 A more practical and influential weapon was the self @-@ propelled or Whitehead torpedo . Invented in 1868 and deployed in the 1870s , the Whitehead torpedo formed part of the armament of ironclads of the 1880s like HMS Inflexible and the Italian Caio Duilio and Enrico Dandolo . The ironclad 's vulnerability to the torpedo was a key part of the critique of armored warships made by the Jeune Ecole school of naval thought ; it appeared that any ship armored enough to prevent destruction by gunfire would be slow enough to be easily caught by torpedo . In practice , however , the Jeune Ecole was only briefly influential and the torpedo formed part of the confusing mixture of weapons possessed by ironclads . 
 A more practical and influential weapon was the self @-@ propelled or Whitehead torpedo . Invented in 1868 and deployed in the 1870s , the Whitehead torpedo formed part of the armament of ironclads of the 1880s like HMS Inflexible and the Italian Caio Duilio and Enrico Dandolo . The ironclad <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>vulnerability to the torpedo was a key part of the critique of armored warships made by the Jeune Ecole school of naval thought ; it appeared that any ship armored enough to prevent destruction by gunfire would be slow enough to be easily caught by torpedo . In practice , however , the Jeune Ecole was only briefly influential and the torpedo formed part of the confusing mixture of weapons possessed by ironclads . 
A more practical and influential weapon was da self @-@ propelled or Whitehead torpedo . Invented in 1868 and deployed in the 1870s , the Whitehead torpedo formed part of tdaarmament of ironclads of thda880s like HMS Inflexible and thedaalian Caio Duilio and Enrico Dandolo . The ironclad  vulnerability to the torpedo was a key part of the critique of armored warships made by the dane Ecole schoo of naval thought ; it appeared dat any ship armored enough to prevent destruction by gunfire would b slow enough to be easily caught by torpedo . In practice , however , the Jeune Ecole was only briefly influential and the torpedo formed part of the confusing mixture of weapons possessed by ironclads .