The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-12

Prince Henry Of Prussia, our one
| time guest, has been put this year IN
command of the first torpedo boat no
tilla of the German navy, putting it
through those dashing maneuvers
which are peculiar to this branch of
the German naval service. These Ger
man torpedo boat maneuvers, while
their practical utility have been ques-
toned, and while they have become
notorious for the disasters which they
have caused, are. nevertheless, the adj
miration of the naval world for the
dash and "elan" displayed by the COM
handing officers of the boats and the
| freedom from fear, or. as their critics
| say, even proper caution, which they
show in handling their little vessels.
Some remarkable photographs which
have just been received in America
illustrate this tendency very well.
| They were taken during the maneuvers
| of Prince Henry's fleet and show the
arrow-like vessels steaming in line at
| full speed with such slight intervals
| between the boats that the most tri-
| fling accident to one of them would
result in the almost inevitable destruc-
| ton of the boats astern; for II Is a
safety and destruction when torpedo
boats steam so closely together at such
| speed as these are making.
Germany still believes in torpedo
boats of the very highest speed that
can be produced, but England would
seem to be undertaking her ideas in
that respect. Heretofore the British
| have set thirty knots as the standard
speed for a torpedo boat, but the group
of four new boats recently completed
at Chiswick have a speed Of only TWEEN
ty-five knots. BY requiring less speed
II is thought that so much will not
have TO be sacrificed for lightness of
construction, and the boats therefore
will be stronger and more seaworthy.
Automobiles of the Sen.
With her torpedo boats Germany has
displayed a disposition to take long
chances which has resulted in her los
ing more vessels OF this class in pro-
portion Of her fleet than any other ma
ton. The German naval officers went
| into torpedo boat work with all the
enthusiasm and recklessness that
marks the automobilist with a new,
high speed machine. In fact the Ger
| man torpedo boat commanders may
| not inaptly be called the "automolMpl-
| lists of the sea-" because of the way in
| which they dash about with the long,
lean vessels, and because Of the
chances they take.
The loss of the torpedo boat COM
manded by Duke Frederick William Of
Mecklenburg-Schwe a disaster in
which the Duke himself went down
| with his boat and entire crew, was a
catastrophe that called the attention
of the whole world to the things which
the Germans were attempting with their
torpedo boats. The rank Of the Duke
l. IL
ment as to rivet attention from all
parts of the globe. Since then the tor
pedo boat officers OF the German navy
have been a little more careful, though
they still take risks which officers of
other navies would consider as unnec-
essary and unwarranted. Competent
authorities, however, such, for in
fetal Statesman's Year Book, declare
that while with the German
torpedo boats some absolutely
remarkable evolutions are perform
ed which excite admiration, yet
their value has been questioned"
but adds that the Germans are prob
ably in advance of all other nations
in torpedo work" This lis the testimony
of the highest British naval authority
So II would seem that. even If Ger
many has lost moro torpedo boats in
proportion than any other nation. she
has at least accomplished something to
he proud of in the drilling and disci-
plining Of her officers and crews.
Known by Numbers.
The Germans do not name their tor
pedo boats as most of the other ma
tons of the world do, but give them
numbers and letters instead. So in the
list of Prince HenrY's flotilla. instead
of reading such suggestive names as
Viper" Scorpion" etc, we find that
the fleet of his royal highness consists
of torpedo boats s. LOG. S. 102. 10s. 104.
105, 107, S. 96, 9S. 90, 100 md 101-eleven
boats in all of the newest type. The
fact that the Germans give their tor
pedo boats numbers and letters in place
of names somehow seems to make the
dash with which they handle them all
the more remarkable. 1t would seem
to the ordinary person that II would be
comparatively easys to show a little
dash when In command OF a torpedo
boat named the Adder" or the
Wasp" while to display the came
quality on torpedo boat two and car
ry one" or TX, 10 and half" would
be next to an impossibility. But the
Germans do 1t.
The torpedo boats which COMPRISE
the feet of Prince Henry are built on
the general principle of 1873 feet of
length to IL feet OF beam. Some are
larger and some are smaller, of course,
but that is the general relation Of beam
to breadth in the newer torpedo boats
of the German navy. In the older tor
pedo boats the relation Of beam to
breadth was in the ratio Of 1853 feet OF
length to Is feet of beam. OF a still
older type was the torpedo boat which
foundered at the mouth of the Elbe
some years ago.
Defying the Gales.
Her loss was a most dramatic affair
and caused much discussion at the time
as to the possibility of making a tor
pedo boat thoroughly seaworthy and