Officials unsure how device reached its location near Coronado

— A 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.


“A diver went down and began to sweep the dust and debris off, and they realized that they had found something significant,” said Christian Harris, operations manager with the Navy Marine Mammal Program. “Subsequently, it was recovered, and that’s when the light went on that what the dolphins had discovered was a really old marine artifact.”

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.

The Howell torpedo, named for its inventor, Lt. Cmdr. John A. Howell, was used by Navy battleships and torpedo boats until 1898. The first torpedo that could be released into the ocean and follow a track, it eventually was replaced by the Whitehead, the Navy said.

It is unclear how the torpedo reached its location. Two of three sections, the tail and midsection, were found. The warhead part of the torpedo could not be located.


In March, during a routine training exercise, a dolphin discovered a mine-like target in the water. The animal’s handler then sent the dolphin to mark the object’s location so Navy divers could follow up.

“We find things all the time,” said Braden Duryee, operations manager with the Navy Marine Mammal Program. “(The dolphins) are very good at finding things, and we find some off things. But it was just one of those days where the animals found it. It was kind of in our way.”


“Realizing that we were the first people to touch it or be around it in over 125 years was really exciting,” Harris said.