Giovanni Luppis
Giovanni Biagio Luppis , from 1869: Giovanni Biagio Luppis Ritter von Rammer or in Austria Johann Luppis Ritter von Rammer ( Croatian Ivan Lupis - Vukić ), (born January 28, 1813 in Fiume, today Rijeka ; † January 11, 1875 in Torriggia on Lake Como , Lombardy ) was an inventor , officer and engineer in the Austrian Navy . He developed the first propeller-driven torpedo .
Life
He was born in Fiume (Rijeka), where he also graduated from high school. He then graduated from the Naval Academy in Venice and served in the Austrian Navy, where he rose to the rank of frigate captain.
He envisioned a device that was unmanned and controllable from land. The explosive charge contained therein should only detonate at the moment of impact with a ship. His first prototype was three feet long, had glass wings and was controlled from the coast with long ropes. However, the experiment failed due to inadequate materials.
The second model had a "clock mechanism" that drove a propeller. The explosive material was located in the stern and was detonated by a pistol-like mechanism. It had two oars: one on the left, the other on the right; both were moved from land. After numerous experiments, this model - known as the "6m" - finally worked well enough. Luppis nicknamed him "Salvacoste" ("Savior of the Coasts").
In 1860 he succeeded in demonstrating his “6m” to Kaiser Franz Joseph . Despite the successful action, the Austrian Naval Commission rejected the torpedo because of poor propulsion and poor control systems.
The mayor of Fiume , Giovanni Ciotta , introduced Luppis to the British mechanical engineer Robert Whitehead , with whom he finally concluded a contract in 1864 for the further development and construction of the torpedo. Although Whitehead made significant changes to the torpedo itself, he always assigned credit to Luppis for the invention. They managed to run the torpedo under water and built in a drive that worked on the basis of compressed air. They also managed to use automatic depth and direction controls.
On December 21, 1866, Whiteheads and Luppis' torpedo - now referred to as the "mine ship" - was officially presented to the Austrian Navy Commission. The model had a diameter of 35.5 cm and a length of 3.35 m. The weight was 136 kg, 8 kg of which was due to the explosives. The naval commission finally accepted the model and commissioned the engineers to start test production. In 1873 Whitehead opened the world's first torpedo factory in Fiume in an adapted former iron foundry.
literature
- Broucek – Šeper: Luppis by Rammer Johann. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 371.
Web links
- Giovanni Luppis from Rammer
- Luppis in the encyclopedia of the Croatian Lexicographical Institute Miroslav Krleža
- Luppis in the Istrapedia, encyclopedia of Istria
Individual evidence
- ↑ Misc. Official. (...) Johann Luppis (...). In: Grazer Volksblatt , September 21, 1869, p. 2 center. (Online at ANNO ). .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Luppis, Giovanni |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Luppis von Rammer, Giovanni Biagio (full name); Luppis von Rammer, Johann; Lupis Vukic, Ivan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian naval officer and engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 28, 1813 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fiume |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 11, 1875 |
| Place of death | Torriggia on Lake Como, Lombardy |