The sun., 1893-10-30
rnrrne TINE goRrEDo NETS
The Programme at Newport with " e Cun-
ninEhpr, Rocket and Eric.sos Guu.

| keep an enemy's torpedoes from destroying
our vessels With the Whiteheads and thu
Howells now In course OF manufacture. the
torpedo problem will soon be solved Up to Q
| month ago twenty eight Of the former had
been accepted and sent for storage to the sta
tiou. whence they will be issued gradually tc
the ships. They are equal in every way to
those made In Europe. and the contractors
have o fine plant. capable OF turning out all
the torpedoes and launching apparatus that
may be ordered. They have q good firing
range In Noyack Bay, Long Island. where tcats
and adjustments have for months been going
on. and such OF the entire hundred Whitehsnds
already ordered as have not beon furnished
are ready for assemb bling. and hereafter will
come forwardprompty. The remainder of the
thirty Howells contracted for will also grad
ually follow o satisfactory conclusion OF the
acceptance trials OF the nrst seven.
AS to the nets for keeping out an enemy's
torpedoes. they are now In course OF trial in
an interesting series of experiments at New
port. For this purpose the Fortune was fitted
with booms Professionally adopted. OF the nets
put in competition one is English and two
American. The former is the famous Bull
livant device which has long been known in
Europe. and has boen applied in actual SER
vice. The two American nets. tho MidGley
m ade by the Midgloy Wire Belt Company OF
Beaver Falls are nike in type. one made OF
nickel steel wire. the other. lighter net
made OF unnickelled steel wire. Experiments
so far do not prove that the nickel steel net will
not rust. though. from previous tests it was
hoped 1t would not. AS a test OF the strength
OF the three nets. it was proposed to suspend
them in the water and fire at them with pro-
jectles from the Destroyer's submarine gun.
Trials TO test the brailing up. slowing. and
time ago. The American net is thought su
perior in these respects. weighing. as it does.
only 400 pounds against $50 for the Brit
ish. Another feature or the programme was
that OF testing the effect OF the ordinary wash
of the sea upon the hang Of the net when
Of net. including tho two Mdgieys and the
Bullivant. will be rigEeu to tho Fortunes
rnd as has NJ said the tests of the
thus suspended. Whichever net is the more
successful will he manufactured in this coun-
year ago the Ordnance Bureau noted that
negotiations to acruire the patent rights Of
cno rm Penapv nj @ pee ess s s an IN It Vea
showed that in weight, flexibility. and con
venience of stowage the American net COM
foreign types. The success OF net as q whole
would require that it should either stop the
cause the Explosion to taks g. place beiore it
reached the vessels side.
There Is another interesting appliance in
New Bedford. As. there nrst shown. it wa.
Z feet. The first was a copper hoad contain-
ing. Or rather Intended to contain; i3o pounds
were cylindrical and the rear section was con-
15. inches. and. with the execution Of the
eted sheet steel. As its name indicates. it is
to be driven through the water on the princi,,
pie Of rocket. when propellins gas is created
main tube Of the proJectile. The total diame-
ter Of the torpedo has been made IL inches
been taken to Newport for this purpose.
s ai he Boara snd eat
rocket torpedo at New Bedford; In their de-
tween the copper head and first cylindrical
section G to- was was steel casting. forming the head
with f rim on its Alter f lace Perforated With
80 holes. which inclined inward and per-
mitted the rearward escape Of the gas from
the after OF. conical section was another steel
casting perforated with eighteen holes. each a
than the forward holes ;. These also, inclined
inward and COMMUNICATED with the alter
an iron tube about inches in diameter and =
Of an inch thick. designed to be entirely filed
plectricai fuse. in the trial Iy the Board only
the two end sections were filled. the forward
iS pounds end the ate, l25
The total weight OF the torpedo loaded was
said to be POO pounds, with a reserve buoy
Tbs. giving rifiing turn OF one-quarter in the
welve feet OF Its length wore fastened to the
1t appears from the report that the firing was
conducted at Newport at a spot where ior
iistance OF 100 feet from the tube the depth OF
for ,nf nnIH Va fan md fhnt tIa
vas three feet under water. the torpedo was
eport was rendered:
on connecting the battery to fire appre ciabe in
"T." s.p,ed before the ,orpsdo ssarsd Itself Of ne
eGt. The volnm. OF gas escaping seemed enormous.
It anout 200 feet the torped" left the water rising
300 ler and went 10 the bottom. The time for hi.
nots per hour 4 consinernbe loss OF time occurred
siore.ne torpsdo got clear tne .os %ae @ and mud
ensby from straight line to tho r,gh, or eit No
xcept when the iorpsdo left the water 1'''A''0"
ns y, statss that in deep water with foil
rom on ihe ,uGs any desirable speed may be obanedf1r
oint contemplstes lis use under any circuInstances
= which the Ericsson submarine gun would be Appi.
When tho torpedo was recovered. at a dis
ance Of oyer 800 feet. it was declared by those
nter rested that its condition was perfect. that
hat the trouble had been that the forward
ocket missed fire Enough. however. was
LOuknJ OI ~ To letu tHe cIunanCe bureau TO |
he decision that II 1t could show n good de-
rec OF accuracy when fired from the suhma-
inc gun at Newport. 1t should be tried ut the
cts.
Besides tho nets and the rocket torpedo, a
bird appliance to be tested Is tho submarine
un itself: for last year at the Erie Basin its
crrlormances were greatly handicapped by in
deqEate proIectes.
About week ago, in preliminary trial, the
destroyer sont its prolectiie through a piece
I steel netting at short range and the sub
larine gun was thus found to be working all
A faN Iat ahNt
trough the lighter Of the Midgley nets sus-
ended from spar. at II range Of 200 yards
pierced the net without giving a noticeable
iotion to the spar and came to the surface
bout 300 feet beyond. or 300 In oil from the
un. The mcshes were about six inches
quare. with vertical strands about half an
lch in diameter and stout horizontal strands
I wire. On Friday last q shot was sent through
no nickel steel Midgley net, supposed to. be
vice as strong as the othor. mt 700 yards. and
gain n strong vertical strand was broken.
he distance will be increased until the pro-
'ctile fails to pierce 1t. and then the Bul!ivant
ct will be tried in the same way.
.