The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-07-02


EXCURSION UPON THE MONITOR NAUBUC TO THo1
THE ToRPEDOES-A NUMBER OF DISTINGUISHES
GENTLEMEN PRESENT, ETC.
1t may be supposed by some that the day for making
experiments with torpedoes and submarine firing appa-
ratus has gone BY and that those who devote themselves
TO such improvements in the United States simply throw
away their energy and lose their time But that this
would be an erroneous impression could easily b
shown It an old axiom In time Of peace prepare foe
war; It Is an equally applicable rule, Tin time q
war prepare peace" and in better way could We
lay the foundation of solid and enduring peace than
by being fully supplied with the best armies, the
best generals, the best navy, tho best guns and
tho best Of all tho remaining paraphernaa Of war; And
additional interest at present attached to all new nven
tions in gunnery from the well known fact that the
emperor Of the French" has lately been giving consad
erable attention the subject and on the 18th and 1eh
OF May had very interesting calculations Of the
science of submarine firing made under his direction Il
is high time that European nations began to wake up -
the necessity Of improvement in scenc, In which The
Americans can outstrip the world And It less i'm
portant that America keep her eye the gun and take
advantage Of any invention that TO promise good
results.
series Of very interesting experiments were madc II
tho vicinity Of Governors Island on Tuesday last In
which very important facts were eucdated and soma
interesting conclusions arrived at delegation Of naval
ocers-conssting Of Rear Admiral Gregory Commodore
O. RingoId Chief Engineer VIM. w W. Wood, Capt yohu
I. Wordcn and Chief Engineers Williamson and Hoyt
accompanied by Captain Bythosea Royal British Navy;
Captain L. Maudct commanding the French corvette Il
Phlegtton; ~ Kichkin Engineer Of the Imperial Rus
sian leet Captain Heath late Of tho United States tor
podo boat spuytcn Duyvil; Mr. Low, Chairman Of the
Chamber Of Commerce Of New York, and Mr. Van o..
trand Mr. Donald Mckay, the eminent shipbuildcr, %
Boston-and others took tho steamtug Rocket at the
Fulton street ferry wharf, and proceeded 70 the lgne
draught Monitor Naubuc, lying In Buttermik channel
ing officer Acting Master Dayton United states Navy
OF the Naubuc tho necessary orders and the Mont
tor moved out into the bay to the south side Of Cover
nors Island At this point Of the percussion tor.
pedoes invented by Chief Engineer VIM. w W. Wood,
and in by the navy upon the James river and ohsl
places during the war was discharged about twenty
from the bow of the Monitor. II sunk to some depth
and was ignited by the pulling OF LANYARD Tho result
Of water and the sending of column Of the sama
fluid sixty fest into the air This torpedo for SONS
PURPOSES deemed eminently successful Il Ia sim
Pile in construction and not liable to get out a
order. The Elimination Of the contents OF the
DO erron case funnel shaped at tho lower and heaveD
end is produced by the falling Of heavy ball from the
upper end Of the tube, inserted In the POWDER upon
common nipple, armed with percussion cap Tho BAN
Is confined TO ts place and rests upon small pin, which
tho tube ransvcrsely, and which Is displaced
leaving the ball, hammer without support, by the
pulling Of the lanyard Tho destructive agent carried
charge Of sixty pounds of gunpowder The torpedo
ITSELF when in is attached to boom, which made
the steamer and from which il drops upon given sig
nal After Il has como below TO sufficient depth the
lanyard pulled and the explosion takes place. as in the
instance recorded or course, after once dcpostng %
planting the torpedo the vessel gdes backward and a.
far from possible to escape injury or destruction.
This Ia the torpedo used by Lieutenant Cusng II
destroying the Albcmare.
After the trial OF tho percussion torpedo the Monos
proceeded TO move shoreward and In short time tive
Chief Engineer Woodwerc successfully discharged ono
has Ing been fired by Admiral Gregory in person, The
firing was done with Mr. G. W. Birlsas improved mag
netic exploding machine through about thirteen hundred
feet Of India rubber insulated copper wire immersed in
the water TO convenient depth Captain Heath for
merly OF the torpedo steamer Spuytcn Duyv supcrin
tended tho operations OF the new torpedo and exploded
one Of Thorn himself, and formerly used them
river. The electrical apparatus was In charge OF
Mcssrs q. W. Schamm and j. G. Stevenson. Tho
be Judged from the fact that they threw up column Of
water to tho height OF nifty or sixty fect
stouest vessel had she been above the internal mahne
would have be blown up and injured in such man.
ncr-cycn though plated with heavy iron armor-thas
her sinking to the bottom must have speedily followed
She would at least have been rendered unmanagceble
| aud for the time useless for offensive purposes
The torpedo OF Engineer Wood may b, most
readily described double boer-iron cyind r-thas
Is, a smaller cylinder within larger, TO q ard ,aDss
the powder to be contained in the inner Compartment
contracting moisture closed at both extrcmlic and
| filed with from fifty TO sixty pounds OF gunpowdcr.
Through one end Of the cylinder pass the negative ana
lated wire, leading TO battery, which may be
located miles from the torpedo. Tho electric spark
| reaches the nrng apparatus within the GYM
| der--which, It IL claimed, Is far superior to
that generally known the platina concentration
through the agency Of novel aticnuator composed OF
simple line OF plumbago drawn upon the end u piece
of wood II easy perceive that tho nsla on Of the
wires being perfect It would be possible TO explode the
torpedo at any distance from the exploding Instrument
or battery In act cartridge has already been exploded
in the city of Washington from the telegraph once on
Broad street in this city using tho open telegraph wircs
tho conductors But Is not necessary that the ex-
poson should DO SO far from the in any sup
possible In offensive defensive warfare. All thae
is claimed by the that the torpedo aud the ex.
ploder would be invaluable OF harbor defence
| and for destroying enemys iron-cads His claim
| seems to be well founded
| Tho excursion was on the whole, successful and .
pleasant one and those engaged In u returned 10 the city
we'll pleased with the trip and It's exciting Incidents.
Thoy unanimous In returning the,r thanks 70 Acun3
Monitor Naubuc for the many courtesies BY him 50 grs
4 cously extended upon the occasion.