Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-10-31
BY TELEGRAPH.
ToRpEDoEs FOR OUR wARsHIPs.
Relative Advantages Of the Whitehead
and The Howell. Adopted In Our Service.

nouceApke Posnu OF otAefenS1 Sesesa
Chih's navy and cur own 10 that the former
10 we'll supplied with auio-mobiie tofpedoes,
and 10 familiar vish their use. while our
vessels have ~ yet nore At all.
This confTsc. IL Of course brought into
special prominence II the present time, and
ii becomes all the more ssrikicg sincs YES
sells planned ave or six years aga for on,
nsvy we're provided with tubes for launch
ing such tcrpedoes, - their successors have
been. The explanation Of the lack U that
our navy department waited long time for
the perfscting Of certain American torps.
does which gave great promise, and Jet
needed to be brought to higher st,ts Of
efficiency before fioal adoption.
Al length the bureau Of naval ordnance
made an arrangement FOR the purchase Of
100 Whitehead t,rpedoes, such - are
ADOPTED BY nearly all the naval powers.
Their reputation 10 Of course familiar, the
Whitehead having been invented twenty
years ago and steadily improved since then.
II Was with such missiles that the Blanco
Encslads WAS blown up. The Whitehead
vas The invention Of an English officer 10
| the Austrian service. but cannot be said TO
belong to any countIy, a. its almost univer-
sal employ m mt shows; and With Q view to
obviating all criticism the navy department
stipulated that the torpedoes it ordered
| should be manufactured in this county.
| They are now, in fact under construction
by Brooklyn establishment, and it has
been said that some Of them will be de-
llvered before The close Of this year.
| The bureau Of ordnance also gave an
order for 80 Howell torpedoes, provided
| they should meet the stipulated require
mspts. The trial Of h i, ftsi of these is
soon to be made. They are the invention
| of Capt j. A. Howell of our navy. sud are
manu- featured by the Ho.chkiss Ordnance
Company. Thus while it is tue that We
now have more of the fl h torpsdoss with
which most foreign navies are supplied. yet
the lack is one that will scoa be made up,
add the first instAllmepts of the Whitehead
can be distributed to such vessels as may
soonest need them.
In exterior form these two types of tor
pc do ordered fo- our servics besr resam-
blance. both beipg cigar shaped pre- sctles !;
out leading point Of difference is 10 the
motive power. In the Whitehead this
power 10 ccmprt ssed sir, which drive. 3
screw propeller. Within the torpedo are
six com partments, in the foremost Of which
is the bursting charge, consis ing of wet
gun cotton, which is exploded by the i'm
pact of the firing pin sgainst primer Of
dry cotton, when The hostile ship or other
obstruction is struck. In the rear Of this
is q chamber containing the immersing
apparatus, by which the pressure OF the
waite, outside is exerted upon piston COM
| Il uaicsting with horizontal ru5ders. The
action of The water on the rudders is such
as to keep the torpedo at the depth for which
it is set, and spring and a pendulum
make the elevations and depression
gradual. The third compartment, contains
the compressed air, and the fourth the en-
CINE driven By it. The afth chamber has
apparatus for bringing the torpedo to the
surface or sinking it, the former allowing
its use in experiments without being lost.
and the latter keeping it from the hands of
an enemy should 1t fail to 3lode- Since
each one OF these torpedoes and each one
also of the Howells viii probably cost
sbsut s2200 this buoy ancy device FOR pre-
| liminafy practices is most desirable. Then
follows the sixth compartment, containing
the bev.l gear, which causes the two pro-
peilers 10 revolve in opposite directions on
the same axis, so AS to neutraiizs any ten
dency to lateral deviation. Finally comes
the tail Of the torpedo. with its verticsl
rld1efs, designed to give it q straight
course.
The Ho veil torpedo contsins four see
tons. The first carries the firing pin and
| its mechanism. Behind ctme the explo-
sive charge and detonator. The third COM
par,ment or chamber contains the fywheel
and screw gears. The fourth an ls.t holds
the driving mechanism. In this device,
also, there 10 an apparatus for causing the
torpedo to sink TO the bottom or rise to the
surface. Its most characteristic feature is
| its driving power which is impaired by n
heavy fywbeel. This is spun up to high
| spet by & steam turbine N >tor constituting
| a permanent attachment Of the launching
tube. As toon IS the tcrped :, pissed in
| the tube The turbine motor clutches he fly
| vheel and spins it up When the torpedo
leaves the lube and strikes the water this
revoi wing AZ he'll drives i,s pr15ellers as
| long as its iva motion continues
Only whea the Wtitehea nd and the Howell
| torpedoes are brought into direct com
| petitive te ste, as will doubles ia due time
be the case, can anything precise ard
| positive be said of tht ir Yespe i've meris.
Ia eDerai il NAV be affirmed lha: the
| White hesj is mud the faster AID has the
longer range of the two, while it carries a
larger explosive charge But the Howell,
-hich lie smaller AID lighter, carries the
heavier charge in proportion 10 its total
weight. The chief advs1tsse Of the Howell
is it's superior snd irdesd' K ,ellsnt directive
foIcs; So hat this qual,y may stand
agains: the higher velocity and range Of
the Whitehead.
Fer the present, however, 'orpedoes may
seem sIdy rs i'm ortsnt 10 our ships on
the Cbilisn coast as stetl nets for guhdin z
against the attacks of torpedoes. Such nets
are s2i! to be uaGsr Manufacture f,r our
navy. bu' none have yet been eefnitejy
tested. Meanwhile, guard b ,sts, a vigilsnt
watch, the use of such lights, and resdi
ness in serving secondary batteries shou d
be sufficient sources Of reliance.