The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1919-03-19
lNVENTIONS0F
BRITISH WHICH
HELPED TO WIN

LONDON, Feb. 3 Correspondence
Of the Associated Press) One of the
most successful devices invented by
British naval experts in the wartime
was known as blister" and served
to protect ships against torpedoes. 1t
is an outer steel casing fitted to the
sides of the ships. All of it's technical
details Of construction have not been
revealed, but naval experts assert that
ships equipped with "blisters" run no
greater risk from undersea attacks
than from surface fighting dangers.
In the war the Germans torpedoed sew
eral "blister" ships, but in every case,
1t is asserted; the vessels were able
to reach port and be repaired.
Sir e. H. T. d'Eyncourt, director of
naval construction, invented the Bills
ter, which was first attached to four
old cruisers. Patiently the navy wait
ed for test for two years, and then,
In June, 1917, the cruiser Grafton,
while steaming at ten knots, was
struck amidships by torpedo fired
from German submarine only thirty
yards distant. The blister, which
stuck out from the cruisers side about
fifteen feet, exploded the torpedo, and
the Grafton steamed back to port with
only a slight list
improvements were made on the
blisters and they were fitted to the
sister monitors Erebus and Terror.
Both these vessels, mounting 15-inch
guns, bombarded the Belgian coast
for months. Both were torDedoed
within a week, and but for the pro-
tecting blisters they would have been
sunk, Three torpedoes struck the Ere
bus, two, hitting the fore part of the
monitor where the blister tapers off.
AS a precaution the Erebus was
beached, but it was aftcrward found
that she was less severely damaged
than had been thought, and she was
subsequently repaired No ship ever
before survived three torpedoes.
The navy now has about fifty bis
ter ships in commission, including
some Of the first battle cruiser s;uad-
ron. The new dreadnaughts Rodney.
Howe and Hood are being fitted also
with blisters.
!. A self-propelling projectile charged
with 500 pounds of INT was perfected
by the naval experts only short time
before the armistice was signed. It
Is believed to have strengthened ma
terially the power and effectiveness of
the British fleet. The projectile can
be discharged without conclusion
from small boats or light platform,
exploding on the contact, or when fit
ted with special device, below water,
thus serving the purpose of a depth
charge.
An apparatus for throwing a flame
for distance of $40 feet, as water is
thrown from hose, was rugged on
one of the vessels that took part in
the raid on Zeebrugge. But before it
could be used shell from the enemy
batteries put it out Of action.
Another invention is a gun to fire
signals from submerged submarines.
1t sends star shell 300 feet into the
air.
Several kinds of smoke screens were
Invented, most Of them for the pur-
pose Of battling the U-boats. A power
full flare equal to a million candle
power was an achievement Of the ma
val inventors which was used with
great effect against enemy subma-
rines waiting on the surface at night
to attack merchant ships. These flares,
suddenly ignited, turned night into
day, and in the Strait of Dover alone
seventeen U-boats were caught by
their aid and sunk.
The work of developing these in
ventions was carried on by the Royal
naval experimental station, near Lon
don. The staff comprised twenty-five
officers and 1850 men, all experts
either in research or CONSTITUTIONAL
work, most of them being chemists or
engineers.