The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-03-28
THE DEADLY ToRPEDOEs.

pedo boat to pass.
THE DEADLY TORPEDOES,
From the bow or two places on either
side amidships torpedoes could be
launched. These weapons are tiny YES
sells in themselves, actuated by minia-
ture mechanism OF great power and deli
caoy, guided by self-adjustlng rudders
that automatically compensate for the
variations OF subaqueous pressures and
bearing head charged with the deadly
force OF 100 pounds of Runcotton-a ma
teriai three times as powerful as pow
der. Endowed with a seeming intelli-
gence that holds them against wind and
tide straight on their errand of death and
demolition, they speed. rapidly toward
the object of their discharge, and no ship
yet built can Withstand that blow if fair.
ly placed.
just behind the forward large turret
and below the pilot house is the coming
tower, within the narrow compass of
which and behind whose walls of ten
inch steel the captain controls these
AAAA6AeJ PoVOi Ahst SuIu0S Alo SHIP luGO
action. Within that little space tho mas
ter brain force of the whole craft is GEN.
| tered, and branching wires and tubes,
are carried to every important point
down the spinal column of that armored
tube, putting the commanding officer in
touch with every important station.
There before him he reads the speed OF
his ship-knows to an inch the direction
of the rudder; reads repeated the orders
that he gave and knows them minded
follows thu hand that marks in yards the
distance OF the nearing foe; knows the
readiness of every part of that great or
ganism below him. and watches the
coming enemy through the narrow Sits
in the walls about him.
Silent, and with tense nerves, the gun
crews await the signal to hurl in any
direction great masses of destructive
steel, fastening on their errand with a
velocity of 2, 900 feet second, while way
below the busy fremen feed the roaring
furnaces. The massive machinery quick
ems, and through the ship is felt the
steady throb Of those ponderous bodies
and, when those engines are making a
hundred and more revolutions minu tie
and the two 16 foot screws are churning
the water back with all the force of II. DOC
horse power, the ship-a moving mass
of II, 40 tons-speeds onward at the late
of sixteen knots an hour. To stand be-
fore her then means to take blow OF
4 xufv ir,b<
before which the toughest armor would
| bend like bunch grass in an autumn gale.
DIRECTOR OF POWERFUL FORCES.
Such, indeed, are the possibilities of
modern warfare. There are no supernu-
meraries-each man has his appointed
place, his single responsibility, and the
post at which he must fight or perish in
full realization of the direful forces with
which he lbs to bear; and above 1T all
| the master mind in the coming tower
must wrest his honors by that finesse,
| thought and cunning of execution his
undaunted courage and self control make
| possible
With 1880 tons o. coal aboard, her
bunkers filed, the Iowa will be able to
steam, at cruising rate of ten knots an
hour, for thirty days, covering in that
time distance of 2. 400 miles; and at full
speed sixteen knots an hour, will have
an endurance of six days and a radius of
action of 8, 900 miles.
In power of battery, scope of fire, ar
NOR protection and efficiency, the ship
ia equal to any Of the larger foreign
ships of like type, while considerably
ahead of her European classmates of like
size. AS an example of the American
naval architects skill sho is regarded as
an achievement of CHI this nation
should we'll feel proud, and namesake
in which any State might glory.