclusively coastal defence weapons, had a range of less than two miles, and were retired in 1906, well before WWI.
They were deemed to be too difficult to use at night, and too short in range.
@@TheEmeraldMenOfficial It probably managed to kill a few guys nonetheless.
1,5 mile range - and no they were never used in combat, because they were replaced by newer torpedoes. But Whitehead torpedoes were over 2 decades older and look what they did to "Blücher" ;)
Fantastic mechanical design from the beginning and a amazing animation with a very good explanation as well. Well done! Thank you!
I love your music choices when describing archaic Victorian weapons.
ЭТО АФИГЕННО!! Спасибо за демонстрацию!!!
Amazing work. I'm many times amazed by analog technology, but this is one of the most creative and bizarre. Astounding!!! Thank you.
Very interesting and informative. The Whitehead and the Howell designs where also very interesting and advanced for that time period.
That is the craziest, most awesome thing I’ve ever seen!
превосходно!!! не компьютеров, не сервомашинок, одни тросики шестерёнки да пружинки
Awesome animation, as always. The propulsion system is counter-intuitive as it appears that the torpedo is being slowed by the wires pulling on it, however the forward propulsion generated by the propellers is always greater than the negative force of the wire pull powering it (up to a point). The torpedo is effectively getting lighter as it goes but this is cancelled out by the increase of the weight of the wires behind it which is increasing as it goes. It all balances out in the end, up to an effective range of 1800 meters, which is impressive for the time. The mast sticking out of the top is a bit of a give away though. It would have only been effective against large targets that were not capable of manoeuvring out of the way.
Makes you wonder about the minds that dreamt it up in the first place. and the men who built the parts. Genius and craftsmen.
In the heat of battle, when attacking a naval port (lots of smoke), the target ship would only have about 90-120 seconds to spot the spray, recognise it as a threat, report it to the captain and then try to manoeuver away. The torpedo was also faster than the ships of the period. Probably just enough time to say 'Oh S**t'.
@@vbbsmyt Yup. Not only faster, but also more maneuverable than any ship large enough to warrant launching a torpedo at. The only chance the enemy ship had would be to get out of range.
@@Crosshair84 One can pour enough firepower at the torpedo fort that you either disable the crew working the weapon or disable the mechanism driving the weapon (a stray shell fragment severing the cables for example).
@@ach3909 As I understand it the fort had to have, or pop up, an elevated observation platform/position where someone could use high powered binoculars to observe that thin mast sticking up out of the water and then provide steering input. That's because at 2,000 yards you can't track it by naked eye, and from lower down you can't see it as easily, nor judge distance. That observer/operator might be the weakest link in the chain and be disabled, distracted, or killed, by prompt firing on the fort.
It's always a good day when vbbsmyt releases a new video.
Brilliant explanation of a madly complex aquatic machine. Thank you
Amazing system. I'm always amazed to see solutions like this. Great animation by the way too. I was just randomly reading about torpedo's when I came upon this.
I think one of the last existing launch sites is still intact in Hong Kong guarding the Eastern entrance to the harbour. I visited it years ago, obviously all the mechanisms had long been removed.
Never ceases to amaze me how clever some people are. Hard to realize the atoms of the brains of these people that thought these out.............are in us all.
There were the remains of a Brennan launch facility at Cliffe Fort on the Thames when I was in school. I had to make a mockup on a toy boat to convince myself that you could propel something forwards by pulling backwards!
Did the boat move well?
Officer: "How does this work?"
Brennan: "Yes"
Guidance by wire, excellent work.
And power by wire!
Not only guidance, the very propellers are remotely mechanically powered from coast docked power motors
Wow, did not expect this. Great work!
I've seen one of these torpedoes and its launch bays in the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense! Very cool system, especially for its time, and you can see how it was ideal for defending inshore waters like the Kowloon Straights.
Absolutely fantastic explanation. Thank you
I was researching this torpedo and couldn't belevie i found this video on my first search through google. all my questions answered in 8 and a half minute! great job!
Search my channel (vbbsmyt) for 2 videos showing the Brennan torpedo installation at Camden Fort Meagher/Fort Camden walk. This fort is in Cork, Republic of Ireland.
