Steam Torpedo
A salty bunch of ensigns, we from the great Atlantic fleet,
We're here to learn the reason why a valve must have a seat,
To learn about the iron whale that makes the foe retreat,
And we'll do it with the damned old steam torpedo.
Chorus:
WE'VE ONLY GOT THIS ONE COMPLAINT:
SHE WINDS UP WHERE THE TARGET AIN'T!
GOD BLESS THE DAMNED OLD STEAM TORPEDO.
We're here to study all about the tricky gyro gear,
To understand the way to make the Bliss torpedo steer,
To study lubrication and some other things not clear,
And we'll do it with the damned old steam torpedo.
With nuts and bolts and ratchet wheels we wrestle all day long,
And the hydrostatic piston which must never function wrong,
The pinion gears, the checking pawls and pallets that belong
To the complicated Navy steam torpedo.
We do not get much money, but we have a lot of fun,
Each day we have two smoking lamps and cork off in the sun.
To hell with the carrier aircraft or the lousy long range gun,
We'll do it with the damned old steam torpedo.
Some day they'll think up something new, an automatic brain,
And all the stuff we're learning here will trickle down the drain.
Then we'll forget the ratchets, and we'll go completely sane
And forget about the damned old steam torpedo.
