The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-24
Semi Of Greatest Inventions Words Warfare

;orge charge ;of powder and tear a
nole In the ships bottom. sending IT
20 the bottom.
Tho metal tanks were about nvo
seet long. and loaded with gun
! powder. Tho casks. or buoys, wsre
connected by about twenty feet of
rope. The fuses ran from boxes on
sop of the CASKS through Sutta percha
tubes into the powder In tho tanks.
First Vessel Sunk by Gunpowder
Mine.
The first vessel to sink by means OF
submarine mine was the Federal
Tcsscl Cairo. in the Yazoo River, nifty
FEARS ago the 18th of next December.
rho torpedo was the type now known
as a contact mine" and WAS prac-
;ically the same as now used. except
that 1t was mado OF glass.
Captain Isaac n. Brown, In COM
mand OF tho defense OF the river. con-
ceived tho iden, but he HAD no proper
material, He obtained several five
gallon demijohns, which ho loaded
With gunpowder. seventy-hve pounds
TO each mine. Cables were stretched
ACROSS tho river from bank to shore.
Artillery friction primers wero at
tached to the cable and denijohn to
! explode the mines when a vessel
picked up" the cable and pushed 1t
ahead.
Ills plan worked perfectly when the
Cairo came steaming upstream. The
vessels prov picked up the cable and
instantly two dull reports sounded,
one under the bow and another amid :
ships. Within twelve minutes Browns
home made submarine mine had sent
the gunboat to the bottom.
Havoc Caused by Ingenious Devices.
When Farragut ran the forts at
Mobile Bay he found the embryo mod
ern contact mine The Confederates
had lined the channel with these new
devices In the form OF beer barrels,
loaded with powder, which was 70 ex-
plods by contact with tubes of full
inmate. a highly explosive acid. The
other types were large tin cones with
| percussion caps In the top, against
which vessel rubbing would explode
the charge. Farragut's snip. tho
Tecumseh. got out OF the passage
marked with buoys and rubbed against
one of the mines. She careened and
sank within minute.
Torpedoes and submarine mines blew
UP more ships and men during the
Civil War than the loss by all the
naval gun fire. The total number of
ships destroyed by these agents OF
, destruction was twenty-eight. while
hundreds of men were killed.
DcadIIest OF Monsters Now Hus It's
Birthday.
The modern Whitehead torpedo-the
deedliest and most subtle engine OF
modern warfure-is the outgrowth OF
the crude torpedoes of the Civil War,
though the latter were not seIf-pro-
peliing. The Whitehead has almost
human intelligence. While the six
| teen foot steel cigar-shaped monster
is on board 1t is practically harmless,
but instantly on striking the water
from the torpedo tube it's power of
destruction is unlocked automatically
! BY an ingenious contrivance, SO that
by the time 1t reaches the end of
its run, which Is usually u mile at
! the ratio of IS knots an hour, it is
ready for execution.
Its "war-nose" contains about 200
! pounds OF gun cotton, one of the dead
| lest explosives known, and explodes
! instantly Oh contact with the hull OF
| the enemy's vessel. II by chance II
| is DETECTED from Its intended course
| mechanical contrivances bring 1t back
| and IL 1t does not reach it's mark
| which is seldom-then the engine rises
| 10 the surface and calmly floats until
| picked up for another trial. These tor
| pedoes cost the government between
! $4,000 and $4,000 each.
The Civil War torpedo was much
| smaller. and 1t was as dangerous to
| the handler as to the foe. They were
! cigar-shaped. metal bombs fastened
| to the end OF thlrty-foot spar, which
protruded while in action from the bow
! OF launch or small boat When
! not in use the spar could be swung
| back alongside the launch and the
| torpedo left resting at the stern.
| To explode those torpedoes tho
| launch was rowed or propelled by
| steam until 1t lay beneath the hull
| of. the vessel. The "gunner" then
! pulled lanyard which jerked the
trigger" OF the torpedo. The result
! ing explosion was nearly as disastrous
| to the launch as to the ship. and In
nearly every attempt the launch>,was
| swamped The greatest difficulty with
| these launches was that they could not
get within striking distance without
being seen. This Necessity gave birth
| to the submarine ship.
! How Submarine Vessels Cnmc Into
| Existence.
| The modern submarine, or submer-
| siblc. as II Is technically known, is
| still IN the experimental stage. Eff
| forts to perfect such a ship have been
! In progress since the Dutch inventor
! yam Drebbel. began experimenting in
abe seventeenth century. His vessels
were cumbersome, slow and uncertain
| though he did build one which was
made wateriiGht by stretching leath-
er skin over the vessel. King James
]. of England took a trip IN this won
! derful contrivunce.
! David Bushnell during the Revolu-
ses,zA -s,sosey1aH