The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-18
TORPEDO BOATS IN ACTION.
SPEED NOT THE GREATEST DEsID-
RRdTUM, sAYS LIEUT.. NIBLACE.


fensible-senrchiight beam as Safe
Path Leading to an Atteok-The Now
Orleans Com pared with the Denver Class.
At yesterdays meeting OF the Society OF
Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Lieut..
A. Il. Niblack. U. 8. N. read paper on Tao
tical Con lderations Involved In Torpedo Boat
Design" in which he gave with his technical
observations picture OF torpedo-bo boat work rs
IL Ia intended to be whenever war gives
chance for It. III we consider" no said. " the
conditions under which torpedo boat may be
reasonably expected to be effective against
ship or tho ships OF the enemy. We
will flnd that an attack, to have
reasonable chance, must BIO a surprise. Hence
darkness. fog. mist. snow. and rain are the
favorine conditions. Heavy rains are particu-
larry favorable SINCE for the defence. the eyes
Of look outs are punished severely by the water.
Il is hard to keep men constantly at the bat
terry. the searchlight is more than useless.
sights are blurred. and outside noise is dead
ened by the fall OF rain. Attacks are made Ia
groups OF boats, and II is this which We lose
sight OF In the United States. A single boat
would only attack as forlorn hope, and
under most extraordinary circumstances. All
torpedo boat attack must DO I'm groups and
must be. as In polo or football or any other
similar game. question OF team work. OF
Interference" OF strategy. head and nerve.
or all things. II is u question OF system.
A ship or squadron attacked stimuli
taneously from various directions must
destroy or drive OF oil the attacking
boats or take tho consequences. Feints will
naturally be made Tho first boat or boats dis
covered will advance fearlessly. dropping and
scattering small incandescent buoys to discon-
cert the aim and create tho Illusion OF numbers.
and. II so lifted. use their searchiight. Under
strong excitement It is peculiarly human to
yield to the emptation OF shooting at light
without reasoning. Meanwhile. some one
or more boats will get In their torpedoes
from an unexpected quarter. Numerous
tests at manUuvres In many navies have
shown that IL 10 astounding how often tor
pedo. boats get in without being seen and when
expected. Some people 20 so far AS to say that
tho searchlight beam Ia the safest path OF ap-
proach. and in one navy they practise running
in 1t so as to Get accustomed TO tho glaro and
TO Judge distances. As between speed
OF 20 and one OF 30 knots tho time
It take. to cover 1000 yards is only
as 90 seconds to 30 seconds. Can the 30
knot boat pass from ~ 70 30 knots ~ AZ ~ sec
for wha, two OF 30 cost, and II the
greater the number OF attacking boats the
ssS Tss 4si
is Illogical and tacticaliy IT is indsiensiyle
Back Of q. is generally an advertisement for
'o lieut. Siblaek said that It might be stated
roughly that the highest development OF the
present type OF torpedo was one about III ioet
long. IL inches in diameter and carving a
charge equivalent to Ito poundso OF dry gun cot
ton. The torpedo boat. he said. had now secure
and permanent place In naval warfare ana u
only renamed to accept the fact Boats OF 10
tons. he said. ARE too large to go through the
sysem sh S canals Il 'hs Io9k Wsh
South Carolina. on the Pacific Coast: ex:
are practically bar. bound in bad weather. and
1rst-clAss torpedo boats will not prove as DO
sirahis as seGond.clssS cRe. which are ,b IN,
enemy. even a torpedo boat is a luxury.
and destroyers viii be required on the Pacific
coast for drill and tIain,nT purposes and In
Ot the Somcrs, bought at .schiehau's lust
before the spanish war. ingle-screw boat q
it3 tons disbursement l !1o horse power and ana
ground that whether or not she could be
war she was model boat. In many respects,
since abe was fitted with oil the articles so
through ali these years by the German Navy.
and there is not detail In her that has not its
Sr ns S ak and
sonaily conducted her trials. which were salts
factory, and would consider 1t an honor to
Assistant Naval constypctoE R. ~ Nat Matt y.
s. ~, In a paper on Noyelti Is; In snip ts,
OF improvements and Developments in the
fittings OF naval vessels. these four: water
tight bulkhead door operated by electric power.
door and capab. OF he ng closed by power from
any selected distant station; anon-conducting.
for use on the sides OF steel ships IN living
| quarters: metallic folding berth for ships
| staterooms water tight metal skyiight for
use over mess rooms and staterOoms.
Chief Constructor Philip Rtchoorn. T. 5 y.
n paper On The Designs Tor ,hs Denver
The chief characteristics Of the design for
| these cruisers show the vessels 10 be about the
though thew have been clnssed as la-knot
| vessels. with more than double the horse
S. oSns TO ssftan eon SS
e ,hs Tsssa 1,., spO's for Any n :ns's
difiicuI,y at a speed Of Knots, using IN rec:
these vessels was also limited. and the coal
| consumption was serious question when
e n. a
! vice which the chip, were likely TO perform.
Independence Of coallng and repair stations. as
the e' vssssIs we're 70 be .hesshea and cSpporsa
as sS 6 Knots BE-
senting the capacity o. the vessel at all times
sSp. n tss an.a x %md
making ii or 20 knots on a forced trial with
| clean bottoms.
capacity OF TOO tons. sufficient to give them a
radius Of action at full speed OF nearly 2,5OO
! knots. and at the most economical rate Of
| steaminR-probaby In the. neighborhood Of 10
| knots per hour-they will he able to steam
| about 1000 knots without recoaling. This
would coyer Q continuous trip from ban Fran
| cisco 10 Manila.
Il do not pretend to criticise tho design or
essentially a show" vessel. With her
| extra length OF about so feet she will not
| manpuvre as we'll as tho Denver class: with
her extra draught OF about 3 feet she Is con-
| slderably handicapped for work In shallow
| harbors: with her heavy battery tof little
| ammunition carriedl she could not stand tho