| RED TORPEDO (Jim Lockhart) | BIOGRAPHY |
| Created by Henry Kiefer? [Drew Allen] - Profile written by Jim 'Zilch' Doty |
PERSONAL DATA
Real Name: Jim Lockhart
Occupation: Retired Navy Captain, adventurer, former CEO of Lockhart Navionics, head of Windward Home
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single through 1942
Base of Operation: Both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
Group Affiliation(s): Freedom Fighters
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10" (now 5'8")
Weight: 165 lbs. (now 145 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Auburn (now grey)
First Appearance: Crack Comics #1/6 (May 1940) [Quality]
Creators: Henry Kiefer? [Drew Allen]
- Profile written by Jim 'Zilch' Doty
OVERVIEW
When Jim Lockhart retired from the US Navy in 1940, he had to occupy himself with something else. Building a one-man submarine and donning a mask and a costume, Lockhart became the Red Torpedo - the 'Robin Hood of the Deep'. The Red Torpedo was also the name of his fantastic vehicle, able not only to move below the sea's surface, but also float on it and fly in the sky. The Red Torpedo fought criminals by the sea for a couple of years, explored undersea civilizations and even battled such menaces as the ruler of one of them, Queen Klitra.
After joining Uncle Sam's proto-version of the Freedom Fighters in 1941, the Red Torpedo fought the Axis powers at Pearl Harbor and was presumed dead after the attack. After aiding Dr. Mid-Nite and Robotman to create the weapons for the second Starman, he went on to found Lockhart Navionics. In recent years, he heads up Windward Home, a research facility that looks for answers to the world's problems across different fields of study.
HISTORY
After leaving the US Navy in early 1940, former Captain Jim Lockhart began to develop his "Red Torpedo", a (slightly larger than) one man submarine with several modifications that allowed it to fly and travel on land for brief periods. He began to patrol the water of the Atlantic Ocean and aided the government covertly stopping Axis spies and military vessels. He also worked in the Pacific, battling the sub-pirate known as The Black Shark. He discovered and stopped and invasion by a race of "meramazons".
In the early hours of the day before the attack of the Japanese Navy on Pearl Harbor, The Red Torpedo was contacted by Uncle Sam, the personification of the American Spirit, and joined other mystery-men in trying to stop the attack. After meeting with the superior firepower of the Japanese Fleet, the heroes were defeated and either killed or left for dead.
Mortally wounded after the battle, Lockhart retired and developed electronics for the naval industry. In early 1951, with the aid of Robotman, he developed the technology of Ted Knight into the weapons used by the second Starman.
Over the next decades, Lockhart took his company, Lockhart Navionics, to be one of the leading suppliers of electronics to the US government.
Seeing how nations were using his inventions and those of others to lessen the human spirit, he decided to sell off his company and use the monies to found Windward Home, a mulit-discipline think tank dedicated to the advancement of the human condition.
POWERS AND WEAPONS
The Red Torpedo's main weapon was his mini-submarine, also called The Red Torpedo. The ship was slightly larger than a one-man sub, could fly and travel on land for short periods and fired both machine-gun and concussive shells from both the front and rear. Lockhart may have also used technology common in the vehicles used by The Star-Spangled Kid, The Blue Tracer, Spy-Smasher and others.
The Red Torpedo was a fair hand-to-hand combatant and an excellent swimmer. He was aided by his girl friend Peg (also called 'Meg').
After he was injured, Lockhart now walks with the aids of brace-canes.
CHRONOLOGY
For a definitive list of appearances of Red Torpedo in chronological order click here