New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-12
! foreseen, and deliberately calculated in ad-
rnn1rrs oF HARROR DEFENCE.

ENGINES Or dAHDOit DbTG
The recent trials Of the Lay torpedo in the
Bosphorus have an important bearing upon
naval warfare and harboI defence. his loco
motive submarine mine has been greatly I'M
proved since it was first tested In American
waters. The electric wire, instead Oh oeing
uncoilcd from the shore battery or hrlng po'h1
as the torpedo proceeds on its errand or des1ruc-
ton, is paid out easily and loosely from the
moving mine The steering apparatus mas
practically ceased to be q drag upon the move
ments of the torpedo. AT the same time the
velocity has been materially increased, the to-
pedoes recently supplied to the Russian Govern
ment having attained a speed OF twelve ana q
half knots an hour and the disturbance on the
surface of the water caused by It's passage mas
been diminished by the substitution OF two
small screws for the large one. In the Bos-
phorus the improved torpedo of this type was
not used, but one making only nine knots an
hour and it was rendered unnecessarily con-
spicuOus in order that the Sultan might watcn
its progress IRON the windows OF his palace,
red flag being attached to the foremost guide
rod. The bunting not only caught the eye OF
the observer, but every gust of wind as we'll
the consequence being dip forward by which
the screw was raised and the disturbance OF the
alter inc reased. The torptd do was not, there
FORE tested under neutrality-suspicious. for
demonstrating its highest degree of invisi-
bility and its maximum speed. Hobart, the
Anglo Turkish Admiral, writes to Tie London
Times hat among the naval and military critics
who witnessed the experiments there was some
disappointment expressed in respect to these
two points, but there was and could be only
M r.
ing and the facility with which the torpedo
was maneuvred in the cuIrents-it was con-
sidered perfect.
As the trials are described in detail by naval
| correspondent of the same journal, it is appar-
| eut that the American torpedo was tested M
der conditions which would have been fatal to
| the success of the Whitehead torpedo. At the
southern outlet of the BOsphorus there are
ST. ong currents running in opposite directions,
with edd les and "choppy sea-" In such
waters the Whitehead torpedo could not have
been controlled from shore, inasmuch as the
erect of the currents, changing hourly with the
tide and the wind, could not have been calcu-
| lated in advance. A high wind rendered the
conditions exceptionally unfavorable, great
difficulty being exeriencedin moving the cutters
used in the trials. The torpedo, being sub
iceted to these extreme tests, was steered de
Iectly through the opening between the cutters
TO a target 100 yards beyond, where it turned
| around and returned to the starting point on
land over mile distant. The strongest cur
rent and the heaviest sea could not divert it
from its course, and it was every instant COM
pletely under the control of the operator on
shore. Even the English critics, preiudiced as
1 =. g. ..,ft ha fntp
were forced to admit that if Mr. Lay could
maintain his guarantee OF increased speed and
the immersion of the entire torpedo with the
exception of the guide-rods. he had devised a
most formidable engine OF harbor defence,
which could be used even where currents and
tides were strongest and most changeable.
The electrical steering apparatus, which gives
to this torpedo its chief advantage over the
| Whitehead was shown to be AZ available on the
darkest night rs in the daytime. The action
of the torpedo was perfect after nightfali, the
| rnide-rods carrying two small lamps visible to
the operators telescope, but screened by shades
from observation III the opposite quarter.
a The advance in torpedo systems OF offence
and defence made by American and European
inventors during the last decade has tended to
diminish the value Of naval ornaments. IL the
hastily constructed earthworks and crumbling
Notifications Of Alexandria could not be bat
tered down without a ten hours bOmbardmeDt,
! how helpless those ironcads would have been
| if they had been exposed to attack from an in
visible feet of torpedo boats used In connection
with stationary mines and well-manned shore
batteries! Not only does the torpedo system
| prov ide an adequats means of obsructlng the
| uss.age OF n hostile feet of lnfeXibes, Devas-
tations and Thunderers, through strait like
the Dar,lanelles, or INTO harbOr like that OF
| Alexandria or New York, but it renders these
iron plated monsters vulnerable. If the sides
and bottoms of these ships can still be mate
rally strengthened. the torpedoes can be more
heavily charged with dynamite, although they
already carry $50 pounds with ease aud in a
struggle between the protective qualities OF
iron aud steel and the destructive properties OF
explosives, there can be only one issue. II
cannot be seriously questioned that the day foI
building great ironclads has gone by. lt is not
worth while for any Government to expend
millions upon single ironclad, which is not
only unmunageable in rough water, but with
the aid Of electricity and dynamite can be sent
to the bottom 10y the movement of one mans
Land an tiny key board mile or more away
I'm the navies of the future the big gun Will be
mounted on q small floating carriage and a
fleet will lie built for what one great ironclad