The times., 1898-02-20
Torpedo Boats of Today.

l peril for the crew or the tOrpedo-boat as
| for that of the war giant above.
Torpedo Boats of Today.
. The torpedo-boat of today. which is as
| much a factor as the torpedo itself. is a
| slim. low vessel. swift and silent in its
progress. II moves so rapidly that 1t is a
! difficult mark for the guns of any hostile
! feet. and at the same time Its approach
| is so noseless that Instances are known
where il has stolen up to within 400
| yards of its nautical prey and remained
! there undetected despite searchlights
which were sweeping the water on
| all sides. Such distance is
close enough for 1.-THE crew to send
/ 10 its mark and in the excite
ment consequent 20 explosion TO get free
| away a torpedo-bbat is not. however
necessary to the discharge of a torpedo.
| Every man-of-war Is equipped with tor
| pedo tubes for the discharge of the mis-
| siIes. Before the Maine was sent to Ha-
vana its torpedo tubes were removed lest
| by their presence they should give the
| impression of duplicity. For the torpedo
! can be fired and none be the wiser The
| start is from beneath the water, even as
! the end of the journey. In darkness es-
| pecially the sligift movement on deck in
arranging to lower the torpedo through
! It's tuDe Woulu Bt ana 1t Is upon
! this fact that those who say that the
Maine was exploded by a torpedo base
their assertions. The theory is plausible.
In the event that g. torpedo was fired
! from another ship against the hull of the
Maine the Whitehead torpedo was un-
! dCubtsdly the Kind employed The White
| head has been called five feet of human
| bone and tissue, owinS in the first place
10 the eccentricity of it's actions Since
then deErt.infiafl has
for the reason that the torpedo has be-
come as susceptible to direction as if Ii
were possessed of human capabilities
| 4 he inventor. Mr.. Whitehead conceived
the idea Of the torpedo in 1864. His first
attempt was to discover whether IL
was not possible TO devise torpedo
which would be entirely independent of
outside aid when once it had been start
ed OF its course. For two years he stud
led and planned. and the result was a
machine which was the model for all
iater developments Of torpedoes of the
travelling class
The first Whitehead torpedo was a very
different creation from the trim engine
| OF today. IT was built of steel. was IA
inches in diameter, IS inches at the fms
weighed 800 pounds and carried an ey-
plosive charge Of eighteen pounds OF
dynamite. The motive power was com
pressed air, charged to pressure of
approximately 100 pounds TO the inch
The speed of the torpedo was only six
knots an hour. and 1t could be de-
pended upon to do the uneXpectedat every
time aud place. Sometimes il kept at a
proper depth beneath the water after II
had been discharged and sometimes IL
rose to the surface and SKINNED the
waves, while occasionally IT went
straight for the bottom and buried it's
nose in the mud or sand.
European governments were however
soon interested in the internal ma
chine" and the Austrian government I'm
particular too; the inventor under it's
wing. The next step of progress was the
Invention of balance chamber Soon
afterward the English government Undue
ed tho Inventor TO come TO England aud
the experiments with the torpedo con-
tinued. speed OF SO knots an hour was
reached and the fact was established that
a ship at anchor might with certainty be
struck at any distance up to 400 yards
and that a moving ship could be struck
up 10 II distance OF 9eo yards.
Inventor Makes Changes.
In 1876 another great advance was
made, Mr.. Whitehead designing torpedoes
with a di1nleter of only fourteen inches.
with Il charge Of twenty six pounds f
gun cotton. The new torpedo was also
equipped with mechanism known as TIE
servo-motor, which gave the torpedo a
true path through the water and steered
it as well as If man were sitting at
the helm. In 1884 and in 1889 and again
two years ago the torpedoes have been
redesigned until u ma ximum of thirty
knots an hour of speed has in trials been
attained the limit o. distance being in
creased to LOCO yards, and the amount of
the charge to 200 pounds of gun cotton.
The Whitehead torpedo today is a cigar
shaped object made of steel or phosphor
bronze. 1t is from n To 10 feet long and
from ii to 10 inches i'm diameter. nicely
of proportion, which holds true through
out its mechanism. The charge of gun
cotton is carried in the nose of the tor
pedo. AT the tip of the nose is a pointed
rod which penetrates to the explosive.
When the torpedo strikes an object the
point of the rod is driven against a de-
tonator, which eSplodes the charge Back
of the explosive chamber is an aircham-
ber containing the compressed air which
is pumped in beforehand to give the mo-
tive power. In the balance chamber next
in the rear is the steering apparatus and
behind that is the engine-room, the en-
gine being worked by the compressed air,
its power acting upon two screw pro-
pellers. Farthest back of all is hollow
alrcnamber TO give DuoNancN-
Operation OF the Device.
The torpedo tube from which the tor
pedo is fired is large metal tube open
at one end and closed by a hinged door
at the other The torpedo is blown out
of the tube either by compressed air sud-
denly injected into the rear end or by a
charge of powder. The tube does not
have N he SIlbmergad bllt from reasons
of caution that plan is the one generally
adopted. A submerged tube is provided
with an outer cap which can be opened
or shut at will. When the tube is being
loaded sluce valve is opened TO drain
the tube of water. The torpedo is then
run in the tube flooded and the outer cap
opened to allow access to the water out
side. complicated mechanism is used
to give the torpedo its desired detection.
The mechanism, however. is not of a
cumbersome character, and merchant
vessel could carry torpedoes and torpedo
tubes and not be suspected The only ne
cessity would be for men skilled in the
handling and firing of torpedoes. for the
art of aiming torpedo requires the train
ing of a mathematician. The Maine was
moored within torpedo range of every
Spanish ship in the Havana harbor, and
IL the hole is found in the hull no naval
authority can be found TO doubt the the
ory that a Whitehead torpedo was dis
charged from alongside some vessel an
chored within 300 or 400 yards of the
American warship,
Two Deadly Mechanisms.
The difficulties in the use of either a
Brennan or a Sims Edison torpedo would
be in directing it from the shore after
dark and in securing spot from which