The sun., 1891-05-02
THE rnrrrHEAn ronrkpo
what It IL, ana why 0sr Navy Depsrt-
aent Approved Ht.

SrReEN
0ent Approved It.
WASHINGTON. May ]. - The extraordinary
success achieved BY Whitehead torpedoes in
the recent battle OF Caldsrs naturally has
aroused great interest in these weapons. and
particularly In their relation to harbcr proteo.
tion. 1t is noticeable that in the late engage
mont they were employed By the sttaokins
party; and undoubtedly It 10 tris that thsy
would be rolled upon often. in conjunction
With guns for the capture a. well As the do
fence OF port that should have shlps protect
ing It But the automobile torpedo. while now
form ng part OF the equipment Of nearly oil
modern war ship. which are supplied with
nNed launching tubes. as well as Of special tor
pedo cruisers aud torpedo boats. 10 most inter
sstine as the opponent Of hesvy armor. clais.
The Whitehead torpedo Is a ciRar-shaps
proiectile mads OF steel or phosphor bronze.
varying Ia Dimensions In different models.
but generally from about twelve to sixteen
feet in length and from fourteen 10 eighteen
inches in diameter. Its motive power is COM
pressed air. driving screw proi elier, and II
has both upper and under keels and vertical
and horizontal rudders to aid In guiding its
flight. Tho horizontal rudders are tn keep Il
at q fixed iepth: tho vertical to give 1t a
Its interior mechanism is ronta ned In six
COMMITMENTS Ihs foremost con aims the
6%.:t,d1S nru,nd charge W w which is composed Of re
passing through them. and firine arrange:
drive the firing pin against the primer.
mss mssh f"sa ss % eea% i n.sc, .ns Gs
sds to use tn. pressure Of the latter TO carry
hold It there. This pressure. exerted upon q
pis on. is communicated to- horizontal
e0dns as sa OF or .:
IN the water results in the torpedo Ia ling
below Of, rising above the depth for which. It 70
aud $50 latiors and 10 gradua o the change 81
The third coinpari mont from the forward end
.hs n m.!IS: J, soE:s B.hina iSs!. y II .Ss iosSts
compressed air. Witch Is tsrne. on By a. a valve Awe
when the tnrpe II is launched. In the NTH or
nx lie torpedo to the snrfses SO that M il e'ia may
Sa atellately tested In preliminary expe 4
It III actual wariars sh"ui Il lin miss | the be ship Or
beveI gear which cause. he two screw props- Re
same axis. SO as 10 Offset their tendencies TO
la ernl deyiati ~. Finally comes the tail OF tho
tSrnedo consisting OF the rudder suppert and
IA Describing with much fuller detail the
whitehead tprpedo, Tor Official purposes. En-
apparatus been snIiicIentfy known Tor. a pub.
lilo description OF 1t. although IL has been in
use for moro than twenty years. This priority
has given 1t an advantage over many com-
prtttors. because great labor and assIduiiy
have been devoted year after year 10 Dor! ectlnR
y. Many OF tho leading nations IN all parts OF
the world have adopted II. and indeed It be-
longs to no nation. Ter although ustria may
claim to have been first to introduce II. It was
the In venton nf an Englishman In her service.
and IL omen to purchase by all nntions. Yet
Eedoes such 4: the Brennan and the Murphy
while Ia our own country are the Howell,
the Sims Edison, and the Patrick. OF all OF
which the navy or army departments have
ordered more or fewer specimens. besides the
Rerdan, The Hall. the Weeks. the Hafght and
80 on. But " htle some Of the Am srican tor
pedoes have yielded results most gratifying
AMI promising. pending their development
and the elm nation of certain defects and
ahottcominRs Ia one or another. the Navy De-
this country tho Mbitehead torpedo. for i'm
me late use. AS the negotiations for this
home production OF an appliances which had
produced Ruoh good results. and had been no.
ceptsd by nearly all nations. were auccessful,
Or course there are appliances for checking
the effectiveness OF torp. does. and at beat
their range is very limited. Still, with all
drawbacks and limitations, their value under
those circumstances whore their employment
is possible was sufficiently demonstrated in
the recent battles on the Chiiian coast: ami
our country to supply itsslf with agents 90 Ge-
to a hostile feAt