Arizona republican., 1898-04-21
TORPEDO WARFARE.
An Expert Tells the Senate How to
 Conduct It.

1ORPEDO WARFARE.
 An Expert Tells the Senate How to Conduct It.
 Washington, April 20.-Commanderi
 Bradford, torpedo expert on duty at the torpedo station at Newport, R. l., who was before the senate committee
 on foreign relations, was asked by 1 Senator Morgan to state briefly the danger from the Spanish fctilla of tor pedo boats and torpedo destroyers, | and replied:
 ! I am not impressed as much as
 many naval officers with the danger ous character of torpedo boats and tor pedo destroyers. They are frail craft,
 because everything is sacrificed to 1 speed, and weights are kept down for
 that reason, and very thin plates used
 in their construction, very slight
 frames, and they are easily deranged.
 I may say that they are boats of possi-
 bilities rather than of probabilities.
 Under certain conditions they are
 no doubt very formidable. Their chief 1
 value, in my opinion, is in preventing blockades, if in ports that are attempt , ed to be blockaded. They choose their
 own time of attack, and of course the 1
 most favorable time. They are pre-
 viously groomed up for the occasion, everything in readiness, and they slip out to vessel outside and try to get
 in their work. At sea with squad ron they are so liable to accident and l so often deranged that the chances of being effective, in my opinion are slight. I understand that the present fotilla, crossing from Spain, have been Ifrr,r nv,&l lol F1@+ Sc A~
 pedo tubes and guns carried on the up- per deck have been taken off and are being brought over by the conveying s steamer, which is a converted cruiser s That adds to their seaworthiness and . stability. With those off they are , completely helpless and shorn of any y power. d The destroyers are supposed to be = capable of ramming the small boats = and destroying them that way If D within the destroying radius of a b fleet, of course they can be used in f the same way as in a blockade. For T instance, the port of Havana is about e ninety miles from Key West or Tortu- d gas. They have high speed. They can
 slip out at night, get in their work, d and return under cover of darkness, e and, vice versa, our own could dc the | g destroyers, and our torpedo boats have : found 1t rather rough work crossing d the Gulf stream between those ports. is Commander Bradford expressed the e opinion that the destruction of the .o Maine was due to the explosion of a g. submarine mine of high explosives. s. He thought the ordinary torpedo l. would not be sufficiently powerful to to produce the result shown in the Maine at but he thought the mine was sunk a before the arrival of the Maine because nt or the difficulty of locating one after ID arrival.
 In response to question from Sen- e. ator Mills as to the method of protect sd ing our neet in case we wanted to ly blockade Havana Commander Bradfor ,d said:
 to l do not know that we have any he plan, but if we approach near enougf m the port to lombard it of course thf ed ships would be subject to bombard d. ment. The most efficacious and at ths it same time the most hazardous way nd would De to send vessels in to ram tht he hotllla, supposing it to be in the har nd bor-l1ght draught vessels would prob re ably not strike any obstruction, he would say surprise them and ran at them. Of course, if they get nea ,m enough they are subject to a yer, is severe fire from the secondary batter
 les. We have no cas on record il at experiment where in the daytime tor lid pedo boats have succeeded in gettin or within striking distance of we'll arme ng ships.
 ho Senator Lodge asked Commando en Bradford if he would not think it yer ITS important, in case var was coming lar to dispose of the fIctilla before he reached Havana to which Commando iv- Bradford replied:
 Ice It would be an in.p tant advantagt oc Much depends upon the proposed can -ou paign-what we are going to do res whether it is to be strictly navs ick war; whether we are to confine ou the selves to marine operations or whati be CT we are to land troops on the island md of Cuba and Porto Rico, and what u ble purpose of the government is. Tn;
 ought to be decided first. in njy cpil
 ion, and then we would decide what
 do.
 MT Mills asked if he would lar -ce troops with the fiotilia at Havana al
 MT. Bradford replied:
 1 would not advocate 1t. Warfa int cannot be carried on now as it us'
 is to be, where float could go in und yell the fort and town and take possesiso to The lesson of the Maine proves tn nly such forts must be taken by attack ney shore with such aid as the ships C; ave give. and some place not mined mu ent be selected to land The object of t go navy now is to destroy what 1t can ore bombardment and destroy shlps. T up capture of territory must be left rest the army.