[Verse 1]
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 do it with a 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

[Verse 2]
We're herе to study all about the tricky gyro gear
To understand thе way to make the Bliss torpedo steer
To study lubrication and some other things not clear
And we'll do it with a 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

[Verse 3]
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 the pallets that belong
To the complicated Navy 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

[Verse 4]
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 a 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

[Verse 5]
Someday 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

[Chorus]
We've only got this one complaint
She winds up where the target ain't
God bless the damned old steam torpedo