Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-04-12

what will happen If an irresistible force
meets an immovable body?
"One day we are informed that our
Harveyized and nickel-steel plates prove
invulnerable TO shots; another time we
learn that some new projectile has
pierced the best of them. The common
sense of the matter IS that practical limits
have been reached i'm both directions. and
thinking men are looking TO new eXpe-
dents with which to annlhilate their foes
afloat.
with the marine automobile tornado II
IS proposed to accomplish this purpose,
and it has proved its ability TO do so;
quantity or quality Of armOr opposes no
serious resistance TO it; burying the mag
aZine, engine, or other vital elements OF
fighting power below the water line, sur
rounded by Goals and other material in
tended to defend them. effects nothing,
but rather insures their more speedy dei
struction, for it is there that the torpedo
is aimed to strike with as much accuracy
and precision as at target-shooting.
GAS unseen as the wind, with a speed
that is as rapid and an effect that the
tornado's concentrated force has never
equalled. the work is done. and the water
closes over where a moment before
powerful vessel was"
Among the several promising types Of
automobile torpedoes the Cunningham,
Whitehead and Howell are mentioned in
the article as the most prominent. The
Cunningham is described as resembling a
huge pointed screw, it being a cylinder
with a cOnical end and having on its body
q series of fins arranged after the manner
of a screw thread In the opinion Of the
writer, this torpedo is perhaps the sim
plest in its construction. having pracu-
cally no interior mechanism and requiring
no expensive apparatus for its discharge.
Being lowered into the water and pointed
In the direction il is TO take, the Cunning
ham torpedo keeps its course with re-
markable fidelity. It's motive power con-
sists of a series of discharges Of gases
arising from chemicals arranged in pockets
along it's sides which causes it 10 revolve
through the water like a screw through
its nut. It's explosion depends upon the
conclusion of its forward end against
some hard, firm object.
The following description and comments
upon the Whitehead torpedo are given
by the writer:
THE Whitehead-an English contriv-
ance-is of the fish variety nclOsed In
steel shell containing elements Of locomo-
ton. consisting Of a compressed air motor
driving tandem screws at its rear end.
Although eX-Secretary Of the Navy Tracy
has said in his report that it had been
successfully domesticated. IT is doubtful
from a mechanical point OF view, If it is
most desirable, for its working necessl-
tates q powerful air-compressing plant
two thousand pounds 10 the square inch
being demanded, a trained force Of me-
chanics, rather than common seamen. and
constant care to keep its steel shell and
interior free from corroslon-a difficult
task around salt water-and the mainte-
nance Of a perfect balance. as any devia-
ton from the perpendicular as regards its
centre line shows a corresponding change
I'm its course. fatal 10 the effect desired"
The Howell torpedo, which is most ex-
tensiyely used by the United States navy.
was the original conception Of Commo-
dore j. a. Howell, United States navy.
1t Is described as possessing all the good
qualities of the Whitehead and many pc
culiar to itself, being the outgrowth Of
extensive and expensive experiment and
embodying the condensed thought Of
some of the best American mechanics
and engineers. Ii is a bronze cylinder
with conical ends. about ii inches in
diameter and IL feet long, weighing about
800 pounds, including a charge Of 100
pounds OF guncotton carried in the for
ward end. 1t is propelled by very deli
cate and ingenious mechanism operating
a fly wheel weighing 40 pounds.
This fly wheel is set revolving at
speed of 10000 revolutions minute just
before being fired from the tube in yes
sci, and is capable of running at least
one and one-half hours after leaving the
tube. The energy developed by the wheel
turns a pair Of screw propeliers at the
rear end of the torpedo. and by a very
Ingenious device these screws are made
to maintain a uniform rate Of speed as
long as the torpedo is I'm motion. BY the
action Of an equally ingenious device the
torpedo is kept on its course without any
deviation from the depth I'm the water
which has been determined upon at the
time of firing.