Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1894-07-07
THE TORPEDO IN WAN.
Q SSdliess Enemy Of the Modern isso
battle Ship.S

osSdiiess Enemy Of the Modern free
battle ship.s
The dcadlicst enemy Of the modern
iron or steel clad battle ship Il, the
submarine torpedo. At the battle of
Mobile bay the confedcrat 9 US d tor.
pedo;s Of som, primitive pattern
against Farragut's fieet and succeeded
In sinking one Of his armored ships
and disabling another but the tor.
ptdO OF those days Is not the torpedo
OF these any more than the clumsy,
boilcr.iron coat d gun.boats OF the
gulf fleet wera steel. protect d line Of
battle.ships Of contemporary design.
Advancement IN naval architecture
and armament has betn fully equaled
by advanc ment In torpedo construc.
ton, and q battle ship Of the Indiana
class, practically invulnerable to the
fire Of the heaviest guns, IL as open
to attack ind destruction by the
modern Howell or Whitehead torp; do
as was the vessel sunk In the attack
on Mobile. The modern torp do may
be fred from Q boat or from shore.
The usual way 1, from boat, small
in size, and Of extraordinary speed.
esp cially adapted to torp do attack,
Il was by Q Whitehead torpedo, fired
from the Almirante.Lvn or the
Almirante COndell. that the b.g
armor.clad Blanco Encalada was sunk
during the rec Mt civic war In Chilli,
and It was by another torpedo thus
Tired, II r,ports be trur, that Admiral
de Mello's flagship, the Aquikaban
was d. stroyed Q few days ago.
Argument has been made that II
the enormous tioatirg fOrtr sses for
coast defense and the exp nsive ar.
mOred cruisers for open sta fighting
ar helpless when oppos d to a cheap
;crpedo boat tn y are practically use.
less 40 fighting machines and should
not he built. Supporters OF this ar.
gument would have all the money
exp ,nded on the navy d voted to the
construction Of an ext nsive fleet Of
swift little torp do boats and the
manufacture OF various types Of self.
propclling aud artiiicially projected
dynamite torpedOcs. But the mod.
ern big vessels are not defenselness
against tho attack Of the torp,d
Inventive ingenuity which nullihed
tho possibilities cmbrac d In the
construction Of 100.ton guns by Great
Ing nickelized ste i armor for vessels,
has also provided q means OF defence
against the deadly torpedo II con.
sists primarily Of q heavy st.el n {.
ting, which 10 dropped around q war
ship It's lower cdge sinking some
twenty feet below the surfac, and Its
upper edge hold clear OF the water by
bo0ms swung by lines from the ships
masts and yards This netting, nc.
cOrdinR TO cx.S cretary Whitney,
''carri d ut q distance Of from TWEEN ty.
five to thirty fe {, or even less, from
. ships side furnishes an effective
protection against torpedo attack I"
Tho nets can be quickly raised or
lowered, and vessel can even make
considerable speed with them down.
But aside from. the nets q modern
battle ship hos other means Of d g.
tense against the torpedo boats which
Of ne ssity are small, light and un.
arm0red. Ev, ry on, Of our new ar.
mored vessels carries q number OF
tapid.nre guns Of light caliber, under
the Ore Of which no torpedo toat
could stand. their range IL much
greater than that Of Q torpedo, and
unless the ship DO surprised or stimuli.
tsneOusly attac cd BY large number
Of torpedo crafts she would he able Il
cripple Or destroy the smaller vesseli
before II come sufficiently close L
discharge it, deadely pro ectilc " Cd
any certainty Of aim. Hence IL Gomez
that torpedo attacks must 30 made
1t night II the fatal dre Of the for
midable secondary batteries OF the
war ship attacked, and 1t 10 to guard
against such attack that the electric
search light has been added to thu
equipment Of every modern mani
war.
Torpedoss and torpedo boats ar,
form liable auxiliorlcs to any navy,
but they cannot incspacitate the biz
srmor clads At will, and they canno
DO the work for which the battle
ships are designed. The lombard
ment aud reduction Of q fort or ,
city 10 beyond their providence, as Il
also the destruction Of the MARITIME
commerce OF an enemy The ar
mored battle ship may 10 displaced
when aerial navigation becomes
practicahility, but 1t will not be dis
placed or swept from tho seas by tn
torpedo boat