River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-07-01
naval TORPEDOES
Mechanism of These Fearful Sub
marine Missiles.
DEATH IN THEIR WAR HEADS

Where the Great Charge OF Guncot-
ton Is Carried and How IL Is Ex-
pIoded-Speed With Which These
Tubes of Terror Are Propelled.
There is a missile about seventeen
feet long, cylindrical in shape and
eighteen inches in diameter, that con-
tains within the small space of its
head the power to destroy thousands
of lives and sink the greatest of ships.
That missile is the torpedo. Such is
the weapon Of the submarine
In times Of peace, its exercise head
filled with water, the torpedo is harm
less enough. But in the tube Of sub
marine, ready for action, its bronze
war head containing about 200 pounds
of guncotton, it becomes the most fear
ed and most destructive weapon in ma
val warfare
In Europe the Whitehead torpedo is
almost universally used. Invented by
an Austrian, Britain quickly adopted
it for her own and the largest factory
is now at Weymouth, England
extensive user of the Whitehead tor
pedo, obtaining the right to manu-
facture it at the torpedo station in
Newport. r. l., We are, however,
abandoning the manufacture Of the
Whitehead in favor Of the Bliss
Leavitt, an American torpedo which is
rapidly developing into the best torpedo
in the world.
So that you may appreciate the mer-
it's Of each and understand the various
functions Of these tOrpedoes, ! Will
briefly describe them.
Torpedoes are divided into three prin-
cipal parts, the head, the air flask and
the afterbody. The war head is made
of bronze and carries charge Of about
200 pounds Of guncOtton. There is fit
ted into the war head q small mechan-
ism called the war nose. the function
of which is to fire the guncotton charge
when the torpedo strikes the object
The war nose has generally three or
four arms, which aid the torpedo In
cutting through nets or fire the charge
in case the torpedo should strike
glancing blow. In times Of peace steel
exercise heads are carried for the pur-
pose of practice and. as they are filled
with water, are entirely harmless.
The head is fitted by screws to the
air flask, a hollow cylindrical tube
about eleven feet long and used for
storing compressed air, the motive
power of the torpedo. Every ship and
n VVio
pressing air, but submarines usually
have their TASKS charged alongside a
parent ship or at base.
The TASKS are charged to about 2, 100
pounds pressure per square inch, and
this is reduced by q valve to an engine
working pressure of about 300 pounds.
depending, of course, upon the speed.
In order to get the greatest possible
range with the limited supply Of COM
pressed air, the air after being reduced
to a given pressure is superheated to
give greater expansion and consequent
ly greater speed.
The afterbOdy of a torpedo contains
the working notwithstanding gy
roscopic steering apparatus and the at
ders. All these are Of very delicate
adjustment, and in order to have eff
cient torpedo men the navy department
maintains a school at the torpedo sta
ton in Narragansett bay.
Torpedoes can be adjusted before
I firing to run any desired number Of
yards from 100 to 1900, and in our lat
est Bliss-Leavitt torpedoes q range of
10000 yards has been attained The
speed of the torpedo depends on the
distance it is to run. The Whitehead
.orpedo runs 81 knots per hour for
5000 yards and 40 knots per hour for
the 1000 yard setting Our submarines
are being supplied with q BlissLeavitt
torpedo capable Of running 1000 yards
at about So knots an hour.
The torpedo can also be adjusted pre-
vious to firing to run at any desired
depth beneath the surface of the wa
ter. The armor belt of most battle
ships extends about six or eight feet
below the water line, and the torpedOes
are generally adjusted to run at a
depth which would strike the enemy
ship just below the armor belt
Before torpedo is placed completely
in its tube all adjustments are made so
that it will run as desired. The torpedo
is expelled from the tube by COM
pressed air, and as 1t passes out a
starting lever is thrown back, which
allows the compressed air within the
air flask to pass through the valves, re-
| ducing it to the engine working pres
sure and then to the engines.
The torpedo now takes full control
of itself and runs at the desired depth.
speed and distance to the target
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