Hydrogen Peroxide can also be used as a fuel, when used in high concentrations. The first use of high strength Hydrogen Peroxide, known as HTP, (High Test Peroxide) was in the Heinkel He 52 aircraft, which was first flown in 1937.

Today, the Russian Navy use Hydrogen peroxide to power their torpedoes. Britain's Royal Navy does not, as they consider it too dangerous. They lost an S class submarine (the HMS Sidon) in 1955 due to a 'hydrogen peroxide torpedo explosion'. A similar accident is the popular theory for what caused the damage to the Russian submarine, the Kursk.

Hydrogen Peroxide was used to fuel the British Black Arrow rocket; used to put Britain's first (and currently, only) satellite in orbit in 1971.


The history of torpedoes (including hydrogen peroxide propulsion) in the United States Navy is detailed here. http://members.dialnet.net/rrupert/ustorp3.html

For far more detail than you could ever need on the use of Hydrogen Peroxide as a fuel can be found at the 1st HTP Propulsion Workshop:
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/SSC/H2O2CONF/

Information about every Royal Navy submarines ever, including the HMS Sidon can be found at
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/jdholt/