Infernal Machines Submarine and Torpedo Warfare in the War of 1812

摘要

On 18 June 1812, when President James Madison signed the Declaration of War against Great Britain, the United States was woefully ill-equipped to conduct naval operations on the open ocean or to protect American territorial waters. With a fleet of only seven frigates and nine smaller vessels against the mighty British Royal Navy's 740 fighting ships, the odds at sea were definitely not in America's favor. Owing to the more significant manpower needs required to defeat Napoleon, the American contest was, for Great Britain, a secondary theater of concern.