The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-08 00:00:00

PRACTICAL TORPEDOES.

After many years of labour, Captain and Commander
Harvey have succeeded in making a torpedo which 111
completely under practical control. Hitherto these 141'
lainous contrivances have proved nearly useless, from the
extreme difficulty of exploding them at the proper
moment. An old torpedo, immersed in the water, seldonl
or never could be induced to go off when a hostile ship
wasimmediately over it, in which position alone the eP
plosion could be of any avail. But under the neW
system the torpedo is as controllable as a rocket.
Instead of sinking the torpedo, Captain Harvey terig
it boldly against the craft that is to be destroyed,
the explosion taking place by the act of contact.
Any one who has towed a boat along a river or callas
knows, that, if the tow-rope was made fast to the stem 0`
the boat, she would soon stick her nose in the bank;
but by fastening the tow rope nearly amidships she shoots
out into the stream, and travels in a straight line
parallel to the towing path, at a greater or less distance
out, according to the length of the tow rope. This 19
the principle adopted by Captain Harvey for towing Lug
torpedo, which is a long, narrow box, weighted at the
lower edge, and with a towing span on ono side. 9211.8
bottom is not so long as the top, so that the section 11
something of a punt form, which makes it more easy
tow. The box contains an inner metal case to hold the
powder, or other more powerful explosive agent, which i°
ignited by means of a metal bclt inserted into a chamber
on the top of the torpedo. This bolt is hollow, tuldi
loaded with a fulminate, which explodes when the bolt is
pressed downwards on to a sharp pin or anvil in the het.
torn of the Chamber, The pressure which forces the h°l"
downwards is exerted by two ingeniously contrived lever*
on their coming into contact with the bottom or side a 9.
ship. One lever projects upwards from the top of f
h te
torpedo, and the other from the side, so that no n3otte
what the angle of contact may be, the explosion is curs
to follow. Even when the exploding bolt is placed in its
chamber, means are taken to prevent accidental dischArga'
by putting in a pin at right angles through the bolt an
across the top of the chamber. This safety pin is attached
to a piece of log-line, which is run off a reel, as in heaving
the log, when the torpedo is being towed. The Pt-si
has a slight lashing of twine, to prevent aceidellt
displacement, but when the torpedo is to be fired, a 03%
tug on the log line breaks the twine and pulls out tht
pin. The torpedo is then ready to explode the 111°1116:4
the contact takes place. With a tow-rope of silt,'
seventy fathoms, the torpedo floats off the quarter of tr'ci.
towing vessel at an angle from 30 deg. to 40 deg., ace° it
ing to the speed. The torpedo is so well weighted that •
sinks of itself, so that there is a cork buoy attached 131113,
buoy rope. When being towed, the torpedo grad
j;'
rises to the surface, the buoy trailing along astern. 13
varying the speed of the towing vessel the depth at vil'l"
the torpedo shall strike an enemy's ship can he 'ler),
nicely regulate('

