The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-04-22
Naval Fights Against Odds,

; The naval officer who remarked that the
erection of a monument TO the memory 81
the ofncers and crew ofthe dynamite crui-
ser Vesuvius would be In order just as
soon as that vessel went into action, spoke
} OF a full understanding of the probabili-
ties attending the first engagement be-
tween the warships Of the United States
: and Spain. He might have included the
: heroes who fell from the crews of the tor
pedo boats, the torpedo boat destroyers.
| and even the armored cruisers and battle
; ships. Their chances of life will be but a
trif1e better than those of the men on the
Vesuvius. One weIl-directed she'll aimed
: at this floating magazine Of dynamite
means instant humiliation One round
from rapid-fire gun has but to strike a
torpedo boat in the right place to send
her to the bottom. One torpedo. as has
been demonstrated in the harbor OF Hava-
ma, can tear into fragments the most for
midable battle ship ahoat.
In the days when iron and steel had not
supplanted oak in the construction of fight
ing ships, when long toms. corronades and
ten-pounders were the equivalents OF
breech-loading rifles and machine guns,
when a full broadside at close quarters
lacked the destructiveness of single pro-
range of four miles. the sailor felt as long
as his ship floated he had as good chance
of reaching dry land as his enemy. He
had an abiding faith in the specific grav-
ity of wood. and counted on finding a
piece of his ship for life-preserver il the
fight went the wrong way. Today ne is
in much the same fix as the man who went
sailing in sieve before he learned to
swim.
There was never a hope so forlorn. how
ever, that leader was lacking, and no
leader ever failed to find those who would
follow him. Today the navy is being re-
cruited as rapidly as possible with men
who are of too high an order OF intelli-
gence not to know the perils before them.
A certain portion of these men will be as
signed to the torpedo boats, a branch of
| the service which has been recognized as
| the most hazardous of all. making an ex-
! ception in favor Of any actual work that
may be attempted with such new-fangied
| ideas as the Holland and Raddatz subma-
rine torpedo boats. Moral courage of the
| highest order will be required Of every Of
| ficer and enlisted man when the call of
duty takes him into an engagement with
any of these deadly engines as his wea-
pom of attack.
torpedo boat, whether operated above or
below water, is as much of a menace to
the life of its crew as it is to the ship it
attacks. 1t may run the gauntlet of the
machine guns under cover of darkness
and deliver a fatal blow against the ar
mored side of the battleShip, but the
chances are as one in hundred that the
explosion which sinks the big ship will de-
stroy the frail little boat and it's crew.
The submarine torpedo boat is an I'M
known quantity in actual warfare, unless
its worth is estimated by the results at
tending repeated trials of similar boats
during the civil war.
Recent trials of the Holland submarine
boat seem to have roved her an easily
managed craft, capable of diving and COM
ing to the surface at the will of the opera
tor. Whether this fish-like machine will
behave so nicely in time of war remains
to be seen. It is to be hoped that she will
establish a better record than the subma-
rine boat constructed by the confederates
in 1868. Naval officers have expressed
grave doubts whether the Holland will
ever accomplish anything but the de-
struction of her crew, just as the confed- |
crate boat did repeatedly in the attempt |
to use her against union ships. And there
by hangs a story of heroic daring equal |
to any recorded in the history of the |
American navy.
In the fall Of 1863 tiny half submerged |
torpedo boat attacked the fine new union |
war vessel, New Ironsides, as she lay al |
anchor in the Charleston harbor. The at
tempt was successful, in that the torpedo
exploded three feet under water and
ha sid a Of he b,,t
the force of the explosion was not great
enough to do any other damage than par
TALLY sink the little boat and make posi-
BILE the capture of her command Off
Ger. Encouraged by the trial, the confed-
crates constructed another torpedo boat at
Mobile the same year after plans providing
for her use beneath water. She was con-
structed of boiler iron, her lines approach
ing those of the Holland boat very closely. |
She was thirty-five feet long and carried
crew of nine men. Eight of these worked
a hand propeller while the other steered
the boat and regulated her movements be-
low the surface of the water. She could be
to any depth desired or pre-
PEELED on the surface, and in still water
could easily attaina speed of four knots an
hour.
Several successful experiments were
conducted in the harbor of Mobile and :
then one day the boat failed to come to the
top OF the water. She was raised, and the
bodies of her crew were given a more fit
ing burial. Then she was lowed to the {
Charleston harbor and put into service
She was designed to approach a vessel at
anchor, dive under her keel while drag
5ing a floating torpedo, and thus bring
he torpedo against the side or bottom Of
he vessel. The first night set for an at
ack resulted in death for the nine men |
composing the crew of the boat. She was l
wing at the wharf when passing steam
IT swamped her by the wash following
Once again she was raised and tied up to |
he Fort Sumter wharf Once again she
ank, and six men went down with her
Again she was brought TO the surface, and
-fter being thoroughly repaired was plac- '
ID in charge OF a lieutenant and eight I
more men for trial in the Stone river She I
'ehaved splendidly for a day or two and a
hen dived to the bottom and stuck her
lose in the mud. Nine more men were S
uffocated For the fourth time the con- >
ederates raised this Inflated craft and re- n
umed again the experiments in the Char d
aston harbor. The trials were successful
ntil an attempt was made 10 dive under
vessel at anchor. when she fouled
able and became a coffin again for her
rev.
Wit of the small Fry.
A pretty girl OF three years was in a r
rug store with her mamma Being at
r&cted BY something in the show case