South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-03-05
BLISTER SAVES
MANY WARSHIPS
Successful Device Invented by
British Proves Great
Life Saver.

LONDON, Feb. 3.-(Correspond-
ence. )-One of the most successful
devices invented by British naval ex-
perts in the war time was known as
a blister" and served to protect
ships against torpedoes. 1t is an
outer steel casing fitted to the sides
of ships. All of its technical details
Of construction have not been re-
vealed, but naval experts assert that
ships equipped with blisters run no
greater risks from undersea attacks
than from surface lighting dangers.
In the war the Germans torpedoed
several blister ships, but in every one
it is asserted, the vessels were able
to reach port and be repaired.
Sir L. II. T. D'Eyncourt, director
of naval construction. invented the
blister, which was first attached to
four old cruisers. Patiently the navy
waited for a test for two years, then,
in June, 1917, the cruiser Grafton
while steaming at 10 knots was
struck by a torpedo fired from
German submarine only 80 yards
distant. The blister. which stuck
out from the cruisers side about l )
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 torpedoed
within a week and but for the pro-
tecting blisters they would have been
sunk. Three torpedoes struck the
Erebus, two hitting the fore part of
the monitor where the blister tapers
off. AS a precaution the Erebus was
beached, but K was afterward found
I that she was less severely damaged
than had been thought and she was
subsequently repaired. No ship ever
before survived three torpedoes
Navy Has "BIiSters.''
The navy now has about 90 blister
ships in commission, including some
of the first battle cruiser squadron.
The new dreadnaughts, Rodney.
Howe and Hood are being fitted also
with blisters.
A self-propelling projectile charged
with 500 pounds Of T. n. T., was
perfected by the naval experts only
a short time before the armistice
was signed. 1t is believed 10 have
strengthened materially the power
and effectiveness of the British fleet.
! The projectile can be discharged
without conclusion from small boats
or a light platform. exploding on the
contact. or when fitted with a special
device, below the water, thus serving
the purpose of a depth charge.
An apparatus for throwing a flame
/ for a distance OF 24O feet( as water
/ is thrown from a hose, was rugged on
| one Of the vessels that took part in
! the raid on Zeebrugge. But before
| it could be used a shell from tho
enemy batteries put il out Of action.
Another invention Is a gun to fire
signals from submerged signals. It
sends a star shell 500 feet TITO the
air
Several kinds of smoke screens
were invented. most OF them for the
purpose OF batting U-boats. a pow
erful fare. equal TO a million candle
power. was another achievement Of
the naval inventors which was used
with great effect against enemy sub
| marines waiting on the surface at
night TO attack merchant ships
These flares. suddenly ignited, turn
ed night into day, and in the Straits
OF Dover alone II U-boats were
caught by their aid and sunk.
The work of developing these in
ventions was carried on by the. royal
naval experiment station near Lon
don. Its staff comprised OF % off,
GERS and 1850 men. all experts either
in research or CONSTITUTIONAL work,
most OF them being chemists or en-
gineers-
II has been estimated that steam