Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-01-19
Reserve Torpedo Boats.

| palnlng tne large ana growing torpedo
flotllla in constant readiness for hos
Utilities has gone about the matter with
characteristic Yankee disregard for
Old World precedents. 1t has adopted
the American system of fire depart
ment readiness for emergency calls.
The scheme involves the erection of
special buildings and mechanical con-
trivances at convenient intervals along
the seaboard, at which these small but
powerful engines of destruction may
be kept from deterioration on dry land,
always in perfect condition, ready at a
danger summons to glide into the wat
er and set out for the scene of trouble,
just as a fire engine is started at the
tap of gong on its mission of sal
wage.
Torpedo craft are particularly deli
cate affairs. To meet the extraordin-
airy requirements for which they are
designed, their hull structures are
lightened until they become prone to
rapid deterioration, which must be
guarded against by continuous inspec-
tion and protection. Their indispen-
sable speed necessitates the installa-
tion of machinery of tremendous pow
err which must be kept in as perfect
tune as the strings of harp.
They were never intended to be inn
provised as dispatch bearers, after the
manner of their misuse in the war
| with Spain, which happened to result
in placing them under repairs, and
therefore out of action, when every en-
gagement occurred AS factors in the
naval service they are designed eX-
clusvely fer sharp, stealthy dash
upon the most powerful armored units
of the enemy, and perfect condition is
requisite to enable them to escape de-
struction in their most hazardous of
missions. But it is the idea, if sacri-
| flee is needed for success, that the pre-
ponderance of loss shall fall on the
enemy. For this duty their cleanness
of hull and smothness of engine func-
ton must approach as nearly perfec-
tion as is possible to their complicated
mechanism, and it has become a naval
maxim that care cannot be wasted on
a torpedo boat.
In times Of peace, according to the
highest naval authorities, such craft
are valueless, except for such occasion
al drills as may fdmiliariZe their crews
with their capabilities. In war their
utility, if they are effectively operated,
may be incalculable, If not by practical
achievements, at least by their neral
effect upon the fears of an opponent.
The naval administration has awaken
ed to these fundamental principles of
torpedo craft utility since the last war,
and instead CT assigning them to dam
aging duty, inseparable from use in
peace, it will hereafter keep few of
them in commission for a short time
as they are completed, in order to de-
termine their limitations OF speed,
manoeuvring and endurance, while the
great part Of the fleet will be held in
reserve, prepared for instant service.
The first of the new torpedo boat
rendezvous will be located at the Bos-
ton Navy Yard, Congress having pro-
vlded $15O,OOO for the purpose. AS
soon as similar appropriations become
available rendezvous of like character
are to be established at Norfolk, Pen
sacola ard San Francisco, and event
ually at intermediate points of i'm
pcganCe on the Atlantic and Pacific.
In the mean time the boats already
completed will be cared for by hauling
out on temporary ways preparatory TO
being covered over by rough sheds and
tarpaulins for the current winter.
Heretofore recourse has been neces-
sary to the big drydocks when torpedo
beats have had their hulls exposed for
repairs and protective painting, which
was not only an expensive matter, but
contribute to aggravate The lack OF
docking facilities for larger vessels.
The fact that in the near future the
number Of battleships in commission
Will be more than doubled, and that
c.ner battleships and cruisers, as in
the cases OF the Olympia and Indiana,
will require expensive repairs, has
forced the naval administrators to de-
wise other methods for caring for the
smaller vessels. Rear Admiral Hich-
born. the Chief Constructor, and Rear
Admiral Edlncctt, Chief of Yards and
Decks, have put their heads together
and agreed upon the plan referred to in
the opening of this article, which ap-
pears net only to solve the drydock em-
bamassmsnt, hut to fulfill every re-
quirement of torpedo boat prepared
ness for war.
AT Boston a huge fireproof building
will be erected, with capacity for ten
torpedo beats or destroyers. 1t will
contain railway slips, after the manner
Ct locomotive roundhouse, but par
aliel instead of radical In front of This
building, running its entire length,
transfer table will operate to carry
cradles containing torpedo craft op-
posIte each slip. These tables viii be
an exaggerated gondola railway car
type, each capable of hclding a torpe-
do boat. The cradles will run upon a
powerful and quick action hydraulic