The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-02-20
Force Of a Torpedo.

wv " q ~
George A Coffin, the marine artist Of
New York, who has made close slaus
of the construction OF warships anu >
well known among vesselTnea OF the eSs'
furnishes the following Story or how 'he
explosion Of the Maine happened ana Why
Z could not have been an accident
The explosion on board the United S'stes
man-of-war Maine was caused oy q t"t
pedo is the universal opinion OF naNai %
acs-s and officials in a position 70 1uese
,hc matter fairly. An esght-inch hole. II
Is reported. has been found abreast 'he
lower mart of the ten-inch magazine. ana
his only confirms the report that the snip
has been torpedoed. a lot OF rubbish nus
been printed about the explosion ara the-
ories advanced TO make it appear tA4i X
occurred in the ships magazine, IN" Wa
NOT caused BY a floating torpedo or in'i-e'
All the experts whose business II Is 10
handle high explosives believe the snip
was torpedoed, and give their reasons Is
| follows:
The extreme bow and stern are occupied
below the ar-nored deck with conp@Ic
ments containing stores, fresh water 'AhNS
and ammunition for the different sized
guns. Immediately forward OF the boil
ers is located the magazine for the Two
/ teu-inch guns OF the forward turret- ms
MAGAZINE is next to the ten inch sheII
room. and is on the right or sJaroo''Fd
/ SIDE of the ship. IL extends from the CEN
| ter of the hold 10 within ten ieet OF lnc
side OF the ship. Next TO me magazine
comes an air space several feet IN WIDTH
and the rest of the space TO the side Is
used as a coal bunker.
/ on the opposite side of the ship are 'he
magazines for the forward PAR OF SIX
/ inch rifles and the small rapid-hre guns
/ then the air space and coal bunz@rs-
| Forward Of these magazines IS s'te'
bulkhead extending entirely across '.ie
| ship. Forward OF this bulkheaa are 'iS
maeazines for six-pounder guns and then
/ ebalIroorn for six-inch rifles Another
steel bulkhead extends across the ship ana
sanarates these magazines from a iresh
water tank. There Is nothing % eNpto1e'
unless a very high Temperature Is reach-
/ cd which is known not to be the case.
The magazines were examined at o CLOCK
and found perfectly cool and IN gooo con-
/ ditiou. They were locked and the Keys
still hang in the Captains room
/ Now. as TO the theory OF one OF the
Names forward torpedoes eKpiodlhs'
There were three Whitehead tor2edoes
! stored on the forward deck. They could
NOT explode because they did not contain
one grain of explosive substance. IN 'ii'e
OF peace the ships crew are drilled AT TOT
| neto practice. The torpedo Is ureo H"'"
the tube and sinks beneath the water Hh-
ming until ii reaches certain spot ""e"
| il comes to the surface Inc tot9vu"'s
are about fourteen feet In lenSsh anu al
20 tbem but the head are filed with pow
! erful and delicate machinery consisting
of an engine run by compressed air ana
tlat "a
the tornedo is to run. The head Is less
than three feet long and is filed with wet
run cotton, while the extreme nose con
tains n trigger which, on striking an 90
iect explodes a small quantity OF dry sun
cotton. which explOdes the wet gun cot
ton and blows up Whatever II runs
against. Each torpedo has war hea'
containing the gun cotton and pracuce
head which is the same shape as tho war
head. but which contains no explosives
on the Maine the torpedo heads are al
stored in small room astern or back or
the engine room. II is exactly IN the cen
ter of the ship, right between the Two
alleys or spaces through which run me
shafts of the two propellers. from TINS
II must be plain that no torpedo exploded
inside the ship.
what doubtless happened is "a follows;
A
1O-inch and small arm magazine ana eN-
nloded the head containing the gun cot
TON screws on the forward end OF the
body of the torpedo. When the head eN-
nloded II crushed in the side of the SNIP
and drove the war nose Of the tornedo
which is the extreme point Of it AMI con-
tajns the fuse. right through the maya
zine and through the other side OF the
ship. on its passage through the maya
zine II exploded a large amount % pow
der in copper cylinders, and 1t was the
explosion of the powder that made the
loud report and blew up the upper part
of the ship and set 1t on fire.
II the torpedo had hit the ship abreast
Of one Of the compartments containing
stores il would have lifted the shio partly
out Of the water and thrown a large coz
uun OF water in the air. There would
have been a dull, mufiied explosion or
shock. and the ship would have sunk
within short time. The AqUidiban NJ tho
Brazilian rebel forces was SUM- this way
during their last rebellion. and the tor
redo nose was blown clear through The
ship. coming out through the side a the
ship opposite the large hole made By the
exposition.