Damn the Torpedoes is the third studio album by the American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on October 19, 1979.

It built on the commercial success and critical acclaim of the band's two previous albums and reached No.

[5] The title is a reference to a famous quote by Admiral David Farragut: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!".

[16][17] Thanks to the new co-producer Jimmy Iovine, Damn the Torpedoes proved to be a major leap forward in production.

The original review in Rolling Stone raved that it was the "album we've all been waiting for – that is, if we were all Tom Petty fans, which we would be if there were any justice in the world.

"[18] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said, "This is a breakthrough for Petty because for the first time the Heartbreakers ... are rocking as powerfully as he's writing.

"[8] Subsequent appraisals have remained positive, with AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine regarding it as "one of the great records of the album rock era".