The record-union., 1892-05-14
Invention.

! The official tests of the new Sims-Ed-
ison electric fish torpedo at Havre on
May I'd and at Willets Point on Au-
/ gust 18th last year were highly sue
/ cessful, and they also deeply impressed
all the navy and engineer officers who
! witnessed them. At that time, however,
the opinions Of experts were divided as
to whether the torpedo could be
as effectively used from on board
Of vessel as from shore. The OBJ
| lections then raised were merely tech
meal, and it is unnecessary to ex-
! PLAIN them here, since the official trial
which took place last week before his
royal highness the Duke of Connaught,
the officers of the English Admiralty,
and many foreign naval officers in Stokes
Bay, off the Isle of Wight, definitely
proved that the torpedo might be success
fully operated from on board of any YES
! sci.
The Sims Edison electric fish torpedo
is the latest American invention in the
| line OF submarine weapons, and 1t COM
| plies with most of the conditions which
army and navy authorities demand. Its
range is three miles and more, while its
!
advantages are that its direction and pro-
| puIsion can be- absolutely controlled by
| electricity. Furthermore, a charge can
! be placed in 1t strong enough to destroy
the most powerful ironclad at distance
OF from fifty or more feet, and the eX-
| plosion can be effected at any desired
moment by the operator.
The torpedo consists of two distinct
parts-the float and the fish. The dimen-
sions of the float are: Length, Is feet;
beam, Is inches; depth. Is inches. The
fish is 81 feet long, and has a diameter of
% inches. The float prevents the sink
ing of the torpedo, while the nsh contains
the mechanism. These two parts are con-
nected by means of steel bars. The fore
part OF the torpedo is Of cOnical shape,
with a very sharp-pointed ram, which
enables a torpedo either to break an OBJ
stacle or to dive under it. Both the float
and the fish are made of copper. The
| former is filed with an unsubmergible
stuff, while the latter is divided into tour
compartments with water-tight bulk
heads. Each compartment is separate
| from the others, and can be taken apart
| and put together in fifteen minutes for
! immediate service. The forward COM
! partment of the three-mile torpedo car
ries charge of 500 pounds of emmensite,
! with an explosive force equal to LOCO
! pounds of No. l dynamite.
| The next compartment is empty, and
| the third carries the cable. To keep the
weight down no reel is employed, and to
| avoid the risk of tangle the cable is in
| geniously wound into a hollow coil, from
which it pays out absolutely limp and
without any tordional strain. This mode
! of arrangement also avoids the loss of
! power which would follow the dragging
! of the cable from reel on shore, and any
! possible damage to perfect insulation.
The fourth compartment contains the
! electric motor and steering gear. The
| screw, 80 inches in diameter, revolves at
speed of $50 to 800 revolutions, beipg
! geared down from the motor, whose
| speed is 1880 to 1850. The rudder is
! fixed aft, about one meter in front Of the
| screw.
| The total weight, ready for service, is
! 5000 pounds. The motor weighs 764, and
! the cable about ten ounces per foot. The
cable is compound, and has a small in
/ sulated conductor in the center for the
steering current, and an annular con-
ductor for the motor current. The cable
! has very high insulation, and being far
superior to any foreign make, represents
triumph of American industry. The
motor and generator are EdiSOn'S inVen-
| ton. The motor is two poles, series
wound. and of great resistance. The gen
orator Is an Edison marine dynamo, with
a normal capacity of 800 volts ut rermi-
| nus, and Is ampereS. At full speed the
motor absOrbs from 1,3O0 TO | 400 volts,
| which at % amperes of current develop
mechanically about 33-hOrse power The
steering of the torpedo is effected by q
| powerful electro magnet, through which
| the main current is sent by d strong pO-
larized relay, actuated by the current of
the battery through the central conductor
OF the cable. The torpedo is operated
from keyboard with two keys, or one
pole-changing key and switch, which,
| under the hand of the officer in charge,
control the relay in the fish, and the rud-
der may thus be thrown to starboard or
port at will. Thus fully explains why
| the course of the boat can be changed in
! any desired direction in any moment. A
! dial on the keyboard indicates every
movement of the launched torpedo, and
also shows whenever the deadly weapon
strikes an obstacle, whether it is day or
night.
The construction of the Sims Edison
| torpedo is the simplest imaginable. The
| admirable arrangements and principles
| of operation of the various electrical de-
vices, it is claimed, make it foregOne
conclusion that all of them can be relied
! on to do their duty at any desirable mo-
ment, and under any condition whatso-
ever. At recent official trial made to
test the indestructibility of the float,
| double-shotted canister charges, each
! containing 80 balls, were fired. from 81
| pound howitZer five times at range of
37O.yar1s, and eight times at range OF
40 yards, with a result of five large holes.
Notwithstanding this, the float was de-
clared perfectly serviceable, and the
death dealing engine the same. For coast
defense, General Abbot and Collector
King consider the Sims Edison torpedo
an excellent weapon. The dynamo and
engine which furnish the propelling cur
rent are housed III hidden casemate
strong enough to resist the severest on
slaught of the heaviest guns. The tor
pedOes are stored in an underground
basin, which communicates with the
open water through a small channel
which can be easily kept out of danger.
The tremendously destructive force o.
1000 pounds of dynamite is beyond al
imagination. 1t is enough to say thai
the subaqueous explosion of 500 pounds
of dynamite produces mean pressure o
200 pounds per square inch at dis
lance of five feet, and $500 pounds at
! distance of fifty feet. This latter pressure
is more than sufficient to sink The strong
est ironclad in the twinkle of an eye
Lieutenant +. De 7. Cloth, late of the
French Navy, in Harper's Weekly.
|