Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-07-24
Torpedo Possibilities.
Why They Have Played No Part in the
= Presen, War With Spain.
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There fsr nothing the matter with
torpedoes, even though they haven't
rcvolutlonized naval warfare suid
the torpedo expert in command of
one OF our most important torpedo
stations, though, by the way, they
have caused great fleet of little boats
to be built and attached to all the
navies, and thus considerably altered
the makeup of fleets.
Why haven't torpedoes been heard
from?" Now, that's like the question
that some idiot asked of a great sci
enlist: Why does a pail of water
weigh less after you put fish in itr
Torpedoes have been henrd from. Get
your history out and you will ind
that In our own war, when torpedoes
were first used. ships were blown up
right and left by torpedoes. Haven't
you heard of Cushing? In the Turko-
Russian war several ships were sue
cessfully torpedoed, and Admiral
Ting's ship, the heaviest battleship in
the Chinese navy, was blown up in
the recent war by torpedo discharged
do we keep away from Havana harbor
and sink ship in the Santiago mar
rows instead of sailing through them?
For the same reason that the French
ships did not dare to enter the Ger
man harbors while the German army
was marching on to Paris-fear of
torpedoes. In both the Brazilian and
Chilian civil wars powerful ships were
sunk by Whitehead torpedoes. What
more can you ask? In every war that
ships have played part, since tor
pedoes were invented, the deadly little
gun cotton carriers has done moro than
it's share of execution. Just think for
q moment. A battleship costs several
millions, and a torpedo boat less than
100000. so that If one in thirty of
them destroys a battleship in a war
they have done their part well.
"In Cuba the Spaniards have no ac-
tive torpedoes = that is torpedoes
which are used by putting them in
motion-eXcept those on torpedo
boats. 1t must be admitted that this
war has demonstrated that torpedo
boats are not particularly useful as
such-provided that the Spaniards are
the equals of other nations in manag-
ing them. There are number of tor
pedo boats along the coast Of Cuba,
which have had sufficient opportunity
to blow UP our ships if they were BILE
to. But Spain has shown such deplora-
bic inefficiency in all respects wherein
she has been tested by this war that
In inc
because Spanish sailors don't make
good use of them. But there is little
doubt that u torpedo boat is useless
against a warship whose gunners know
how to shoot, unless it can approach
without being seen. and that is di.,i-
cult matter, as our Spanish friends
have discovered. In a duel between
battleship and torpedo boat he
former has such an immense advan-
tage that torpedo boats will never,
probably, be sent out directly against
them. Every shell from one of the
guns of the battleship Is as deadly to
the torpedo boat as torpedo is to
its enemy. This is one of the things
that this war has demonstrated. For,
if our ships can hit objects smaller
than torpedo boats at a distance of
four or five miles, what chance does
such boat have Of being able to ap-
proach within half mile of a ship
the longest distance at which a tor
peGo is effective?
spanish torpedo boats might have
accomplished something in this war if
they Lad made dashes at our ships.
but probably the only result of their
daring would be that Spain would have
lost some torpedo boats.
"Torpedo boats discharge their
weapons from a moving platform. and
passing through the water renders
the torpedo less accurate than can
non. 1t seems to be impossible to give
them range of more than eco yards
at best. These are enough reasons to
limit the use of torpedo boats. but the
neat little vessels will proba bly, figure
in every stand-up sea fight they have
chance to take part in. and. darting
ont behind friendly battleship, amid
the smoke and excitement of battle,
they WILL in wars to come, decide the
fate of many noble ironclad.
"Of course, torpedoes sometimes do
queer things. One of the most curious
actions of torpedo occurred during
the sham fight between German and
English warships that took place
few years ago. A torpedo went under
an opposing ship at which it was dis
charged and struck one of the ships on
its own side that lay beyond. In the
Chinese-Japanese war torpedoes cut
up some erratic capers, hut so did
the Chinese officers"