The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-05-27
|lAvT TORPEDO TELLS
ITS EXPERIENCES
Won It's Crow Prize For Hitting the
Bulls Eyc-Describes its Con-
duct and Makeup.
(By A. Frcei, Gunncr's Mate, United
States Navy.)

Z Thy A. Frcei, Gunncr's Mate, United
States Navy
Well, Well Well, / am surprised
with all the notoriety that / have
gained ant the destruction that have
caused. that nobody would tell you
what |, am made of and what ] am
capable OF doing:
am twenty-oae feet in length and
twenty one inches IN diameter and or
ciaarily am assembled in three parts
known as the tail and afterhody. the
4 fa<l. and the head Ny tail contains
the machinery which turns the pro-
:. pellers that force me through the
z wyser: tho flask carries my fuel IN
the form OF compressed air that sends
me or nay mission Of destruction
and when | start--woe unto them who
may be in my path, for | am the most
dreaded weapon that ever sailed the
seven seas. cost $4,000 and can run
for ten thousand yards before my
energy is used up. travelling that dis
tarce al the rate of about fifty feet per
second, am & monster made Of
forged nickel steel and weigh 1000
pounds and have turbine engines
which are capable of making l,7so
revolutions per minute. In my head /
carry high explosive called guncot-
ton which explodes upon contact. In
times OF peace when / am pracnced
with. the guncotton is taken out of
my head and water IS substituted TO
compensate for its weight When I
have been fred in practice and have
made my ran and expended all my
energy have lost sufficient weight
to float 10 the surface until | am
picked up. recharged and retired
| will never forget the time that
was fired IN practice off the coast
o. Panama al place called Chiriki
Lagoon. when. instead of completing
my run as usual, left the boat, ran
quite distance and then sank 30
the bottom. The navy gunners IN
board the submarine were having
their seni-annuhl torpedo practice
and the night before. they made all
preparations 10 fire me the next morn
ing They charged mo up with air
and made all adjustments on my ma
chinery and then put me into the tor
peda fahe-r whore spent the night
In the morning, bright and early,
he.ere breakfast. the gunners came
dawn and pulled me out Of my tube,
went over their adjustments OF the
previous day and reeharged my flask
70 It's full capacity as the pressure
ef air had decreased with its cooling
EVER night was then showed hack
into the tube. the door was closed and
locked and there ] was IN total dark
ness Scarcely two hours had passed
when. all OF "A sudden. the front gate
Of the torpedo tube was opened and
the sea rushed in and I was totally
covered with water from the Car
ihbean sea The next thing I knew
was that was shot out OF my resting
place and into the open sea and ] i'm
rnediately went down TO a depth OF
fifteen feet and raced along through
the water at terrific speed for n dis
lance OF about three miles when J.
found that ! had lost all my motive
ROVER and started to come up. After
reaching the surface discovered that
drain plug was missing from my
air flask which permitted the water to
enter 30 rapidly that my hucyancy
was destroyed and 7 sank to the bot
torn before the boats crew from the
submarine had chance to come to
my rescue. and Immediately all prep
arations were made to send diver
down to recover me,
Having struck the bottom head
first | sank several feet into the soft
mud OF the Lagoon. The diver was
lowered TO the bottom about ATTY feet
from where went down and 7 could
see him cautiously advancing. the chr
F=lst being 50 s.tTSsfl r that Ire had great
diffculty in walking and had to bend
over so as TO offer less resistance to
II and every time he would Nft his
foot his sight would he blurred by
the clouds OF mud He finally be-
came tired and gave the signal to
come up. After resting a short while
he descended again TO continue his
search for me and after walking
around for an hour or so he sat down
ON the bottom To get his hearings
When he started out again he headed
directly for me and stopped within
FIVE feet Of me Now ali this time
was coHered- 1llh-aGd- -uisla4n &
that he would find me and bring me
MP and ] would have given anything
to have been able to cry out and let
him know whore was as 7 could
tell from the way he was reconnoiter-
ing that he was making a anal at
tempt for that day TO locate me At
last he received a signal from above
m discontinue the search untn the
next day and there 7 had to lay all
that night The following morning.
bright and early. my friend, the diver.
came looking for mo again He looked
ard looked without success and to-
wards evening went away again and
I thought 7 was doomed TO stay there
Tor the rest Of nay life for this was
the second might I had spent in the
mud. The following morning my at
feotsrD Yves attracted 10 something
dark and bulky being lowered down
10 the bottom. and behold IT was
nv friend. the diver. being lowered
right down or top 81 me He was
surprised himself He saw the hol.
that ] had made and STONED down
and scooned few hsndssui ~ mud
away ard there J was IN fuli sight
before him. could imagine his feel
fnTs upon finding mo after search
nf two '9ys. He sent the good news
nr ahcre 20 his tenders aud II .yaz
no ,iIrc before he had n sla 'e aec
vas sein'S .rf the mud from around
II 50 Is Il ana als fi+t4- sA-,-v- ttrr-r,
to INV body. This was quickly dome
and ! was soon hoisted IN ard placed
= on board the Submarine arain where
the gunners wrnt TO work on ma
wiped nv body off nicely and with
several sheets oe emery cloth re-
moved the coat Of rust that had
FORMED while ] was al the bottom or
the sea. and | was orcn again nut
back in my OLD plaee shining like n
rev silver dollar and ready for
another shot. ] had heo1 LAYING IN
my cradle over night WHOM the next
morning. at the usual e4riV hour
noticed the naval eur1ers RIGGING mn