The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-04-20 00:00:00

CRUDE PETROLEUM (GREEK FIRE)
IN NAVAL WARFARE.

In London, on Saturday, at the last meeting
of the Institute of Naval Architects, Mr. C. Bohm
read a paper on "Crude Petroleum (Greek fire)
Equipments for Purposes of Naval Warfare." Re-
feiring to Lord Dunsanyes declaration, at the United
Service Institution, against the use of petroleum in
naval warfare and his advice that no " quarter "
should be given to those who used it, Mr. Bohm urged
that, in the face of the fact that petroleum was
already a recognised agent of warfare, it would be
wiser to seek for adequate antidotes against the
effect of the petroleum weapon than to rely upon a
savage mode of warfare which nailed on its flag "no
quarter." We could not shut our,eyes and fail to take into
consideration the acts of such States as Great Britain,
France, the United States of America, and Russia,
which four highly-respectable and powerful States had
already used hydro-carbon compounds in warfare
during the last twenty-five years, and it was not on
record that any Government had protested against it.
He argued that petroleum could be thrown with accu-
ra.cy.upon any desired spot in any requisite quantity
within fifteen seconds to a distan,e not exceeding 300
feet, and that one gallon of crude petroleum, if judi-
ciously discharged over a surface of 100 square feet and
then ignited, would render that area uninhabitable for
human beings during ten minutes. The petroleum
apparatus could be placed on any ironclad or craft
and be of any desirable size, as it was intended
to serve only as an additional equipment, in order
that the ship or boat carrying it should be able to re-
tain its original armament and crew, whatever it might
be. He described in detail the petroleum apparatus
and the method of ignition on a hostile ship, and con-
tended that the ten or fifteen minutes gained by the
attacking petroleum torpedo boat would be sufficient
to capture or destroy an ironclad, because during the
ten or fifteen minutes the crude petroleum was burn-
ing even the largest ironclad woul, i be rendered hors
de combat. The naval engagements in the late Russo-
Turkish war had fully disclosed that large ironclads
must expect to be attacked by small steam launches,
and also that the discharge of a petroleum steeam
an to the ship about to be attacked would give a
better opportunity to apply the i.par torpedo, inas-
much as the fire and smoke from the petroleum
would drive the men from the guns, and the tor-
pedo boat could apprdach within striking distance
without fear of being fired upon and explode a
torpedo under the ironclad. Experiments had
been tried in Russia, and, although too late to
put them in practice during the late war, it was
concluded by a commission that liquid fire could be
applied with advantage against an ene ny's ships. An
ironclad of the largest sizi and provided with the best
armament would be in a critical position if attacked
by some light steam launches carrying spar torpedoes
and crude petroleum equipments. The weak points of
large ironclads seemed at last to have received due
recognition by naval men, and authorities like Lord J.
Hay, Lord C. Bet esford, Captain Price, and others
had begun to advocate that towed° launches should be
attached to the ironclads of the British Navy. Such
launches having to fight at close quarters would have
constant opportunities of using the petroleum weapon,
which could be most successfully employed by those
who were well acquainted with its qualities and uses.
Admiral Selwyn expressed the hope that attention
would be given to the subject in this country, so that
we might be prepared in case the .material were used
against us.