The evening times., 1898-10-19
DEATH In THE DARK
Some New Terrors That Will
Be Added to the Navy.
TO CREEP ON THE ENEMY
Small Vessels Building That Can OPP
Destroy the Warships of "a Foe.
The PecuIiaritfes of the New Tor
pedO Boats.

The need of q small vessel which in time
of naval warfare shall be fitted TO creep
upon the enemy at night and under cover
of the darkness destroy the opposing
force, and accomplish the most desperate
deeds, is now one of the pressing ques-
tions of the hour. The results of the war
with Spain-admirable in all other re-
spects-has at least demonstrated the ne
cessity of large addition to our mosquito
fleet. That Congress appreciated this fact,
says the New York Herald, was shown
when at the last session appropriation was
made for the addition of sixteen torpedo
boat destroyers and a dozen torpedo boats
of the first class, and bids are now open
for the construction of these vessels
While as matter of fact the torpedo
boats saw little or no hard fighting in this
war, they have lost none of their favor.
Every sailor will bear testimony to the
inestimable service accomplished in re-
spect of scouting.
The new torpedo boats now under con-
struction will differ from the old type in
this respect-that the plans on which they
Government and not with the bidders. 1t
is believed, therefore, that the boats will
show a considerable advance upon any
thing produced here or on the Continent
during the last six years
1t was admitted that the Furor and
Terror, the destroyers used by Spain in
the late war, were among the finest eX-
amples of naval construction yet pro-
duced. The new thirty-knot destroyers
into al hp imnr0Vpment
these two boats.
According TO the designs of the naval
construction department each of the tor
pedo boats proper will carry 10 feet of
length on the water line. with maxi
mum beam of seventeen feet, and draw
ing upon a trial displacement of some
thing like 15O tons nearly seven feet of
water.
Each boat will be furnished with two
half-inch nickeI-steeI coming towers, one
forward and another aft. On the forward
tower will be placed a searchlight. 1t Is
intended 10 make the electric plant which
supplies the energy for this lamp also
feed the signal lights, and, in fact, all
the lamps with which the interior of the
boats will be provided.
The battery of the new boats is TO
consist of three 3-pounders, with one or
two I-pounder guns of the Maxim type,
three torpedo tubes, and five torpedoes.
The Government plans provide that one
of these three tubes shall be placed al
the stern and the other amidships with
the view of affordng them the widest
area of fire.
Twin screws will be actuated by cou-
pie of fine triple-expansion engines of the
four-cylinder order, and the engines are
to be placed in water-tight compart-
ments and will have each a high-pressure
nf | a
pressure cylinder OF q inches two low
pressure cylinders of % IA inches in diam
eter, and n uniform stroke of IS inches.
Twenty-seven knots an hour must be the
regulation speed. 1t is intended TO place
the three boilers in two compartments,
one forward and one aft of the ma
chinery gear. and under this condition
chance shot can by no manner of means
destroy at one blow the whole battery
The Government sets the cost limit a.
$40 900.
So much for the torpedo boats.
Turning to the destroyers, we find
new and impressive feature The turtle
back deck at the bow has been dispensed
with. and in its place we find a fore
castle deck of consdera bic length. Naval
experts hold that this new deck Will pre-
vent the boats from running their noses
into every deep swell and may also pro-
The fitting of the destroyer in respect
of coming towers will not differ from
that of the torpedo boat. All woodwork
will, of course be fireproof while the
boats are divided into something
like eighty compartments, communication
with them being effected only by a pas
sage UP 10 the deck and down again
through another hatchway to the next
compartment
FOUNDER and five 6-pounder rapid-fire
guns. and two 1S-inch Whitehead tor
peado tubes. The heavier guns are to
be placed in the coming towers. while
the lighter ones are to be placed on the
main deck. where they may direct bow
fire Each gun discharges twenty shots
a minute, the heavier ordnance penetrat-
ing three inches of steel. Assuming,
therefore that the man behind the gun
knew his business-and in the American
navy he generally does-these shots would
be apt to make short work of any boat
that got in the way.
Among the bidders are TO be found the
American Ordnance Company, which SUBJ
mits novel proposition in the shape of
15-pound guns with an increased velocity
of 200 feet per second The shell is about
three pounds heavier, and this alone
would tend to make the destroyer vastly
superior TO anything OF the same KIND
now in existence
Like the torpedoes. the boats will be
fitted with two sets of triple-expansion
engines of the four-cylinder type. The
diameter of the cylinders is 90 1-2, 49, and
SIS inches, the intermediate and low-press-
ure 90 inches, with a revolution of $50 to
the minute, and a horsepower of 5000.
The limit of cost for the DESTROYER is
fixed at s2S5, 600. or about $120,000 higher
than that of the torpedo boat
Armed with these marvels of the con-
structor's and mechanics skill, Uncle
Sam should again be able to demonstrate
his ability to smash ANYBODY or anything
rash enough to oppose him on the seas.