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Torpedo In 1805 Robert Fulton invented an explosive device designed to explode underwater and cave in the hull of a ship. He called the invention a torpedo . . . although it was much closer to a mine than what we think of as a torpedo today. In the summer of 1813, Secretary of the Navy William Jones directed Capt. Charles Stewart to use Fulton's invention to attack the HMS Plantagenet in the Chesapeake Bay. Steward sent Elijah Mix off in a small boat. Elijah would row close to the Plantagenet and drop the weapon in the water, hoping it would drift into the British ship. Elijah tried repeatedly with no success. His best effort was on July 24, 1813 when the torpedo exploded with such force that it drenched the Plantagenet in water and caused the ship to briefly roll over toward the hole in the water made by the explosion.
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