Cardigan Dann, Chief Torpedo Gunner in the Victorian Navy, was paid £500 by the British naval authorities for his Torpedo Dropping Gear that was invented locally and first used in the Victorian Navy.
As well as her bow torpedo tubes, Childers also carried four sets of Dann's torpedo dropping gear.
The second class torpedo boats, Nepean Lonsdale, the torpedo launch Gordon & the armed launches, Commissioner, Spray and Customs Boat No. 1 carried two sets of Dann's torpedo dropping gear.
It appears that the dropping gear could hold a torpedo in two positions, one when retracted for travelling to the target (as below) and then a second position with the gear lowered (as above) ready for firing.
Applications For Patents For Inventions. No. 4048. Cardigan Dann, of the naval dockyard, Williamstown, chief torpedo gunner of the Victorian Naval Force, for "An improved universal torpedo dropping-gear"; 22nd February 1887. |
Retrieving TorpedoesA secondary benefit of the dropping gear was the ease of retrieving torpedoes. Whereas previously a second boat and six men were needed to retrieve a torpedo from the water, Dann's gear enabled two men to retrieve the torpedo directly onto the torpedo boat. |
