Hasan al-Rammah (, died 1295) was a Syrian Arab chemist and engineer during the Mamluk Sultanate who studied gunpowders and explosives, and sketched prototype instruments of warfare, including a rocket-propelled surface weapon designed for water. Al-Rammah described this design as "an egg which moves itself and burns." It was made of two sheet-pans of metal fastened together and filled with naphtha, metal filings, and potassium nitrate. It was intended to move across the surface of the water, propelled by a large rocket and kept on course by a small rudder. Despite being frequently cited as the first "torpedo," historians of technology classify the device as a rocket-propelled surface weapon rather than a modern underwater missile, as it was designed to skim across the surface of the water and lacks historical evidence of actual deployment in combat.Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic. Cambridge University Press. p. 509.
Al-Rammah devised several new types of gunpowder, a new type of fuse, and two types of lighters.
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