@@vbbsmyt do you think i didn’t devoured nearly all your playlist right-away? Seriously, fantastic channel!
A clockworks version of a wire guided torpedo! absolutely fascinating!
Who came here after Steve Mould video?
These Brennan torpedoes were tested at cliff fort in kent on the river Thames opposite coalhouse fort essex you can still see the tracks the torpedoes run on into the river ,with binoculars you can see the tracks from coalhouse fort across the river to cliff fort
Could you make a video about some of the german mytical weapons of the 2ww, for example the cannon train?
Great job
I love the music and the explosion noise at the end i poop my pants everytime. TY for this wonderful animation
That's one out of the box way to propell a torpedo.
Use of these in conjunction with a moored sea mine field would be terrifying. Use this to cover the open channels and the moored mines to do the area denial
This is impressive engineering for a time before electric motors and gas powered engines.
It’s sad that the only purpose this brilliant machinery had always resulted in its total destruction or loss.
Think big picture. The purpose of this brilliant machinery was to prevent the destruction of critical ports and shipping by an attacking fleet.
It may have been complex and expensive, but it also could guarantee a one-shot kill of even the largest warship of the day.
Fantastic animation.....Mike
Nice update to an already good video.
Can't wait for new content.
I would be interested in a parts count between this and a wire guided missile -Also bonus prize for most random music selection youtube :-)
There is a glass-fibre relief of the Brennan torpedo on the wall of the bogs next to WHSmith in Gillingham High Street. We are very proud
and so you should be...
Belle animation !
Amazing working graphics! I wonder what the effective range was
After watching this, I tried to find what I could. In a test, it hit a floating fruit basket at 2,000 yards.
What else did you find?
given what technology they had at the time, this is a feat of mechanical genius
Absolute analog madness!
I feel a little bit of difficulty understanding some parts of it. But overall is intriguing for anyone who would like to do some further studies and share with us.
Thanks upload this video.
Why are some aspects still secret?
Beaurocracy, once classified to much faff to declassify.
Louis Brennan was very secretive about his depth and steering units, so each unit was sealed (with a wire and lead seal that would have to be broken in order to open the unit) when the torpedo was issued. The Royal Engineers, who operated the Torpedo stations, promised never to open these units. The Depth units themselves were kept locked in a safe with two keys until needed. So, from 1887 to the present day, the Royal Engineers have kept that promise.
X-rays were taken a few years back, but these were made with the depth unit still in the torpedo, so while they show some interesting shapes (springs, rods etc) the are totally useless for working out the internal mechanism.
Interesting video. Great job.
Delightfully insane
Literally, you pull things to advance.
Genius design. But one problem i see is you can only launch one at a time for each motor unit. As i understand it torpedo's was typically lunched in volleys for a better chanse of a hit that siks the ship.
The Brennan is a GUIDED torpedo, it should not miss.
the torpedo knows where it is at all times
Jesus, who made this wire powered torp lol
simple and compicated
Evan better than previous version and previous was excellent!
Super animation thank you
Great Video!
But what exactly would happen if the Brennan Torpedo ran out of wire, or completely miss a target? Would it be possible to salvage it, or is there some sort of antitampering device in place to keep it from being captured by the enemy?
Good question. The torpedo will be positively buoyant once it has lost all its wire so will be just floating around, easily visible due to the tracking mast. However, the warhead will be armed and bumping it or lifting it will trip the detonating pendulum. You do not want to be near the 250-350 lbs of Guncotton when that happens. Also the torpedo will still be about 1 mile from the launching station (and more importantly from angry shore batteries) so it would not be easy to snag a spent torpedo and tow it out of range. I have not seen anything in the documentation about how the torpedo station would deal with a spent but armed warshot, but I assume it would be sunk by rifle/gunfire once things have quietened down.
@@vbbsmyt The whole concept, of having such a simple mechanical way to steer something back in that age is interesting, unfortunately it was never used for anything else. Remebering those large wheels with explosives, which were ment to break through the fortifications on the beaches in normandy, and which suffered from problems like "returning to sender" i wonder why such a simple method of steering was not employed.
