Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-11
Developing Methods Of Attack and
Defense in Naval Warfare.
TORPEDO BOATS RENDERED HARMLESS
Their Approach Can Be Detected
by Means of Balloons.
OUTCOME OF THE CONTEST

Many European battle SHIPS are already
equipped with apparatus for its reception.
filling and maneuvering. Its purpose, so
far, however, has merely been to extend
the lookout's horizon and detect the APP
proach of distant enemy, but henceforth
the balloon enters a new role. that of
defending the navies of the world from the
insidious attacks of submarine vessels, by
extending the field Of view beneath the sur
face of the ocean.
The story of the changes in naval ma
terial which have resulted in the adoption
of the balloon as an adjunct to the warship
is both Interesting and instructive. Ever
since steam and iron accomplished such
radical change in modern navies gradual
ly Transforming the old three-deckers of
Nelson's day into the terrible twenty-knot
battle ships of our times, the sole aim of
naval inventors and engineers has been to
devise successive ways and means of de-
StroyfnS the product of their own skill and
ingenuity. First came the torpedo. a ter
rible weapon, carried by the warship itself
to destroy its fellow, speedily followed by
the torpedo boat, the sole mission of which
was TO eHdeavcr to steal unperceiVed with
in close range of the battle ship and quiet
ly discharge whitehead" at its vitals.
To effect this purpose the smaller boats
speed had necessarily to be increased. or.
in other words. more powerful engines had
to be built within a much smaller COM
pass
Now. in naval affairs, as in nature, the
theory of evolution seems to hold good, SO
the necessary sequence to a torpedo boat
was the catcher or destroyer of torpedo
boats, larger and stouter than these latter
vessels, but possessing the speed of an
express train, and an armament of light.
Quick-fring guns of sufficient power to
warrant the cognomen. destroyer"
The only resource left to the torpedo
boats lay in seeking to become invisible, or,
laos a Of 1as
1897 type of this class is low-lying. black,
hideous craft, very unseaworthy and I'M
reliable, but practically indistinguishable at
night or at any distance. These very quail
tiles, however, only tend to defeat the very
end aimed at. for torpedo cannot be fired
with any measure of success beyond about
GOO yards, and surprises at night are both
risky and difficult now that all memo
war are fitted out with powerful electric
searchlights.
The Submarine Boat.
Consequently naval designers. disappoint-
ed at the non-success of the torpedo boat
sought for the next development in the
evolution of that vessel, and found it in the
submarine boat. that climax of the imag-
ration which furnished Jules Verne with
such good material for romance, and
that represents to sailors what the flying
machine does to landsmen, the ultima
thule of locomotion. Only few months
Holland submarine boat al Elizabeth. N
j., attracted the attention of every civil
lied government. and its apparent success
seemed to sound the death knell of the
huge, cumhrous ironclad and predestine
the naval superiority of whichever nation
effected its purchase.
But apart from the engrossing question
as to which government would succeed in
acquiring the rights of Mr.. Hollands in
vention arose the equally important propo-
sition of how to nullify partially, at least,
II rot entirely, the seemingly Overwhelming
preponderance of advantages which such
vessel must possess. Beth officers and
men began to ask themselves: How can
We fight an enemy that can neither see
nor hear; that can approach us under water
in broad daylight and destroy the ship at
any moment?' The solution Of the riddle
seemed impossible, yet there were some
| who phlosophically reflected that this last
danger would without doubt be met and
prepared for many others had been
beforehand, as events showed, they were
right, as philosophers always are, or claim
to be- Already, before the new enemy is
rairly equipped for battle. its supposed in
vulnerability is discounted it's detection
| assured and its pretensions ridic uIed as pre-
pcsterous.
New Use for Balloons
1t remained for a Frenchman to discover
the means by which this submarine prodi-
gy is to be defied. and his plan consists
simply of attaching a balloon to the war
ship. from whose eminence it has been
proved. by the experiments of the French
government, the movements of a subma-
rine vessel can be easily detected long be-
iore IT reaches dangerous proximity to
its intended victim. A little explanation
OF the system of submarine attack is nee
esSary for the complete understanding of
IEe advantages in the use of a balloon
iAe actual creation of Verne's fertile brain
is still myth. existing only in his famous
book, but boats do exist which like the
Holland. travel ordinarily along the SIR
race, but can, when necessary, submerge
themselves entirely, and are vet canabl,
Oh proceeding several hundred yards in anv
particular direction '
Hence the enemy to be faced by the rom
clau IS one who, as soon as he thinks him
sen Within the range of vision will disan
pear beneath the surface and having tar.a,
the direction of his objective will silently
inVlsiDly approach it, still within cer,aip
limits, watching his target by means of an
instrument called the periscope Consisting
OF small mirror attached to the hoat
through long tube. When finally he has
arrived within short a distance thar
even the little mirror might attract atten-
toh, ne draws II in as a snail does his
hornS. and now, himself deprived of vision
out rejoicing in the knowledge of his un-
conscious adversarys position and CAPABLE
or making his way toward it without mis-
lake, ne can proceed onward and discharge
torpedo at the sleeping giant utterly de-
moiishlng at one stroke the stoutest bat tile
snip that ever waved her ensign to the
breeze. There is but one chance of failure
namely, sudden change in the battle ships
course or speed after the mirror has been
drawn in, which change would not only de-
1eat the meditated attack, but would also
expose the submarine vessel to retaliation
II 1t should come to the surface to search
Tor its lost adversary.
Seeing Beneath the Water.
The French government has acted on the
well-known and undeniable fact that from
the car of a balloon it is possible to gee OBJ
jects under water, even at q considerable
depth, and within a large area The ex-
PLANTATION is that though the refraction of
the rays of light prevents person near the
surface from seeing objects at even slight
depths. yet the higher one goes the easier
1t becomes to detect a submerged object as
long as the distance does not prevent vi
sion altogether. As an example If
straight iron bar be suspended half in and
half out OF the water, 1t will seem to a per-
son standing near to be bent at the surface
like the legs OF a pair Of compasses. but IL
the observer happens to be standing In the
car Of balloon and the latter begins to
rise, he will remark that the bar seems to
be gradually Strengthening itself out, and
the higher the balloon rises, the larger the
area becomes within which submerged OBJ
jects can be distinguished, and the palmer
they appear to the eye. Now imagine the
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