First World War (1914-1918)
HMCS Grilse, Torpedo Boat

HMCS Grilse was the Royal Canadian Navy's fastest ship during the First World War. Originally built as the yacht Winchester, Grilse was converted to a torpedo boat and served off Canada's Atlantic coast.

Torpedo Gyroscope

Gyroscopes helped ensure that HMCS Grilse's torpedoes travelled along a straight line.

This device represents one of the most important developments in weapons guidance technology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The gyroscope rotated at high speed and controlled a mechanism which made the torpedo follow a straight, predictable path after firing. Separate mechanisms kept the torpedo level and at a constant depth so that it would not pass under its intended target.

Gyroscope
CWM 19390001-640