New-York tribune., 1894-04-19
TORPEDO U1RFiRE,

Tho collapse of the Brazilian rebellion has
hoan accomnanied bv an incident OF real in
terest, If not Of great importance. in naval war
fare This is the sinking Of the Aquidaban by
one Of Peixoio's German torpcdo-boats me
most Ineligible account Of the battle is fur-
nisbed by The Ncw-YOrl Herald. which
states that prcconcercd attack was made upon
the nsurgent position at Desterro. where Memo
had established the socalled Provisional GOV
ernmcnt The insurgents ut first offered stout
resistance with their land batteries and the
Aauidaban's guns but when the flagship was
sent to the bottom by three torpedocs from the
Sampaio the garrison surrendered. As MeHo
has arrived at the Plate with the Republlca ana
the remainder Of the fleet and the ships have
been turned over 10 the Brazilian Minister. the
rebellion Is now ended. Whatever may have
becn Mellos pretensons at the outset rs n re-
former and patriot. his base desertiOn OF Da
CANA and the disasters which have attended
the prolongation Of hopeless and barren strug-
gle have deprived him Of every claim upon
sympathy.
Although every maritime nation has been
building ironclads and armored battleships since
the close Of the American Civil War, there have
been few opportunities for adequately testing
their efficiency as fighting machines. The battle
Of Lissa served 10 prove the utility Of rams. The
naval operations Of the Russan-Turkish War
had no real significance. The bonIbardmcnt OF
Alexandria by Admiral Seymour's fleet Of iron
clads was a slow performance that unfavorably
IMPRESSED naval critics. many of whom de-
clarcd that Nelson with his old-time wooden
shiDs would have silenced the badly manned
carrhworks and antiquated forifcaions more
easily and effectively. The little that has been
learned during thirty years about naval war
fare under modern conditions has been based
upon 4 few dcsultOry experiences in South
American waters The sea fight of Iquque
between the independence and two wooden
ships demonstrated the superiority Of the iron
clad under fire and It's infcriOriy in manoeu-
wiring The sinking Of the Blanco AT Caldera
denoted the vulncrabity Of Il battleshp when
asSacd by Il torpedo boat. The Aquidaban's
fate emphasizes the same lesson.
1t must be admitted, however. that much Of
the effectiveness Of the torpedO-boas in the last
two instances was due TO the conditions under
which they were employed. The Blanco was
taken by surprise when she lay AT anchor with
out having searchlght in Use or patrol
launch manned and in readiness 10 give an
alarm The officers were ashore AT a dinner
party when the Condcll and Lynch. commanded
by two darcdcyils. entered the bay on n dark
night ana discharged torpedo which carried
the Blanco 10 the bottom in three minutes. The
shin WAS destroyed because the officers had neg
lcctcd all precautions for her protection De
tails are lacking respecting the sinking Of the
Aquidaban. but presumably the turret-shIp was
greatly in need OF repairs aud in no condition
for naval warfare. Moreover. she was not pro
yided with the usual defcnceS against torpc-
does. While the efficiency Of torpedo warfare
is demonstrated by these two events il does not
follow that ba'tleship. in condition for ser
vice and fully equipped with scarch-llghts and
iorpcdo-catchcrs, Is dcfcnceless when exposed
10 similar assaults.
The Conden and the Lynch. which operated