Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-03-05
AN OCEAN TERROR.
A New Invention to Disable the
Great ronclads.
It Is Called the SwOrdship, and It Il the
Work of Danish InventOr-A Terri
BILE Agent of Destruction in
Marine Warfare.

When the feet of nations consisted OF
big wooden vessels Ericsson constructed
a monitor armored against their shots
and able to destroy great number Of
ships without being damaged itself
Two formidable weapons not in use at
that time-the ram and the torpedo
have been introduced, either of which
NAV destroy in few seconds millions
of value in armored vessels Ships OF
great size for carrying guns have there
fore been furnished with these auxil-
| iaries. The United States in its latest
type, says the Chicago Mail, has dis
carded the gun and the torpedo, and in
the Ammen ram places its sole reliance
in the spur, the vessel being heavily
armored for her displacement and OF
quick maneuvering qualities A Danish
inventor, conceiving the idea that small
rams to destroy the propeller Of an adj
versary are desirable adjuncts to feet
of war vessels, has designed what he
calls a swordship. His plan is for a
vessel of one hundred and ten tons dis
placement, intended for spelling shafts
or propeller blades or punching holes in
the bottoms of the smaller ironclads or
armored cruisers. It's sword is more
than ten feet long and has teeth like
saw to prevent it from slipping. Its
| upper point is six feet below the water
level, its lower point being five and
half feet deeper. The sword is carried
and supported by two arms which
should be as thin as is consistent with
strength in order not to impede the
maneuvering power. Swordships should
be furnished with twin propellers,
with a balanced rudder between
them, and should have many water
tight compartments, some OF which,
when action is impending, should be
filed with water in order to submerge
the ship still deeper. The speed ought
to be higher than that Of torpedo boats
Of equal power and displacement-that
Is, over twenty-five knots per hour, be-
cause the swordship has no projectiles
to discharge and her mission is to de-
stroy the larger game The coming
towers should be armored and arranged
so as to lessen as much as possible the
shock of collision. Although any kind
of propeller can be used the maneuver-
ing power is thought to be especially
improved with the two-bladed pro-
pellers. The blades are connected by
means Of a blade-axle which can turn
freely in the boss The thrust Of the
upper blade is greatest in ordinary pro-
pellers, on account Of the greater
speed Of the upper wake, but here its
plate angle decreases a little, while the
pitch of the opposition blade increases
in the same proportion The maneuv-
ering of small sword-vessel requires
only one duty from the commander, &C
cordmg to the inventor-that Is that he
should be sailor.
Sitting In the conning-tower the COM
msnder is able to concentrate his whole
attention upon the maneuvers required
to rush upon the enemy and destroy
his propellers- At distance OF one
thousand feet from an ironclad big
shot would ricochet from the hah-sub-
merged deck Of the swordship, and as
the distance can be passed over In
twenty-five seconds the chance OF being
damaged Is little when the vessel Is
protected against quick-fre guns Sup
pose an ironclad and q sword-vessel
going say eighteen and twenty-four
knots respectively, the sword-vessel
possessing several times greater ma
neuvering power. Its commander re-
quires only to thrust his foating-sword
within the disc area Of the condemned
propeller and the blades are cut on In
rapid succession The sanguine IN
ventor says Of his work: There can
be no doubt concerning the correctness
ofthis method, because complicated tor
pedoes often fail Ia the deciHive mo-
usnk Rhereas 4 sEu nzsA damsRa