Torpedo Range Balls

Torpedo Range Balls were red balls 2.5 feet in diameter which British ships with 21-in torpedoes displayed when they judged the enemy to be within range of 15,000 yard torpedo fire.

History

These were first written of in 1918, and may have been an innovation mandated by findings of the Fleet Torpedo Committee. There were to be two such balls, kept hidden ordinarily, which were to be displayed near the foremast in positions that they might readily be seen by ships ahead or astern. They were to be displayed one to each side under the command of the Torpedo Officer, and irrespective of whether range safety considerations made torpedo fire advisable. I presume the balls were planar, and not spherical.

Bibliography

• H.M.S. Vernon. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918. C.B. 1527. Copy 143 at The National Archives. ADM 189/38.