First Appearance: Navy Combat #1 (June 1955).
Appearances: Navy Combat #1-18.
Years Active: 1939-1945.

Torpedo Taylor is the head of the torpedo room on the U.S.S. Barracuda during World War Two. As you can see from the image on this page, he's a strapping lad; he's as good with his fists as he is at running the Barracuda's torpedo room. He's more than just a pretty face, however; he's got a good brain in his head, and often contributes ideas that help sink Japanese ships and save the Barracuda. In one story he pilots--by hand--a torpedo at a damaged Japanese ship, hence his nickname.

Taylor is a high-spirited sort, often getting in trouble with the Barracuda's C.O., but when times are worst Taylor comes through with the gunshot or the idea that saves the Barracuda and helps kill the "Japs."

Notes: Taylor is one of the few naval heroes of the Atlas line that I know about; there's Sailor Sweeney, but as far as I know he's much more of a humor character than one meant to be taken seriously, as Torpedo Taylor so obviously is intended. Far more space was given to the "Rock" Murdocks and Combat Kelly (I)s. But then, that reflects the traditional bias in the military towards the fighting grunt and away from the swabs. Unlike many of the other Atlas military stories, the Torpedo Taylor stories were more open in their bias towards the enemy, the Japanese being portrayed in very racist and stereotypical terms.