Confederate Coal Torpedo

[ETEX]

Steve, one fantastic relic and great find. Thanks for sharing. I have just googled the Coal Torpedo and reading up on it.

[emike123]

That is a super cool relic recovery of an ingeniously simple device.  Congratulations Steve

[Jim T]

Great find Steve.  AND something emike doesn't have!

[Joseph Thatcher]

If you read my book, Confederate Coal Torpedo: Thomas Courtenay's Infernal Sabotage Weapon, you will note that we do not claim the SULTANA, nor did Courtenay, who by that date, was in England and no longer sending directions to his Secret Service Corps, as the war ws over for him. The primary reasons for Gene Salecker to deny the possibility of the torpedod being used-size and weight, are clearly not true (he had never seen an original when the book was written) Our only claim is that it could have been used, but the actual cocuse may never be known. More important are the well known uses against the GREYHOUND, the CHENANGO and the Springfield Armory. I hope additional examples do turn up-we do not know how many different patterns were made.  All that we currently know is based upon the only surviving collection of Courtenay papers as described in the book. Copies are available from Mike O'Donnell-if you would like autographed copies for the same price, contact me at coal.torpedo@gmail.com. $25.00 ($19.95 and $5.05 flat rate mailing)
Joe Thatcher

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Mr. Thatcher,
     may I ask how much, in  pounds, Black powder was contained in the coal torpedoes?
Best Regards,
John

[Joseph Thatcher]

John-the bursting charge is 4 ounces of powder, a bit less than the bursting charge for a 12 Pdr case shot. The torpedo, or coal shell as Courtenay had named them, was intended to cause the boiler to rupture and to also scatter burning coals into the fireroom deck. They were never designed to blow a hole in the bottom of a vessel, etc.  The coal selected to make the patterns was of a size that a fireman would not need to break it up with his shovel first. I certainly hope further examples are located now that we have images of all of the 4 known survivers.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Yes I understand it was just to blow the boiler.
Did you know that a similar explosive coal was used by the OSS in WWII?
Thannks for the explosive wight.
Regards,
John

[CarlS]

I found a nice little short description in WIKI:

The coal torpedo was a hollow iron casting filled with explosives and covered in coal dust, deployed by the Confederate Secret Service during the American Civil War, and intended for doing harm to Union steam transportation. When shoveled into the firebox amongst the coal, the resulting explosion would at the very least damage the boiler and render the engines inoperable. At worst, a catastrophic boiler explosion would kill crewmen, plus passengers, start a fire, perhaps, even sink the vessel.

Are there any non-battlefield examples still covered with the coal dust?

[Joseph Thatcher]

Yes-the production sample found in Jefferson Davis' office has the lower third covered in the coal bits while the rest has the pitch/beeswax coating. It never had a plug installed as pitch has run into the threads. A photo of that example is in my book and has been compared with the torpedo in my collection of Cortenay papers, etc.  The other 2 had been cleaned off either by British police in 1864 or by the previous owners who used them as door stops. To answer John's last post, yes-I have photos of the OSS versions as well as the German versions in the book. The Japanese seem to have used a ceramic version although I have only seen a modern drawing of one of those.
Joe

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Joe,
  I checked Amazon.com and your book is shown but it is not available. ??
John

[Joseph Thatcher]

If you want to send me a check for $25.00,, $19.95  plus shipping, I can send you an autographed copy-personalized if you wish. Same price as from publisher, but signed. my address is 17 Parkland CT, Clifton park, NY 12065. I ship via priority flat rate, so delivery time is prety quick. Joe Thatcher

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Thank you Joe,
     I am getting ready to go to Florida for the Winter and will send you my check around Dec. 15th. I am looking forward to reading your interesting book.
Best Regards,
John

[Joseph Thatcher]

Great-be sure to give me your Florida address and the book will go out as soon as the check arrives.
Joe

[CarlS]

Steve is kind enough to share some pictures he took of his collection and items in his collection.  I'll be posting them as time permits.   Below are some great images of his coal torpedo that I wanted to add to this thread.  It is an incredibly neat piece.