The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-03-23
The War Torpedo.

The origin of the torpedo may be traced
| back TO the days when the ancients en-
| ployed Greek fire TO destroy the shipping
! Of their enemies. 1t was the discovery
| Of gunpowder that opened the way for
| natural development of the idea, and
! quickened the inventive brain TO the pos
/ sibilities Of the torpedo in time of war.
After Zambelli had achieved renown by
| blowing up the bridge at Antwerp, by ex-
| ploding scow load Of gunpowder against
| il, nearly two centuries passed before il
was realized that the effectiveness Of the
| torpedo depended on the submergence of
| the charge at the time of explosion.
It was Captain David Bushnell, an
American engineer in the revolutionary
war, who first experimental on the priH-
| ciple Of submergence. He also invented
one of the very first submarine boaIs, by
which the first attempt at actual war
fare was made He was the originator.
in fact. of submarine mining as il is prac-
ticed today.
Twenty years later, Robert Fulton. the
noted inventor. revived the ideas CT Cap
tain Bushnell. 1t is a remarkable fact
that Fulton planned a system of torpedo
warfare upon which very little improve
ment has been made today. He devised
four classes of orpedoes-buoyant mines
anchored in the channel to be defended
and exploded by contact with the huh
of an enemy's vessel; line torpedoes, TO
/ be set adrfft and fouled by the cables Of
a hostile feet at anchor; harpoon torpe-
does, TO be discharged from a gun AM
fired by clock work after being attach
ed 10 a vessels side, and block ship tor
pedoes, 10 be carried on long spars pro-
jecting from a boats bow and exploded
by contact. All these devices except the
In OIL in "a
ern system.
Colonel Samuel Colt, inventor of the re-
volver that bears his name, was the next
American genius TO take up the study of
tOrpedOes, and the first TO introduce cleo
tricity as an igniting agent for the ex-
plosive charge. After years of experiment
he blew up a brig under the sail / the
Potomac river. April -, 1843. 1t was
wonderful demonstration for those days,
and has never been equaied since Co
lionel Colt operated his electrical battery
a. Alexandria, five miles away from the
spot where the brig was destroyed, feat
which the government engineers at VIII
let'e Point have yet TO undertake with
the same success. The secret believed to
relate to a method of making vessel tel
egraph her own position died with him.
When the civil war broke out American
inventors were given an opportunity to
demonstrate on a grand scale the import
ant part which the torpedo can be made
to play in maritime warfare. During the
last two years of war the federal govern
ment lost seven ironclads, thirteen wooden
war vessels and seven army transports,
and had eight more vessels seriously in
jured. The confederates lost four vessels
l1N-t hair nd he I'll
a fine new ironclad which had proved a
terror to the United States vessels. The
destruction of the Albemarle was accom-
plished by one of the most daring OK
hibitionS of bravery ever recorded in his
tory, and served to place the name of
Lieutenant William B. Gushing in the long
list of the worlds heroes. Gushing was
only Il years old
Cushing asked for permission to destroy
the Albemarle while she was tied up to
the wharf at Plymouth, in the Roanoke
river. The permission was granted, and
on the night of October q, 1864, with a
crew of 10 officers and men. he steamed
up the river in little launch. A long
spar projected from the bow of the launch,
at the end of which was a torpedo. A
string, one end of which was tied TO the
trigger of the torpedo and thu other Of
which was in the hand of Gushing. afford
ed the means exploding the charge. At
full speed the launch dashed at the iron
clad, and when within twenty yards it
was discovered that a Gordon of floating
logs surrounded the ship as a protection
against such an attack. The little launch |
darted out into the middle of the river, |
Gushing gave orders TO put on all steam,
and then he turned her once more toward |
the enemy. The speed was so great that !
when the launch struck the log she slid |
ovr. A vOlley of musketry saluted the !
daring crew as Gushing pulled the string. |
and then a mighty column of water shot |
up in the air. A few minutes later and |
the Albemarle was on the bottom of the |
river. So was the launch. Gushing swan /
down the river and escaped, and the rest |
of the crew was captured.