San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-05-26
THE NEW TORPEDO CRUISER.
\ Craft that will Beat England's
SharpshOotcr and SPANS De-
StruCtOF


WASHINGTON, May 26.-The type
of the torpedo cruiser, as distinguished
from the torpedo boat, is one that
has within the last few years at
tracted great atten ton in foreign
naval construction. France has built,
or is building, no fewer than ten of
the Bombe class: England, four of
the Rattlesnake and eleven of the
SharpshOOter classes: Italy, five
of the Trlpoli class; Spain
! has her DestruCUOr, and Russia
her Hin. The Vesuvus is also a
vessel of this general type, except
| that she carries the aerial or Me1tord-
Xalinski torpedo tube, while the
others use the locomotive marine tor
pedO, launched from short tubes. The
new torpedo cruiser which the senate
committee proposes is also apparently
designed to use automobile torpedoes
instead of the pneumatic apparatus
employed on the NesuVius.
The Cushing, which is fair exam
pie of torpedo boat of the first class
has less than a hundred tons dis
placement. But a torpedo cruiser is
a much larger vessel. The Destruc-
tor at hight draught is of 35S tons;
the Rattlesnake, of $50; the Him, of
627; the Sharp-shOoter, of 735; the
Nesuvius, of S11; the Tripoli, OF $50. |
The BOmbe has but 800 tons, and is |
almost of an intermediate class be-
tween the torpedo boat and the tor
pedo cruiser. Our new vessel is in |
tended to be of $50 tons displacement,
which would bring her directly with
in the latter class.
A to her armament, some Idea of
It's probable character may be obtain
ed from examining the vessels al
ready mentioned The SharpshoOter
and Rattlesnake have four tubes
each; the DestructOr and TripOli, five
each; the Ilgin seven, while all these
vessels employ Whitehead torpedOes.
All also have secondary batteries, the
Destructor, the SharpshOoter, and
the Rattlesnake each carrying "a four
inch breech-lOading rifle, as also
does the BOmbe, which has,
however, only two torpedo tubes.
The Tripoli and Sharpshooter carry
N all 20 torpedoes each, the Iljin, q;
The Rattlesnake, Is; the DestructOr,
Is; the Bonnie, 10. The maximum
weight of high explosives designed for
.hese torpedoes is $50 pounds. which,
however, is twenty pounds less than
he amount of gun cotton actually
brown in the recent official trial of
he Nesuvius, and this latter can be
more than doubled. The torpedoes
lsed with the new cruiser would be
" an American type, which, it is con-
identity believed, will surpass the
Whitehead in effectiveness.
1t is rather noticeable that four
ears ago Mr.. Mcpherson of the SEN
tie naval committee introduced a bill
for vessel of the same
eneral type as the one now contem-
'lated:
One torpedo cruiser of about 500
ons displacement, with full torpedo
utfit, high-pOwer rifle and secondary
artery armament, steel defective ,
eek running full length, and with
ngines of sufficient power to attain a
ca speed of at least twenty-five knots
n hour, and fitted for working with I
breed draught. Said cruiser shall
AIRY spars and masts for full fore and
IT sail power; and the cost of said 7
essel, with engines and machinery
including armament, shall f
ot exceed 100000.
The progress of construction since
hat date is shown by the fact that
he senate committee now asks I
knots on fifty tons less
and there is good
round for believing that this great
hn
las reached an average speed of 2l-65 I
,nots, and certainly the experience
aimed since she was designed must
cunt for something. The DestructOr, l
,uilt at Clydebank for Spain, is even
aster. Her builder, in a paper
cad before the British Insti-
ute of Naval architects, gave her .
peed in trial made last year as 22.6S
;nOts. 1t Is accordingly probable
hat the % knots required of the new t
'essel can be obtained. The official
epOrt of the recent trial of the Nesu-
yius for horse power has not yet been t
made public; but unofficial indica- {
ions are that more than ), 800 was de-
'elOped, and perhaps 300. The iD-
Heated horse power OF the DestruCtOr ,
IN the trial in question was 1929, &C
,Ording to some accounts, and 3,7S4
according to others, the former per-
laps being the maximum and the {
after the average; but as this was |
Jut into a vessel of much smaller =
than the Nesuvius,
t is quite credible that more than
- knots was made. 1t is true that
the Destructor's trial was not official,
and the difference between the claims .
Of builders and the reports OF gov :