THE CRUISE OF THE FLYING SQUADB°

The accounts received of the progress of the FlYj re
Squadron, with the Lords of the Admiralty on boarj, ail
eminently satisfactory. Squadron sailing is 'lf
exercise for our seamen, and has certainly the advantage.;
keeping the crews on the alert, for from morning 7,
night the work of making and shortening ecies:
in order to keep the ships in their respective st'itils
Thanks to the adoption of Colomb's flashing- sigoe
for night signalling their vigilance is allowed no ree':';
If any ship has failed to keep her station dur„l,o
the night a signal is made by the flagship DI ;ch
morning for the name of the officer of the Ws',,p
in which the error is committed, and the name is sent cat
in bunting for the benefit of the fleet ! It is 0,1'1%,
that under these circumstances those who ,1:1-0
teered for the flying squadron find they 'Atie
more work than play, but it affords
Aria
excellent opportunity of improvement in seamausbil) The
gunnery to young and inexperienced officers. bees
Colomb signal system, to which reference 1135,.:4,
made, is now officially adopted for the British "-tbe
and every boys' training ship is supplied Ivitii;ials
apparatus to instruct the lads in their use. It ie
and efficient, and is admirably adapted for night -too of
munication at sea—a great desideratum. It c°115.5 el%
an adaptation of Morse's telegraph system, and c°„
;:sto
the messages by the short or long flashes of 'go
and their position to each other. In a f°g' aci
same method of signalling is carriod out by weed
with the fog horn. The system when first intrr"er
met with very strong opposition, but it was strovg`Ja of
ported by Sir Sydney Dacres, the Senior SO 14°;,a1l
the Admiralty, and is now, as we have said, reello,
established. A question very interesting to novnif„epis
neerl, and very important to the country, has been oeo
during this cruise, and it refers to the machinerl°'eicil
turret ships. The Monarch has two turrets, one a - en
is completely disabled by an injury to the Initebillillif%
fitted to the carriages of the guno• doe,
machinery is extremely complicated, and kybt
several workmen from the Portsmouth -1-1,,t
the
were taken to sea in the hope that they could ene"s 0
necessary repairs, the turret is not likely, acc(araill
the
the last accounts, to be in working order again dtlrilple%
voyage. It is, therefore, asked whether some less e°'-viblell
arrangement may not be devised since an injuryet t 4)
it takes a journey round the world to 13000
rights cannot certainly be rectified during the esiftecie
of a naval campaign. Steam evolutions were 11:1" oriel
Gibraltar before joining the Mediterranean obt.oDßh
more important exercises are to be gone
"itefeel
by the combined fleets in the cruise "
Gibraltar and Lisbon. So far as they I'lloo
gone, the admiral has expressed himself well 000°0011
the performances of the ships, many of which On d
ths
commissioned. The sick list is at a low rate, on ,
general condition of the crews highly satisfact°Sisir°l
the fleet entered the Bay of Gibraltar, Viee7,,
Milne came out in his steam-yacht to welcome .

Lord and his colleagues to Gibraltar.
The Rev. Canon Melville is said to be o°r

indlishpeosordr,ianncdeuonfabwleatloesloainvo his residence.
geldie Castle on Thursday for Mexaprlebcotreodugth°lll il
- $5:1111i
eou: Abel;
Prince The willM a nchestFerrid.EB examiner an mi
stay
Carlisle still continues vergyihn
dringham. „.0 Of
:el,: n.
says
at at ellc)Se ":
n_eaArdCvaircleissle.
received by the Cape Mail 0051310 e;
Rtoman report that her Majesty's ship Oronteg,,, p
a Ascension on the 16th of August. Silo left tho
Helena on the night of the 4th of Aug ,he pro'
same night her screw had to be stopped. 11.,-tiler°
ceeded under sail to Ascension, and arrive,' oof
on the 9th. Next day it was found, by gle3l's oo
idivers, that the driving head of the shaft IV U 4
on
njured as to prevent further use of the scresq' tbo
the 11th a case of scarlatina broke out an-01%00
children on board. The women and children
_jog
immediately landed, and, further cases oeCtiforo.3
among the children after landing, a gedic3l l',,aa
decided that it would be dangorous to re-on bar' sbip
of the children, and recommended that the
•1g with the
should at once proceed on her voyage, wi,tbtoo
troops. She was to leave Ascensior„'ii:ttd:i:Abro o
eti:
the 17th of August with her .10' je3ty's 6h
viPdancl'
seus, which vessel will accomp;ny her o
and it is expected they will arrive at Spitllo"
able t
the middle of October. We arc glad to be 4:lwas
state that the fever among the children laed,el es
of a very mild type, and it was confideill opted
that the prompt measures taken wee'
vent any fatal results among them or dangert ado
troops on board, as both the ship's crew au' "r
were in the enjoyment of good health.