The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-07-05
NAMES or TORPEDO BOATS.
Deeds of Naval Heroes Whom the
Daring Craft COmm emorate.

The torpedo boats in our navy are
named after distinguished naval nc :
roes. Codd a torpedo boat haze :.
more appropriate name than tn
Cushing, which commentaries the ga
liant Union lieutenant who destro"e !
the ironclad Albemarle IA the FISK OF
almost certain deaf tn, AMI whose Wor;;
was the forerunner of that which his
sreel ndmesake is expected to 10? on
hoard the little craft the name OF
Cushing is held up as constant
source of emulation to the members Of
the crew.
The Porter bears a name that ii,is
the American tar with pride, re2a1InS
a famous family of naval aerots
The Foote is named for the brave
and pious old admiral who FIRST taught
the Chinese that there was IL ration on
this side of the world that knew how
to fight. 1t was in 1856, whe1 the Eng
i'sh and Chinese We're at va, that the
Chinese forts fired on Foote s1ip-.
which We're there to protect American
interests. The doughty commander de-
manded an instant apology When it
was not forthcoming he landed his
men and led them against the four
forts. Their seven-foot walls of gran
ite were protected by many guns, and
contained 1000 Chinese soldiers, but
Foote captured them with 400 Ameri-
cans and lost only ~ men, against the
enemy's loss of 400.
The Dupont is named for the naval
leader of the Mexican war, and the
Winslow for the commander of the
famous old Kearsarge. The Rodgers
commentaries one of the naval heroes
of 1912. The Ericsson bears a name
which revolutionized naval warfare
when the owner built the Monitor and
sent her against the much-feared Mer-
rmac in Hampton Roads.
Our newest torpedo boat, the one
which was recently bought in England,
and which has not yet been brought
to this side of the Atlantic, is called
the Somers. The name of Commander
Richard Somers is not so familiar as
that of Cushing, yet it is connected
with an action as glorious in its cour-
age and more unfortunate in its out
come than that which made Lieuten-
ant Cushing famous. In the year 1904
when the United States was fighting
the Barbary pirates, Somers manned a
flagship loaded with gunpowder and
combustibles and sailed her into the
harbor of Tripoli at night to destroy
the enemy's ships. Before he started
on his perilous mission he said to his
little crew of volunteers:
Let no man go with me who does
not prefer death to surrender"
Not a man of the crew drew back
The ship and its men fioated silently
away in the darkness, and their COM
rades waited long and anxiously for
some sign to tell of their fate. At last
the enemy's batteries on shore began
to fire, and a pickering light was seen
in the direction which the flagship had
taken. In an instant 1t blazed up into
| flash that lighted the whole harbor
and there was an explosion which
rocked the American ship a mile away
Then the darkness settled down again
In the morning one of the enemys
ships had disappeared, and two Others
were disabled, but Somers and his bold
| companions were never seen again
1t is believed that Somers blew up the
| magazine of his ship with his own
hand and perished in order to accom-
| plish his object