Arizona republican., 1898-04-14
TORPEDO BOATS.
The Difference Between Two Little
 Known Types of Naval Vessels.

Washington, April 13.-The impor- tance attached by naval authorities to the little boats now on their way from Spain to West Indian waters is source of astonishment to the people who have paid no attention to recent developments in naval architecture. Torpedo boats have been popularly known for some time as war craft of potential possibilities, but in actual use more dangerous to their owners than to the enemy. Torpedo boat de- stroyers are apparently a type of ves7 sel absolutely unheard of by the ma jority, and the manner in which they are mixed up in the news reports with the craft they are supposedly intended to annihilate is certainly mystifying
 The torpedo boat of today, it should be stated in the beginning, is no longer a vessel of doubtful vaIue Its terrible prowess has been shown on several occasions in recent years. While it is designed primarily as coast defense vessel, and is not especially fitted for long voyages on the high seas, it has been made as stable and safe as any small boat can be. It can move faster than any battleship or cruiser, and ,ow- ing to it's small size, and low free board, can steal up within a few hun dred yards of warship, discharge its prOjectile under water with consider able accuracy and dart away without being seen, perhaps; or, if seen, can laugh at the efforts of the big vessels to capture her. The torpedoes which she sends forth on their errand of de- struction are sufficiently powerful to sink any man of war afloat if they hit the mark. The only protection that battleship has from these ter rible little engines of war Is in her guns, which, if seen in time, may sink the torpedo boat; or in the pro tective net of large iron rings which is hung around the ship when in dan ger. But the torpedo boat is SO small that it is very hard to hit her even in daylight, and her attacks are gener- ally made at night, while the torpedo nets are of doubtful efficiency. The torpedo boats are from 100 to 180 feet long and have an average draught of about five feet, so that they can slip into shallow water or up rivers if nec- essary. They have complement of from twenty to twenty-five officers and men and carry three or four one pounder rifles for defense and as many torpedo tubes for offense.
 The torpedo boat destroyer is the re- suit of the development of the torpedo boat. As it's name indicates, its pri- mary object is the destruction of tor pedo boats, but it combines the quali- ties of the torpedo boat, the gunboat and the cruiser. It is larger and swift CT than the torpedo boat, some of them rushing through the water at the rate of thirty-four miles an hour, as fast as the average express train. Be- sides its torpedo tubes, it carries guns of the rapid firing variety as large as contemporaries. With such speed and armament it can run down and sink the speediest torpedo boat, while without using it's torpedoes, which are reserved for warships-it can cap ture, destroy if necessary, commercial vessels of large size. In attacking war vessels, howeve~, it is not as ef- fective as the torpedo boat, because its larger size and higher free board makes it more easily seen and better target for the guns of the battleship.
 PIONEERS. ATTENTION!