Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay
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Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay was a member of the Confederate Secret Service and the inventor of the coal torpedo, a bomb disguised as a lump of coal that was used to attack Union steam-powered warships
Portrait of Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay about 1844 (age 22)
Thomas Courtenay in the uniform of a Confederate Army Captain.
Coal torpedo
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The coal torpedo was a hollow iron casting filled with explosives and covered in coal dust, deployed by the Confederate Secret Service during the American Civil War, and intended for doing harm to Uni
Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay
…Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay (19 April 1822 – 3 September 1875) was a member of the Confederate Secret Service and the inventor of the coal torpedo, a bomb disguised as a lump of coal that was used to attack Union steam-powered warships and transports. Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay was born in Belfast…
A coal torpedo. This example was prepared as a model, with a partial coal dust coating and the plug left out. It was found in Jefferson Davis' office by Union General Edward Ripley when Union forces captured Richmond in April 1865.
The sidewheeler Greyhound.