Update 10/12/04: I've had to play geo-cop with this cache and delete some logs that weren't of torpedoes. Hint: If it's standing upright, got a pointy nose, or has wings (with one very cool exception) chances are VERY slim that it's a torpedo. If you want to claim one of these, be prepared to show me some verifying documentation or your log will be deleted.
Damn the Torpedoes was not only a great
1979 Tom Petty album. Ft. Morgan, on the western end of the Alabama peninsula
which shelters Mobile Bay, and Ft. Gaines, on the eastern end of Dauphin Island,
were Confederate strongholds which guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay. On August
5th, 1864, the Union fleet, led by Admiral David Farragut, sailed between them
in the greatest naval battle of the Civil War. During the battle, Farragut
issued his famous order: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The torpedoes of that day were not underwater projectiles like we think of them now, they were really more like mines, either floating or attached to something like a stick. No less lethal to the ships at that time though.
It would take a pretty good shot to hit an enemy vessel from the Arkansas
River in Wichita KS with this torpedo.
This is a picture of a WWII era MK-14 torpedo at
the Veterans Memorial Park in Wichita, KS. Coords: N 37 41.412 W 97 20.701. This make of torpedo was the
workhorse of the Pacific during WWII. Kansas is about the last place on earth
I'd expect to find a nearly 20-foot long torpedo. There are probably a few
others in odd locations around the globe. If you can find one, you can log this cache. Your torpedo doesn't have to be an MK-14.
A few rules apply. First, this is only for torpedoes, not missiles, not giant artillery shells, etc. Hint: if it's standing up, it probably ISN'T a torpedo, it's probably a missile, bomb or something else. It has to be an
actual-sized torpedo, no toys or miniature replicas. It has to be affixed
somewhere. You must post a picture of the torpedo with your GPS (no internet or
old vacation photos). Usual locationless apply, 1 find per location, 1 find per
person or team. Unfortunately, I reserve the right to delete logs which do not meet these criteria.