The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-21
|scription Of the Best Patterns Of
These Terrible Engines
Of Warfare
hose That Arc Most Favored by
Experts Are OF tho Fish
Shape.
w They Arc Governed Whsn Sent Out
to Blow ) Hostile Ironclad Out
or the Water.

bes Of automobile or Ash torpsdoss as
y give promise Of fulfilling al the re-
brsments and installing them upon tho
Issls OF tho navy. The competitive tests
the various patterns Of these submarine
kpons will be more interesting In tho fu-
. than they have bsen in the past, hence
! station at Newport. writes . c%orrespon-
BIT of the New York Tribune. promises to
one OF activity and interest for the next
= months. and perhaps years, for the do
opment Of torpedo appliances may DO
a to have only just begun.
Chs expenditure of liberal appropriations,
h in this country and abroad. have re-
ted in q large series OF experiments,
70 or less successful, with air t%orpedoes
Including rockets and dynamite shells;
und and buoyant mines; spar, towing
= submarine shells; controllabls torpe-
%, and automatic. automobile and fish
pedoes. Those of the automobile type,
ich have been extensively experimsntcd
ii, are the Whitehead, the Brennan, the
invented by Captain John A. Howell,
The navy, the invented by Lieutenant
II, cf tho Eavy, the Sims Edison and tho
trick.
he Howell torpedo is n Of the most
hplsts submarine, or automobile torpe-
b. vet perfected. In fact it Is considered
ideal torpedo, with q capacity for q
lrgs sufficient to insure the disabling or
aihilation of the ship attacked, and send
r. soul ON board before his Maker. II
Isesses a motive power ensily applied and
Rays available, and it can be fitted and
~Bctively employed from every type of
b. The speed, size, charge and accuracy
action are equal to the best results that
be been obtained with tho Whitehead
pedo. In fact no other automatic tor
10 Of the same size has reached 80 great
psed. Its initial speed is now twenty
90 knots for tho eight-foot pattern,
Ching 1926 pounds, including. seventy
hnds Of explosive, or greater than that
risd by any but the largest Whitehead.
he general form Of the Howell torpedo
hat Of a spindle. the central portion
M cylindrical. The shell il constructed
Eirsly of brass or bronze. Its character
Q feature is the heavy fy-whesl by
ich it ia propelled and by which. at the
ne time, it gives . directive force that
doris unnecessary any device for steer
the torpedo in q horizontal plane. Ihe
wheel - u NGCOIS Wtuo WCAkAo 0bSNS -
ands, and rotates on FRACTIONAL wheels.
8 gsared to two shafts, n on each side
he torpedo. which carry the propeller,
whom set to revolving at q considerable
ed il will continue to rotate for several
hrs If no additional load il applied. The
lpellers revolve in opposite directions,
: preventing the rolling motion OF the
pedo. This forms the whole driving
chsnism Of the torpedo, which 10, in
nciple. the same as that OF the White
ike other fish torpedoes that designed
Lieutenant M. e. Hall, of the navy, has
shape of q spindle Of revolution, carrv-
the charge in the noso.kwith a porous
b appatatus. The principal features of
j torpedo are its diving mechanism, the
toral fins, the device for overcoming the
dsfenses of v~essels of war, and q special
omatio engine that utilizes the full OK
. pattern of torpedo has the fol-
ing weight, Dimensions. etc. Length,
cen feet; extreme diameter, four
and seven-eighths inches; weight,
pounds; diameter of engine, four inches,
9Th OF stroke, two inches; diameter of
p~ellors, ten inches; revolutions q min
2, 100; gun-cotton charge, eighty pounds.
he Patrick torpedo is an invention OF
\. II. Patrick, and has been thoroughly
ed to the satisfaction OF both the
tied States and the French governments.
consists of two fourtesn-foot copper CYL
err, held by bars three feet apart. The
Fer cylinder ID filed with lampblack and
ries signal flags. The lower cylinder is
bd with the firing charge. The machin-
is propelled by carbonio acid gas. Re-
i ex periments with it by the navy tor.
o board at Newport were reported emil
lily successful. The conditions Of the
we're that the torpedo should make a
ed Of twenty knots for n mile, maneu-
vice. to be readily, certainly and COM
tely accomplished by the manipulation of
operating apparatus, the center of the
|losive charge to be at least three feet
pw the surface Of the water when ex-
Eded.
When the torpedo was in motion only the
flags and tho foaming water, turned up
the rapidly revolving propeller, could be
n. The torpedo. was first headed for the
ming ship Jamestown, then turned
tn, and run for a quarter Of a mile in
dire A sharp turn was then made
oward shore and the torpedo returned
he starting point, forming a course the
re of an ellipse and about q third of a
. in it's largest diameter.
he torpedo is shaped like a spindle,
cring at each end. 1t is about forty feet
length, and its greatest diameter ia
nty-four inches. Its displacement is
3 pounds. and the magazine charge of
lamits is 200 pounds. Tho torpedo
ctically in~dcstructiblc by mechanical
fire during tho short time that it would
exposed. The propeller and rudder work
Iolid water, and the foi mer Gannot easily
fouled mol the cable %grappled. The ex-
sion also takes place about three feet
Ter the water.
great increase in speed ia claimed for
Sing Edison torpedo. The apparatus
sists OF two pats, the ''float" and tho
merged fish" A steel frame connects
two, being inclined ut the bow and vety
RI, 30 rs either to cut through objsc-
os, or dive under them. Both the float
fish arc sheet copper. The former is
ut thirty fest long and filled with cot
which renders it impervious to tho
er, and even If struck repeatedly by
III projectiles il would still sustain ita
den. 1t is broad ut the top and narrow
he bottom. 80 that the %buoyancy in
sees Rapidly with immersion. The fish.
CHI carries n 200-pound charge of OK
sivc, 10 submerged about three and thrse-
rters feat, and can be exploded at will
by ~concuasion against the object of at
+. The fish has two compartments
wnter-tight bulkheads. The for
d compartment carries the explosive,
next compartment ia empty, the
"a carries the cable. and the fourth carr
tho electric motor and Steering gear.
total weight, including a fo,ty.hora--
or motor and 5000 feet Of cable is 1854
nds. The motor 10 two-pole, ssties-
nd, and its resistance at rest $50 ohms.
Edison generator in capable Of 1000 to
0 revolutions, with 1900 volts At II rmi-
and tWenty-five AmperOS normal
Rcity. On the official trial the motor
ve the boat vi a speed Of over twonty-
miles an hour, and on a short run
thed twenty-five miles nm hour.
he charge il exploded electrically. hence
Va In uo nrohnhilitv NJ pramntur o Ale.