To respond to the dreaded German 'minenwerfers', the French unearthed arsenals of old mortars over 50 years old, which had been designed by Napoleon III's engineers to fire cast iron cannonballs (e.g. 150 mm )! Their stocky size gave them the nickname of 'Crapouillots'. The old 58 gun was thus used from 1915 to send finned torpedoes equipped with a tail that was threaded into the cast iron tube.
The good old "D" system also played its part by giving birth to machines made using casings and 75 and 77 mm shells, as dangerous for the artificers as for the enemy... Finally, new modern formats were put into service before the end of the conflict (75, 150, 240 mm).
In Poilus slang during the First World War, the term "torpedo" referred to a trench artillery projectile.
All trench mortars were called torpedoes. Likewise, by extension, all of their projectiles, whatever their caliber or nationality. The German mortars were called Minenwerfer.
Torpedoes were often used for the destruction of buildings such as shelters and trenches.
Synonyms:crapouillot, turtle