torpedo to anchor cable, remove pin, escape. Up to 18 prepared

torpedo to anchor cable, remove pin, escape. Up to 18 prepared

A night intended to break Napoleon’s invasion fleet ended with eighteen men paddling into a guarded harbor and not a single torpedo hitting its mark - every catamaran returned empty and one fireship detonated, killing an entire French boarding party. How did a forty-thousand-pound bounty, clockwork detonators, and a plan involving up to eighteen torpedo-catamarans fail so completely?

In this episode, you’ll hear the sequence of events that led Robert Fulton to Portsmouth Dockyard, the weapons he brought, and the choices made by commanders on both sides that shaped the raid on Boulogne - could secrecy, leadership, or sheer luck explain the outcome?

Person: Robert Fulton
Date: October 2, 1804
Location: Boulogne
Event: Raid on Boulogne
Reward: £40,000

- The French flotilla numbered roughly 2,000 vessels anchored in a double line.
- Fulton prepared up to 18 torpedo-catamarans, each with one operator in dark clothes and a black cap.
- Each fireship was packed with roughly 40 barrels of gunpowder and equipped with clockwork detonators.
- Fulton was paid £200 per month during development and stood to receive £40,000 if a single decked French ship was destroyed.
- The attack began around 9:00 PM on October 2, 1804, and every torpedo-catamaran returned empty.

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