The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-08-05

Written for The Messenger.
Ever since the War of the Revoiu-

IlOIs AN Aa@ -
of the enemy by mean Of t~orpedoes
has occupied the minds of numerous
inventors. To place the explosive
charge alongside or under the bottom
Of the ship with the least danger to
the operators, was the problem to be
solved.
Among the first to make use OF a tor
pedo was Captain David Bushnell. OF
Peeksville, y. Y. who tried TO destroy
the Eagle, the flagship Of Lord Howes
feet. then in New York bay. Bush
nell's experiment was by means OF a
submarine boat. with which he hoped
to approach and place a charge OF
gunpowder under and in contact with
the bottom OF the vessel and 10 ex-
plode it, after he had retired 10 a safe
distance. Bushnells effort was a faii-
ure. but other followed with
numerous schemes, more or less sue
cessful.
Robert Fulton devised a
boat for this purpose and exhibited IL
in France, where he had some ala from
the government.
1t was during the American clVll
war that the invention and use or tor
DeCnSS anu IilllcS a. 49,
development. All sorts of plans for
placing them and causing them TO ex-
plode at the Ugh moment were tried
and some OF them were considered en-
tirely satisfactory. hey certainly
worked great destruction when prop
erly placed.
At the present day the best torpedo
is probably the Whitehead, socalled
from the name of the inventor. Robert
Whitehead. This torpedo has been
generally adopted or copied by most
of the civilized nations.
Briefly described, it is a cigar shaped
| vessel. of steel. about twelve feet long
and eighteen inches in diameter. The
forward end or head. contains the
charge of explosive. Usually guncot-
ton, and is arranged to explode by
striking the side or bottom of the yes
sci. The central part is hollow and
filled with compressed air. forced in
by powerful steam pumps until as
| much air as it will safely hold is stop-
| ed. The stern or rear end contains a
miniature engine which drives the pro-
peller and gets its power from the
store of compressed air. Altogether.
a Whitehead torpedo greatly resem-
| bles a long fish and is sometimes call
ed a fish torpedo"
| They are fired or launched at the
enemy from tubes fixed in the bow of
a torpedo boat and the act Of launch
ing starts in motion the machinery in
| the body of the torpedo. The store or
| compressed air will serve to drive the
| torpedo for about a mile. while the fins
| and rudders may be so arranged as to
make it run at a certain depth below
the surface of the water. If the aim
has been true and its course not d.
| verted by currents or other causes, the
| torpedo is expected to strike the ship
| at which If has bean aimed and rn blow
a hole in her bottom.
[ Most of the modern war vessels are
provided with one or more tubes and
| the 'trDedo boats are designed to
use them almost exclusively.
With a Whitehead or other control
liable torpedo, the distance of the enc
| my must be less than a mile, in order
to use them with any degree Of Ger
tainty. To come that near to a hostile
vessel is a difficult matter, if the
| weather be clear, for the powerful
electric searchlights, as used at night.
would surely reveal the presence of a
torpedo boat and the quick firing mod
ern cannon be brought to bear on it
long before il came near enough to use
! it's torpedOes.
1t is expected that the torpedo boats
will be most effective in foggy wealth
er or when concealed by the smoke of
a battle.
There is a new class of vessels known
as torpedo boat deStroyers. They are
small and very swift, carrying rapid
| fire and machine guns. for the purpose
of overtaking and destroying the reg
ular torpedo boats, which are usually
not so swift and have no a
other than their equipment of torpe-
| does.
The defence of a harbor by mines,
controlled by operators on the shore,
1 lie a mnHprn Irvanfinn ond yonn- In ,,aa
at most of our s%eacoast cities. The
principle of all of them is about the
same. A heavy charge of dynamite or
guncotton is placed in a water-tight
iron receptacle and then sunk in the
bottom of the channel. Sometimes a
series of them is placed so as to under
lie every possible entrance.
Mines intended to be fired by cleo
tricity are always connected by wires,
laid along the bottom, and leading to
the mining casemate' of some fort
IN the vicinity or to a specially pre-
pared room on the shore. In this
room or casemate the wires all lead
to a numbered switchboard and the
operator a see at a glance which
wire belongs to or is connected with
any min of the series in his charge.
He has an electric battery ready and
can connect any wire and explode any
mine he chooses, at a moments notice.
Nearly every ndrDOr must be ap-
preached by large vessels along the
way of the channel or deepest water.
The channe is usually much narrow
er than the bay or river, as We see
it. In many cases the ann is like
a canal or big ditch, dredged or dug
in the bottom of the bay. Consequent
ly the "nine field" or place where the
mines are located is Of confined area
and easily defended. The keel of the
big modern warship will naarlxrvor,n
the bottom in most of our besr sea-
ports, While some Of them will not adj
init OF vessels Of the largest class at
all.
When the mines are first placed
their exact location is carefully mark
ed on a large rrap of the channel or
mine field and this map IS always
spread before the operator in charge
or the firing room. The whole space
protected by the mines is also in fun
view and the range or spot under the
water. where each mine lies. is wen