The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-01
IND CONTROLLED TORPEDO NEWEST NAVAL WEAPON
Terrific Possibilities Of
New Under Sea Pro.
jectile Which May Be
Guided at Will of
Operator in Tower Of
Parent Ship

Parent Ship
Of doing twenty-odd knots and foreign
battle cruisers make thirty knots and
more. On the surface the suhmarin.
can do better, but to expose Itself there
is to give warning OF its approach rx.
cept at nighttime.
Modern strategists believe that n
modified form OF submarine will be- he
ideal craft. Instead OF using torpodop,
Of the usual type the proposal is To- .tn.
ploy "A weapon which will. in fact. be- a
combination Of submarine and torpedo.
only the submarine will he of q cr,wlcss
order.
The moment you get rid of the human
element in a submarine it is puSs,hI.. fn
change greatly its character and also
tn employ propulsive power which can.
not now be utilized. BY excluding all
problems of ventilation, habitabuity.
&C.. a submarine can be made a sort uf
magnfied torpedo and capable Of much
higher speed than Is now attainabe
Instead OF carrying two or three hun
dred pounds of explosive weapon IT
this nature could just as easily br
loaded with a ton of guncotton ,r som"
other more destructive material
The naval architect has done pretty
well In subdividing and honeycu'nh.nr
the under water body of fghtlng ships
50 that the ordinary torpedo cannot sink
"A dreadnought outright. althoueh It
may wound a battleshlp more or less
grievously. But this same expert can
not provide against the subaqurous at
tack of a ton Of explosive unless th.
heavy ship of the battle line is com
pletely remodeled. This is not such q
| simple matter-in fact would completely
rcvolutionizp existing practices and the
arrangements of the powers of attirl,
and defence on the part of the shin.
Either this revolution is coming or .
complete change will take place IN tn.
getup of the so-called capital ships. ~
| least this is so if Mr. Gardners schem"
| be worked ont to its logical climax
What he would do is nothing short ot
building semi-suhmcrgcd battery u'
high speed which would ID, the nutIl..
| base from which he could direct his
| torpedo attack. This vessel could with
stand the heaviest of blows from uu
| enemy's guns and its powers of offrue-
would he principally centred in eN,,l,-
| tionally large torpedoes or small sub
marines-call them what You VIII
Each Of these giant weapons would N'
| a dirigible. and not self-controlled after
| the manner Of the existing autnmohl,
| torpedoes.
To direct these torpedo submarine
| each would h" equipped with the Gard
| ncr inaudiile sound control apparatu,
| and each of thcs. in turn would have it,
own keynote. The observer In tn,
| coming tower would have thos.
| weapons released or launched from Tia.
| nd L..
could guide them upon their journeys ~
will. II would not he ease Of starting
| them upon their crrands and leaving n
hit to chance. hut they would swerv,
and alter their courses To meet tn,
| changing manpuvres Of an enemy'S
| squadron.
| Each torpedo submarine would hav"
chosen for it its own particular target
| Torpedo nets could not keep them away
| from their quarry; by sheer force and
weight they would tear their paths
Hear through. More than this. they
could not be exploded prematurely. hut
would be set off only when the proper
signal reached them from the control
station IL so desired.
During the day all that would he seen
Of the torpedo submarines would he
couple OF thin metal rods reaching abov"
the waters surface and adorned with
little guide flags. and at night these sig.
nal masts would be tipped with lights.
screened SO that they would show only
toward the parent craft. In this way
| each weapon could he traced upon it's
course and there would he no confusion.
| each answering only to its special note
and going steadily after it's particular
| objective.
Even though these telltale rods should
be seen by the enemy this would not
help him. because the body Of the tor
pedo submarine would be submerged
deep enough to be beyond the reach IL
gun fire while capable Of advauCing
faster than the foe could retreat Tru".
II these rods were destroyed by shot or
shell II would handicap directing IN"
weapons: hut think of the brief interval
and the nervous strain upon the MARKS
man trying to hit targets Of this sort
rushing toward him at n rate of poss ,h'y
forty miles an hour. 1t would be n
small chance upon which to pin one
hope of escaping possible annihilat.uu
sea wolf with a brood Of evil ben
whelps of this sort is something tha'
the mightiest Of modern dreadnuuchr-
could not resist.
Undoubtedly John Gardeners nciGr
DOTS nave now more reason IMAM t'''
To dub him the Wizard of Knott End
What he thus adds to the potential ter
ror of war paradoXically makes hin
deserving of more compliment
title, because he is probably making q,
. tual strife Just so much less likrN On
this way dreadnoughts may become
back numbers. The more destrlu .N,
: war becomes the less apt are nations g.
go to battle