1-150-783 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

Fiat Experimentum-!, 1877. Britannia shows off a new weapon to the Lord of the Admiralty. This cartoon relates to the reported battle at the end of May 1877, (which is in the background of the cartoon), between a Turkish warship and four small Russian gunboats. It was during this battle that the power of the new torpedo was demonstrated. The Turkish vessel was in little trouble, until the Russians put a launch to the side of her, and sent off a torpedo. The huge Turkish iron-clad ship blew up, and more than 100 of her crew were lost. From Punch, or the London Charivari, June 9, 1877.