HMS Thunder Child HMS Thunder Child HMS "Thunder Child" is a fictional ironclad torpedo ram of the Royal Navy, destroyed by Martian fighting-machines in H. G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" whilst protecting a refugee rescue fleet of civilian vessels. Torpedo rams were constructed in the 1870s and 1880s after the ramming and sinking of the "Re d'Italia" at the Battle of Lissa in 1866 by the Austrian flagship, "Ferdinand Max". Despite the Italian warship being stationary at the time, the successful attack influenced naval thinking for the next few decades. The result was specially designed low profile, fast, armoured vessels equipped
Smith Child (Royal Navy officer) attempting to enter Chesapeake Bay, and again later that year in the critical Battle of the Chesapeake in early September, in which the British lost control of the bay, enabling the Franco-American victory at Yorktown. In November 1795 he was given command of the HMS "Commerce de Marseille", a French ship that had been given over to the Royal Navy in the 1793 Siege of Toulon. The ship, originally a 118-gun three-decker, had been converted to a store and transport ship, and was loaded with 1,000 men and stores for transport to the West Indies. In somewhat poor condition, she