Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-02-20
A NEW OCEAN TERh OR.
The Swort,sh;p Is Now Expected ~
nblc Sig Arinored Vessels.

~
The S,.orhsh.p Is Now Expected =" LIS
able sig Arlnored Vessels.
When the fleet of nations consisted 81
bio wooden vessels Ericsson constructed
II monitor armored against their shots
and able to destroy q great number OF
ships without being damaged itself.
Two formidable weapons not i'll use at
that time-the ram and the torpedo
have been introduced, either of which
may destroy in few seconds millions
of value in armored vessels. Ships OF
great size for carving guns have there
fore been furnished with these auNiii-
aries. The United States in its latest
type has discarded the gun and the tor
redo. and in the Ammen ram places Its
sole reliance in the spur, the vessel be-
ing heavily armored for her displace'
ment and Of quick maneuNering quail
ties. A Danish inventor, conceivins
the idea that small rams to destroy the
propeller OF an adversary are desirable
adirncts to feet Of war vessels, has
designed what he calls a swurdsilip.
His plan is for vessel Of 10 tons dis
placement, intended for spelling shafts
or propeller blades or punching holes
in tie bottoms of the smaller ironciad>
or armored cruisers. It's sword Is more
than ten feet long and has teeth like
a 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
manenvering power. Swordships should
be fusnished with twin propellers, with
:; balanced rudder between them, and
should have many water-tight compart-
ments, some of which, when action is
impending, should be filled with water
in order to submesge the ship still
deeper. The speed ought to lie higher
than that of torpedo boats of equal
power and displacement-that is over
twenty-five knots per hour, because the
swordship has no proiectiles to dis
charge and her mission is to destroy 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 pro.
pe!ler can be used, the maneuvering
power is thought to be especially in-
proved with the two-bladed propellers.
The blades are connected by means of
b!ade-axie which can turn freely in
the boss. The thrust of the upper
blade is greatest in ordinary propellers,
on account Of the greater speed of the
upper wake, but here it's plate angle
1itf1o ,u1,;1o tI,o >c <i.,
opposite blade increases in tho same
proportion. The maneuvering of a
small sword-vessel required only one
duty from the commander, according to
the inventor-that is that he should be
sailor.
Sitting in the coming tower the COM
mander is able to concentrate his whole
attention upon the maneuvers required
to rush upon the enemy and destroy
his propellers. At a distance of 1000
feet from an ironclad big shot would
ricochet from the half-submerged deck
OF the swordship, and as the distance
can be passed over in twenty-five sec
onds, the chance of being damaged is
little when the vessel is protected
against quick-tire guns. Suppose an
ironclad and sword-vessel going say
eighteen and twenty-four knots re-
spectively, the sword-vessel possessing
several times greater maneuvering
power. Its commander requires only
to thrust his floating sword within the
disc area of the condemned propeller
and the blades are cut off in rapid sue
cession. The sanguine inventor says of
his work: There can be no doubt
concerning the correctness of this
method, because complicated torpedoes
often fail in the decisive moment,
whereas a sword must damage where it
hits; secondly, the maneuvers de-
manded for the application of torpedoes
are always impeded by great number
OF difficulties. Chicago Times.