El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-05
o.Iiber. will carry $50 pounds of gun
coIIon. n,ornedn n1ore Effective.

ca1iber will carry $50 pounds OF gun
colII aer,aI Torpedo More Effective.
.aTba submarine torpedo, in order to
inf1ict anv damage, must acIuatly ~ ~
the target. 1t IS NOT So tn ~ Ruci--
an II 8 A. in his book, submarine
Mines and Torpedoes,' draws from GER
tain exact data the conclusion LuaL q
pressure Of 1900 pounds 20 Ihe ~ fa+.I
inch (due to explosion WttILg, AZ
iDi,r,, to the strongest battIeShlp' -
-y,S-iIo +bfe to be correct an aeIlaI
fornedo containing only 500 pounoss, OF
eI,rPfCo+toT bursting. in the water WlLhln
Sc feet ~ a battleship would destLOy
~ 1sIf n ton of high explosive az
distance of IS feet would haVe the s''iiie
effect: or ono ton at 100 leSI'
"Sunnose however THAI the target
was MD A single aerial TORPEDO car =
ryinC half a ton Of guneottoh WOui ~
mt a battleship out OF acIon' even II
ii did not sink her. II II iahq w. oil
a gun-turret, the latter Woulu De 80 T9
rooIished. the guns would De ulsdOIeu'
a-,d ali the eunners killed-to say no
thing of the Incidental wreck IN the
ssTbe action Of high explosives IS IN
some way curious. nus CiI CoI1t5s5Ifi5i
the near neighborhood OF a po"eLL "a
dvnamire blast sometimes lose their
windows. which are blown not IN" al u
but outward. It happens so because
a vacuum is created. High explosives
operate downward as well as uP"Si u :
If an aerial torpedo OF the kllo i
describe were to burst on or near the
deck or any part of the superstr uctu .
Of a battleship, its downward actloh
would not only disrupt the deck, Dg ~ =
exerting a tremendous pressure IN I,. NY
interior Of the vessel, II Woulu 4I'si
ally tear her asunder.
"a rnTneQ0
| that it shall carry a maximum OF 4As !,
! explosive with a minimum weight OF
/ container Cor SHIELD, and that az lhe
| same time the shell shall be stronB
enough TO Withstand the shock OF as
| charge from the gun. The MAXIM
nr0iectfle Of this kind is made in two
/ sections, front and rear, the latter nav
. ing somewhat thinner walls, so as %
] telescope with the front part AhS
! two sections (after loading) are forced
/ together in such way as 10 ND ~
! a tight Joint and the joining Is covered
/ by a copper ring which serves TO sea-
1t Theoretically.
THE load consists OF a mass o.
! wet guncotton highly compresseG II
| a. mold. and which exactly fits th'
| space provided for the burstlht
charge. This space, however, ~ y
/ slightly more than filled so Jnal
/ when the two sections of the projectil'
/ are pressed together lengthwlse,
| maximum of density is obtained for thu
! contents. The latter are by this meani
! reduced to a solid block, which re-
J inforces the walls OF the she'll rem
! dering it possible to make the stee
/ container thinner than would other
| wise be practicable.
Problem Long Studied
! 1.-THE problem of throwing high ex
! plosives from guns with safety is on
/ that has engaged an immense amour
| Of attention at the hands of experts
| In the case of the aerial torpedo. Their
| must be no possibility that the guncot
/ ton will go off prematurely. Further
/ more, the projectile itself must b
| strong enough to withstand disruption
/ by the shock of discharge.
! at is necessary, for the purpose, Z
! select an explosive which shall not b
| too sensitive Guncotton answers ad
mirably to this requirement Whe
| properly handled, accidents with il ar
| almost impossible. In fact. it can b
set off only by the explosion of
powerful decorating charge in direc
contact with it. The Maxim aeria
torpedo is fired by a decorating ca
which ignites a fuse-this cOntrivanc
being the joint invention of myself an
] the late Capt. Philip Alger, of tn