I gotta admit, it's very clever, but it feels cumbersome. Can't help but feel building a standard gun emplacement would have been a better use of resources.
Its a mad amazing video!
Brilliant. Were ever used in anger?
Brilliant , thank you.
Quiero saber como funciona la ametralladora DSHK quiero que estrenas un video como estos anteriores
Всё конечно очень интересно,но каковы точность и дальность этой торпеды?
This is not in fact the Brennan torpedo at all. This 1887 design is the Maxim torpedo, a design based upon, but significantly different from, the 1874 Brennan design (which itself underwent some significant changes in a second revision).
What utter rubbish!. I suggest a few minutes web search before broardcasting your ignorance to the world would have helped.
@@vbbsmyt I suggest, in turn, not regarding "a few minutes web search" as the way to find out stuff. That is what broadcasts ignorance to the world. Rather, go and read Charles William Sleeman's _Torpedoes and Torpedo Warfare_ (1889 edition not the 1880 one that the WWW gives you, obviously, since this is an 1887 design). It has section and plan diagrams of both of the Brennan designs and of Hudson Maxim's (2-wire) modification to the Brennan; some of the history; and some of the critique that was published in naval journals of locomotive torpedoes. The drums in the animation here, for starters, are straight out of the Maxim diagrams. Brennan's drums were different.
As I have delved inside the only remaining Brennan torpedo, and inspected the Brennan drawings at the British National Archives, and British Library, as well as visited the few remaining Brennan torpedo stations. I know what I have modelled.
Edywn Grey (The Devil's Device) states that Hudson Maxim patented a dirigible torpedo in 1885 (widely thought to be a pirated copy of Brennan's design lock-stock-and-barrel), which quickly vanished from the scene for reasons unstated but easily guessed. Maxim's torpedo was never built and nothing further was heard of it. I agree that Sleeeman (1889) does describe a Maxim torpedo, but as stated above, this was is based on Brennan's patent, and was never built.
@@vbbsmyt It seems to me that it _was_ built, going by the museum piece. That isn't the contemporary recorded Brennan design. It's not that the "Maxim" was not built; it is that it was built and labelled as a "Brennan", it is the (at least) third iteration on the original design, and the diagrams that it matches in several respects where it differs from Brennan version 2 are the design that Sleeman says is Maxim's. We know that the RE changed Brennan's original 1874 design at least once. Maxim cited the second version as prior art! Things probably evolved a lot over the years; the "Brennan" design has numerous obvious flaws to overcome in implementation, some even mentioned in Sleeman's journal quote. So has the "Maxim", for that matter.
Louis Brennan made a prototype torpedo that he showed to a committee of Naval Officers from the Australian Station who reported favourably. The torpedo used two drums of wire. Both wires were used to propel the torpedo and by manipulating the relative speed of the two wires the torpedo’s rudder could be deflected left or right as required, allowing it to be steered towards its target. (incidentally, I almost stepped on this prototype, which still exists, whilst examining the Brennan torpedo in Chatham)
Brennan was invited to London in 1879, but the Admiralty declined to fund further trials, as the device was not suitable for use on ships at sea.
Admiralty reports suggested that the Brennan torpedo might be useful from forts, so Brennan approached the War Department. Various trials were carried out and in 1882 the Royal Engineers recommended continuing trials.
In March 1883, Brennan received £5,000 for his expenses and was put on a salary of £1,000 a year to continue development, which was now being carried out at the Brompton Barracks, Chatham, assisted by the Royal Engineers.
Testing started at Garrison Point Fort in 1884.
A successful trial in October 1886 was followed by the War Department negotiating an exclusive use contract with Brennan.
Brennan stations were built in 7 locations around the world, and the system was finally declared obsolete in 1905.
So apart from the 'patent' which seems to have sprung fully formed from the mind of that well known explosives expert Hunter Maxim, the 'Maxim' torpedo reported by Sleeman was never heard of again. In contrast, Brennan invented the steerable torpedo, demonstrated it, won a contract to develop it and oversaw it's entry into service. The Brennan torpedo that I have modelled has nothing owing to Hunter Maxim.
