The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-23
FLoTILLA HERE TOMORROW.
THE PORTER CAME TO MAKE Ar
RANGEMENTS FOR DOCK ROOM.

the Cushing to Come BACK WIN
Her Tomorrow AfterROOn-Assis-
tant Secretary Roosevelt Of the Nn-
w Expected Here During the
Week-SaVannah Naval Reserves
Prepared TO Turn out on Mo-
ment's Notice.
The torpedo hotilla. which is now max
ing tour OF the Atlantic and Gulf coasts,
stopping at important ports, will arrive
in Savannah tomorrow afternoon Only
three of the torpedo boats in the fiotiila
will come here. the Dupont, the Porter
and the Cushing. as the Ericsson will re-
main for the present at the Port Royal
naval station.
The torpedo boat Porter arrived in the
city yesterday morning shortly after 10
o'clock, and was tied at the wharf be-
tween Whitaker and Bull street. She was
an object of great curiosity, and hundreds
of people went down TO the wharf for
view Of her during her few hours stay
IN the city. They were not allowed to so
aboard, but the people had little trouble
in inspecting her from the wharf, since
pretty near all there is of her except,
perhaps her boilers and engines, was in
plain view.
Lieut.. j. c. Fremont who is in com
mand of the Porter, stated to repre-
sentative of the Morning News that he
had come here to make arrangements for
securing dock room for the three torpedo
boats which will arrive tomorrow. Lieut.
Fremont saw Maj. T. s. Wylly, Jr, and ar
ranged to secure room along the Georgia
Lumber Company's wharf, between Bull
and Drayton streets, so that the three
boats will be just back of the city ex-.
change.
The Porter Is said to be the fastest boat
aAoat. She was built to make 2S.7O knots
an hour, but has since made a record of
a knots. which has not been beaten. This
is equal to more than SO statute miles, and
as Lieut. Fremont remarked, the only
thing she has to do now is to beat hen
own record which he expects TO try to do
on this trip down the coast. When asked
what time the Porter made from Port
Royal to Savannah, Lieut. Fremont re-
Piled
'Why we had to run very slow. in fact,
1t was no run at all. The trouble was we
had to pick our way through the cuts and
small rivers. We made the run in two
hours and fifty minutes"
Lieut. Fremont's remark is interesting
when it is understood that it requires the
best river steamers sometimes more than
five hours to make the run.
The Dupont and the Porter are sister
vessels, and were launched Sept. % and
Feb IS of this year respectively. The only
bit of color about the Porter eX-
ternally is found in yellow band of about
six inches width that runs around the
forward smokestaCk. This is to distinguish
her from her sister ship. The Dupont is
black all over, and unless the Porter had
the distinguishing band of yellow on her
smokestack, it would be impossible for Of
ficers at a distance TO tell one of the
boats from the other. The Off
GERS of the Porter are Lieut.. j. c. FIRE.
mont in command, l. V. ellis, United
States navy. executive officer; Assistant
Surgeon NJ. S. Elliott, United States navy,
i1otilla surgeon. Besides these officers
She has a complement of twenty-eight pet
ty officers, seamen and firemen. Her
length is 175 feet and beam 1712 feet, dis
placement 1856 tons, draught feet. Her
armament consists of three torpedo tubes
for 1S-inch Whitehead torpedoes. and four
one-pounder Hotchkiss rapid fire guns
She has three boilers, four cylinder triple
expansion engines capable of about 1850
horse power. Practically the same de-
scription will fiji the Dupont which is the
flagship of the fotilla in command of
Lieut.. Commander Kimball.
The topedoes weigh 1000 pounds and
when loaded into the guns for firing, a
primer ignites three ounces of gun pow
der which Is sufficient to throw the torpe-
do clear of the ships side. The torpedo
then takes a dive and is driven by ma
chinery inside of it towards any object
that it is desired to hit. AT one end of
the torpedo there are steel propellers that
drive it through the water. The propel-
1ers are operated by engines that are run
by compressed air. A chamber inside the
torpedo is charged with 1900 pounds pres
sure of compressed air and as the torpedo
leaves the gums tube device or trigger
like arrangements discharges the air and
sets the machinery i'm motion as the tor
pedo goes overheard. When fired the mis-
sic of destruction makes a dart forward
over the ships side, dives into the water,
goes forward with an undula tory motion
and gradually assumes a straight course
TO an object. 1t can be set to run on top
or under the water at various depths of
from four TO twelve feet. 1t is 80 arrang
ed that 1t will travel under water and then
come to the top and strike a vessel above
water or to run under water and strike a
vessel below the belt, so to speak. In the
end of the torpedo there is a charge of
gun cotton that is exploded when it strikes
an object and if one of these destructive
machines hits the most powerful vessel
under the armored line, there are nine
chances to one that she Will be blown up
and sunk, totally disabled or damaged to
such an extent as to make her an easy
prey for another torpedo.
J The torpedo boat is a frail affair and is
not intended to ward off shot. The Du-
pont is only covered with plate a quarter
of an inch thick, and, of course, could not
stand one of the little one-pound shots from
the Hotchkiss guns. Torpedo boats, how
ever are not intended for fray. 1t is
rather a 'sneak' affair and it's efficiency is
greatest at night or i'm thick weather. when
she cannot be seen and can slyly get i'm
distance of an enemy. When an attack is
contemplated, the enemy's vessel is sin
gled out, and the torpedo boat approaches
Slowly, as rapid moving through the wa
ter would create such a wake" as would
catch the rays of a searchnght and dis
cover the intruder and possibly result in
her destruction by a well directed shot
from the enemy. .I.t
The three torpedo boats will remain in
Savannah about week. and during that
time Assistant Secretary Theodore Roose.
welt of the navy department is expected
TO drop in and surprise the boys.
The Savannah naval reserves are on th5
qui viVe, so to speak for the coming Of tb,