posted cuz it's damn interesting, and the Dolphins are awesomeA 19th-century self-propelled torpedo, one of the first ever to be developed and used by the Navy, has been discovered by specially trained dolphins off the San Diego coast.
The 130-year-old Howell torpedo was found in March near Hotel del Coronado during a mine-training exercise. The Navy trains and uses dolphins to find and mark the location of underwater objects as part of its Navy Marine Mammal Program.
they also speak Farsi
“A diver went down and began to sweep the dust and debris off, and they realized that they had found something significant,” Christian Harris, operations manager with the Navy Marine Mammal Program, said Monday. “Subsequently, it was recovered, and that’s when the light went on that what the dolphins had discovered was a really old marine artifact.”
"Oh sh*t!"
Old and rare.
Only 50 Howell torpedoes were produced, and just two of them have ever been recovered. The Howell torpedo, an 11-foot-long brass torpedo, was developed between 1870 and 1889.
It was driven by a 132-pound flywheel spun to 10,000 rpm before launch. It had a range of 400 yards, a speed of 25 knots and a warhead filled with 100 pounds of gun cotton.