Actually guiding system similar to a wire guided anti tank missile .
Another brilliant video, that perfectly shows the inner workings of torpedoes......
I would’ve thought, that some or most of the museums, which are about warfare, and especially the ones that deal with naval warfare, would be interested in buying these videos for use in their museums. And if they are not, then they either have their own videos, or they are run by nearsighted idiots.........
Wow....we got a torpedo before 1887?
Amazing!! Just amazing!!
MACLOS in 1887 - how wonderful.
excellent
I cant ever imagine these would be cheap
Incroyable !
How could they see it in order to navigate it?
Please read the notes.
An externally powered torpedo; weird.
Not the strangest externally powered torpedo, early Italian postwar guided torpedoes were powered by wire as well.
Quite a piece of mechanical engineering! Note that all functions are mechanical, nothing electrical since the technology was not yet mature enough.
That is amazing.
Made video 1911 pistol mechanism
Can you sell 3D file ?
Amazing!
problem is, the design was pretty unreliable due to the need of an internal steam engine inside the ship and a cord driving the propellers, and the tracking mast can show the torpedo's position to the target ship. nice job on the video btw
How can you claim it was pretty unreliable? Do you have access to the results of the practice runs for the period it was operational -1887 to 1905? They were fired regularly by their crews for practice, then recovered to have new wire drums fitted. Steam engines were in fact very reliable - being used to power virtually all ships, trains and factories by every industrialised country.
As for the spray being visible, you haven’t really thought this through. The Brennan torpedo was a coastal defence torpedo, with a range of about 2,000 m and speed 26 knots. That means it had a run time of about 2 minutes 18 seconds. An attacking battleship would be firing its guns (lots of smoke) and would be under fire from the land based coastal artillery (more smoke). Assuming the spray was spotted shortly after launch, the message has to be passed to the bridge for action to be taken. Probably leaving only enough time to say a few rude words.
There are 4 options:1 direct your main armament to fire at the fort (if you can see it) and hope to break the wire - almost impossible since the torpedo ramp is about the size of a man, the ship MUST steer a steady course and it takes time to redirect the individual guns (you have only 2 minutes before the torpedo will hit remember). Option 2 - allow the torpedo to close to about 100 m and try to explode it with rapid fire guns (will the shells explode on hitting the water?), but as before your ship has to steer a steady course to allow proper aim. Very risky. Option 3: Try to evade. This will prevent your main armament from shooting with any accuracy, but the Brennan can be steered to intercept you on your new course. Not good. Option 4: turn and run away and hope you can get beyond its range. The torpedo is, however, faster (26 knots) and battleships could make about 15 knots. This is the best option, but you have only about 120 seconds to turn your lumbering ship away. So the torpedo has won - it has prevented an attack on the harbour.
But I am very glad you liked the video.
The CIA 'dragonfly drone' was steered/powered much the same way!
Two tiny engines, one for each wing, was the power-plant, an external laser acted as the 'spark plug'!
Polarized lenses would receive pulses of laser light, and activate only one motor at a time.
Turning left or right was a matter of sending pulse of the proper orientation.
Level flight was realized by not polarizing the laser pulses, which activated both motors at the same time.
When not being pulsed, the 'bug' would simply glide.
This was 1970's tech, who know what they got now?
Зачем торпеды в зданиях? Это же очень сильно ограничивает угол атаки!
Why torpedoes in buildings? This greatly limits the angle of attack!
The torpedoes were used to protect naval ports, and replaced defensive minefields, so the forts were placed at the entrances to the ports.
@@vbbsmyt thank you
All this clockwork just to get a warhead against a ship!
Please made ww2 artillery canon video
First TOW missle
Now do the super collider in Europe.
Very nice simulation … only I had to switch off the sound because the music track was too much … of the good
Without the meaningless and totally distracting “music” vbbsmyt would have done a excellent job
Why waste the audio on irritating obnoxious noise?
Me at the beginning: Why is that flywheel disposable ... why does it need a mast ... why are the guide wires on that beefy flywheel ... HOLD UP ... WTF
Excelent
A steampunk ATGM.
It's honestly beautiful.
Fly by wire 🤔