Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-04-30
THE WHITEHEAD TORPEDO.


One of Our Naval Officers Describes Its
Workings.
WASHINGTON, April 30.-The sinking
of the Chilian ironclad Blanco Encalada,
which the insurgents seized at the be-
ginning of the Chilian insulTection, by a
torpedo of the government is an event of
first importance to all naval nations,
and to the United States in particular,
since it establishes by practical expert
ment that an ironclad ship can de de-
stroyed by a torpedo,
A Wonderful Mechanism.
The Whitehead torpedo is well known
by our ordnance and naval officers, one
of whom describes it as follows
Its mold is technically called fusi-
form-commonly called cigar-shaped.
1t moves under water, and can be made
to go straight or on a curved course at
will. 1t has compressed air for its mo-
tive power, this being applied by means
of an engine and propeller The for
ward part of the torpedo contains the
magazine, which eXplodes upon con
tact. The speed. since the torpedo has
been brought into prominence. has
varied from eight to twenty-five knots,
the tendency being to constantly in
crease it. 1t can be set to run different
distances-the shorter the distance the
greater the speed. 1t can be made to
sink or rise to the surface, to explode or
place safety guard so that it cannot
explode at tie end of the run.
ut can be either started by hand or
elected from launching-tube, placed III
a boat or ship above or below water. by
means of compressed air on steam.
When discharged from a tube the en-
gine of the torpedo is started by tlig-
ger which strikes against the projection
on the tube The common type of the
Whitehead torpedo is about fourteen
feet long by sixteen inches in diameter,
and can either be launched from tor
pedO tube specially fitted in the bow or
side of the vessel or can be sent ont
from small boats or from land stations.
1t will travel 800 yards at rate of speed
equal to twenty-eight knots an hour,
and will consequently overhaul any
thing afloat.
"The charge of gun cotton, which is
the explosive force employed, is thirty
three pounds, and the weight of the tor
pedO is 500 pounds, which includes the
engine, which works to sixty horse
power. Tie machine seems possessed of
almost human intelligence, when one
considers that it can be sent overheard
from vessel and made to travel at
given rate Of speed to a given point and
there explode, either automatically or
upon contact with hard object. This
explosion will occur even when the con
tact is at SO small an angle as five de
grees. 1t can also be arranged to come
to the surface if, after travelling its
course, it l;ils to strike an object, or,
in the case of real warfare, it may be
made to sink to the bottom Of the ocean,
and thus he out of reach of the enemy"
For Coast Defense.
An army officer now in the city says
that while there has been no question
in the minds of ordnance and naval Off
GERS who have made torpedo possibili-
ties the subject of study and experiment,
the effect of the torpedo fired from the
Chilian gunboat upon the most effective
irOnclad of its size is hailed by them as Il
practical demonstration of what they
had not had an opportunity to test, and
the result will lead congress and the
this method of defense. In fact the con
firmation Of the report of the sinking Of
the Encalada will go far to solve the
problem of coast dcfenses for the United
States and to revOlutiOnize the methods
of the past. Therefore, the result of the
experiment is more to the United States,
with its vast coast line, than TO any
other nation.