The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-31 00:00:00

A NEW TORPEDO BOAT.

-Another of the improved type of second-class
torpedo boats having been completed for the British
Admiralty, she was tried the other day on the
Thames, with very satisfactory results. There are
two classes of torpedo boats in the service, the first-
class being the bigger ones that are always afloat,
and the second-class those that are carried by iron-
dads, and lowered when required. Our Navy has
about 50 old boats of the latter class, which are of
little use except in the calmest of weathez, and are
very unpopular in the service. In these
boats sea - going qualities, general usefulness,
and comfort were sacrificed to an overwhelming
regard for speed. The result has been that they are
so crank, wet, and uncomfortable at sea as to render
them unfit for service in even moderately rough
water. Becoming unpopular, these boats are never
used except for torpedo practice. Moreover, lying
unused for comparatively long periods, they are apt
to get out of order and to rust out rather than to
wear out; and the crews, too, get out of practice
with them. These defects were long recognised at
the Admiralty, and about a year ago the Admiralty
invited the leading torpedo-boat constructors in
this country to submit proposals for improved
second-class torpedo-boats, and designs were
selected. These have been carried out, and the
Admiralty are extremely satisfied with the results
which have been attained. A few weeks ago
one of the new boats made the voyage under steam
from the Thames to Portsmouth, and behaved
splendidly in the rough weather she met with. And
another one made several trial trips on the Thames
the other day. A number more of these boats will be
shortly completed. The new boats are shorter than
the old ones (60ft. against 63 feet), but they have
more beam (81t. 6in. against 7ft. 6in.), witich, together
with the flat "floor," confers more stability and
better seagoing qualities. The displacement light is
11± tons, and when fully equipped (armed and
coaled), with steam up, it is 15 tons. Despite the
addition to beam and other points of construction,
the object of which is to secure stability,
nothing has been lost in speed. The first-
named of the new boats, at her official trial
on the Thames. being fully loaded, averaged 17
knots per hour (equal to 191 statute miles) during
four hours' continuous steaming. This is a higher
speed than the old boats can boast of, though speed
was the great thing in view in their construction.
This highly satisfactory result—increase in speed con-
currently with great increase in stability and seagoing
qualities—marks a great stride forward in machinery
and construction. Having a roomy deck and twc
cabins, capable of accommodating nine or a dozen
persons each, the new boat will be serviceable as an
ordinary steam pinnace. Constant use will keep the
craft in order, and the crew accustomed to the manage-
ment of her. To give the boat this dual character
was an object the Admiralty, who are responsible for
the design, had in view. The armament of the new
boat comprises a swivel torpedo, to be placed aft and
arranged so that it can be trained to any angle over
either side. This tube can be replaced by a quick-
firing gun; and two small Nordenfelts can be carried
on deck. The machinery consists of a locomotive
boiler, embodying all the recent improvements, also
triple expansion engines. The boat has an upright
stem and fore turtle deck, ending in a rifle-bullet
proof conning tower, containing the steering wheel.
The boat is so built forward as to minimise, if not to
avoid, the big wave which fast-going craft are apt to
create, and which by electric light is soon noticeable
from an ironclad. The boat described a circle in 40
seconds.