The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1880-02-28
A Torpedo Fight at Portsmouth.

With a view of testing the value of torpedoes
and giving TO the public service some experience
in their use, there has been a mimic hight on
Portsmouth, which all the population of that
district turned out to see. Fort MonektOn,
which is in the vicinity of Portsmouth, and an
important feature IN its defence, was occupied
by three mounted field pieces from Hilsea and
companies Of infantry armed with the Martini
Henry rifle. The night was dark, and people
ashore could see but little. while those ahOat in
the Medina, which had the foreign attaches and
officers of different countries on board, were not
much better off, except when occasional flashes OF
the electric light disclosed the advancing boats,
which had a difficult task before them. Prior to
getting TO MOnckton they had to encounter for
midable, because unknown, dangers. The tor
pedo mine-feld extended over a surface of 800
square yards, with a boom running due north
and south, protected with network and divers
impedimenta which would be likely to catch :he
screws Of the enemy's launches. This dangerous
field comprised thirty-two electric contact mines
and forty-nine others to be fred from Fort
MOnckton. The fort had two electric lights, a
Siemens, representing 200 candles, and a
Gramme, representing % 900. To avoid accident,
the blowing charges consisted of only 8oz. of
powder. The object of the operations was to
demonstrate the possibility of forcing a position,
carefully prepared beforehand, for submarine
defence, a torpedo party having to attempt to
destroy submarine defences off Fort Monckton,
and a defending party being detailed to resist
them from the fort. The operations of the at
tack were limited to destroying the electric
cables, breaking booms and distractions, and
running lines of counter mines the operations of
the defence being limited to capturing or putting
out of action the attacking vessels. The enemy's
fleet. advancing from the southwest, attempted
to force a passage through a channel running
between the coasts, and extending from Gill
kicker Fort to Haslar Military Hospital, with an
imaginary shore line. The fort at Gillkicker and
all the batteries that might have been on the
imaginary shore were supposed to haze been
silenced by the fire of the enemy's ironclads, the
only heavy artillery remaining for the defence of
the mines being the guns inside Fort Monckton.
At the moment of the attack the enemy was sup
posed to have cleared through the advanced mines
a passage of 40 yards wide, and to be intending
to send boats forward to remove distractions and
to make, by counter-mining or other means, a
passage for the feet through part of the remain
ing portion of the inner channel. The attacking
force consisted of the Bloodhound and VesuUius,
representing gunboats, the torpedo boat Light
ning, six steam launches and five guard boats
while the defending force had orders to meet the
counter-mining resources of the attack. The
channel was supposed to be leo yards wide, and
to have been cleared by the cOunter-mines, SO
that it might be made use of by the boats Of the
attack. At nine O'Clock the experiments COM
menced. The boom was soon forced, after a boat
or two were placed out of action, but the navy
held her own. 1t had several reverses, for boat
after boat was declared beaten, but the boom
having been forced was as great an encourage
ment as could have been desired. A few of the
rockets had certainly gone off, showing that the
army were winning but No. 20 boat of the
Vernon began to steal about and cut mine after
mine, and the others followed suit. A tremen-
dous shock was felt as the boom was forced. A
which was cleverly executed resulted
in a great victory for the navy. As soon as this
was effected the boats lodged about IN all direc-
tons, and defied the effects even of the electric
light, which followed most perseveringly every
move that was effected by the enemy. 1t was
scarcely h~alf-past nine when the boom had been
fired, and the enemy began to feel the odds
against them. But they were undaunted. Their
counter-mines were admirably laid. No. 20
boat had done her work. She was, in the opin-
ion of the umpires, blown up by the torpedoes,
but she had done her work. Six out of thirty
mines fell to her share, when nine boats were
for that service, and when she was
placed hors de combat, she had the satisfaction of
that her work was well done. Before
O'Clock all was over. The enemy had ex-
ploded the mines, the defenders submitted to a
being effected, and it only now remains
for the umpIres to decide that the navy were
victorious.