The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-04-15
NEW TORPEDO CRAFT
hEcTENANT HAlPlNE'S DlRlGl6LE
AUTOMOBILE ENGINE OF WAR.
by Wires It May Be steered Against ves-
ssi-After Il Strikes IL Takes Charge Of
Itself. Then Releases Charge and Runs
Away-various Methods OF Attack.

Itself. Then Releases Charge and Runs
Away-various Methods OF Attack.
Approaching completion In little shop
on the shore OF Dorchester bay, near Bos-
ton, Is a small cigar shaped copper craft
that In case OF war would be menace to the
stoutest warship afioat. 1t is the invention
OF Lieutenant N. j. Halpine, U. s. N, re-
tired, and has been ordered by the United
States government, whose officers will
soon have an opportunity of testing 10 at
Willets Point. Lieutenant Halpine says
for the invention that although IL is tech
nically known as dirigible, automobile
torpedo, it is In fact an electric launch
which, after carrying the real torpedo up
90 the vessel which IL is designed to de-
stroy, backs out of danger and runs back
20 the operator to be reloaded.
The body of the boat is "a inches I'm d.
ameter and 26 feet long, with a steel spar
projecting 8 feet at the front, tipped with
q harpoon. The material of the case Is
copper, though steel could be used II pre-
ferred by the purchaser. Standard bat
teries and motors are used, and the cases
are so simple that good sized machine
shop could turn them out literally by the
hundred. The battery is of 90 cells and
several hours. A big reel of wire is car
ried, and this unwinds as the boat goes on
its way, and it is by means of this wire
that the operator controls the mechanism
through switches which he holds in his
hands. He can drive the boat ahead, stop
it, back IL and steer il almost as well as
though he was on board.
The ruddeI is double, one-half above the
uha taiIn nd
arrangement preventing the vessel from
rolling There is ring about the screw
propeller to protect it from the wire drag
ging at the stern. Just forward of the tail
piece is the motor, little giant of eight
horsepower. but weig hing only $50 pounds
The next compartment contains the storage
battery, just in front of which is the rheo-
stat. The reel is In the middle of the boat
and its wire is double, ono-half going to
the control of the motor and the other to
the steering apparatus Next ahead Is the
chamber containing the can of explosives
or torpedo proper, and forward of this are
the switchboard and a small battery for
operating it.
Into the wiring of the boat, so that her
delicate electrical mechanism can be con-
trolled by the switches on two little disks
not larger than watch cases, has gone a
great proportion of the study. and this
wiring is to the ordinary man complex to
the last degree. 1t is probable that the lieu
tenant will SO protect the arrangement of
the hundreds of wires in the boat that they
cannot be traced by any one who would
steal the secrets of the result Not tho
least wonderful feature of the boats cleo
trical equipment is the clockworll which,
when the supreme moment comes, literally
takes the boat under it's own control and
guides it out of harm way. This is all done
in the few seconds that intervene between
the first contact of the harpoon and the ex-
plosion of the torpedo, just at the time when
the human operator might well be par
doned for getting nervous and forgetting
something. But the mechanism doesn't
get ratified 1t stops the boat first then
backs it 100, 200 or 800 feet, according to
the previous adjustment of the clock, and
then practically turns il around and starts
it on the return trip TO the operator.
The boat is designed TO travel just I'M
der the surface of the water, and in order
that the operator may at all times see just
where the craft is and how it is steering it
carries two lights, a red one on short up
right near the stern and a green one on a
taller upright near the bow. These are
painted dark green it is not probable that
it could be seen even by the use of a search
light. If the operator was in the water in
a cork jacket, he could wear black Grape
veil and as that absorbs light it would
render him invisible to the searchers. The
water compartments OF the boat can be
filled so as to sink it TO any depth that
may be desired up to l5 feet The first
boats built by Lieutenant Halpine were
cone shaped at the bow. but this last one
has a blunt, almost spheroidal snout
When a vessel is TO be attacked, il must
be determined whether it is an ironclad or
wooden vessel, whether she has torpedo
nets and, if she has such protection, wheth
er they reach to the bottom If the vessel is
in shallow water. In case it is a steel ar
mored vessel without net, rubber sue
ton plate similar to that used by plumbers
is attached to the harpoon tip, and this
sticks on the side of the vessel like "a leech.
Suppose 1t is wooden vessel to be at
tackled The harpoon sticks into the wood
and remains there, detachlng itself from
the spar, the impact drives the spar back
a few inches and releases the torpedo,
which Is forced out of the compartment by
a stiff spring. The torpedo is attached by
a chain several feet long to the harpoon
head, which Is Embedded in the side OF the
vessel. As the torpedo is forced out of the
compartment the cover is torn of the
leaden end Of a water tight tube which
runs through the center OF the can and Is
surrounded by the explosive material AS
the cover is torn off the water PUSHES In
and comes In contact with metallic po-
tassium, which burns under such contact.
This flame sets off a big rocket, which i'm
mediately shoots forward and carries the
can containing the explosives with IL.
The tube In which the torpedo Is carried
has a downward inclination, so the torpedo
shoots toward the bottom Of the net, passes
under 1t and then, when 1t comes to the
end of it's chain, moves up till it strikes
the bottom of the vessel, exploding imme-
diately afterward. While the torpedo has
been performing all these evolutions the
boat has been getting itself out of the way
as fast as possible. When the steel spar
was driven baok, a little attachment back
toward the center of the boat severed a
small wire, and the breaking of the cur
rent released a magnet which started the
clock. and Immediately the vessel began to
back out of harms way.