The New York herald., 1921-07-17
TRACKLESS TORPEDO
THREATENS NAVIES
Driven by Electricity,
Avoiding Bubbles That Be-
trayed Air Power Missiles.
JAPS BUILD A MODEL
Jutland Battles Outcome
Different Had German
Device Been Ready.
REyISES NAVAL TACTICS
First Warning Is Explosion
When Vessel Is Hit by
Undersea Menace.
REVISES NAVAL TACTICS

Undersea Menace.
Special Cable to THE NEW YORK HERALD.
Copyright, 1891, by THE New YORK HERALD
New York Herald Bureau,
| London, July 10.
An invention which will seriously
complicate naval warfare programmes
Is being developed by more than one
sea power, including the Japanese. 1t
Is the trackless torpedo. 1t is torpedo
shooting to its mark without leaving
q telltale wake on the surface, such
as is caused by the air bubbles set up
by the swift passage of the ordinary
torpedo through the water
The buboling wake often enabled
ships being attacked to- avoid the
deadly blow by prompt alteration of
their courses. To realize what the
invention means one has only TO study
the reports of naval actions during
the war and to read again the stories
of those under torpedo fire. Nearly all
of them mentioned the white track of
the torpedo"
At the battle of Jutland perhaps a
dozen of Admiral Jellicoe's ships were
able to save themselves from torpedoes
by a timely touch of the helm as soon
as the streak of bubbles betrayed the
approach and direction of the torpedo.
The same thing occurred before that at
the battle of Dogger Bank when ADJ
miral Beatty's flagship, Lion, avoided
torpedoes by changing its course.
The Germans claim to have fred dur
iv1er thn II
boats, with so per cent hits, and If they
had used trackless torpedoes. the per-
centage would have been 80 per cent
| hits at least.
JelIicoe Tells Experiences.
Admiral Jellicoe in his book says
when the experience of Jutland showed
that under favorable weather conditions
the track of German torpedoes was Wis
| ible for some distance, great care was
taken to avoid all mention of this in
dispatches, so that future use could be
| made of the fact"
But the Germans knew this handicap
and had already devised a type of tor
pedo which would run under the surface
without leaving a discernible track. and
this was in the experimental stage at
| the time of the armistice.
The naval expert for THE New York
HERALD is able to give to the public the
first details of this weapon and its de-
velopment. The trackless torpedo is pro-
PEELED by electricity and not compressed
air, and therein lies the secret With
the old torpedo the air was exhausted
through the propeller shaft and rose to
the surface in large bubbles, which made
a track. With electric propulsion there
Is no exhaust and consequently no con-
spicuous track.
The Germans tried out late in 1918
a torpedo Of 20.18 inches diameter which
would travel at a speed of twenty-eight
knots. with a range of 1000 yards. This
is considerably under the range of the
air driven models, but is sufficient to do
| the work in most cases. Special storage
batteries were manufactured by the Ac-
cumulator Fabrik of Berlin and a special
type of light, high speed motor was de-
signed by the -Halske firm.
Trial Trips Prove Successful.
The trials were very successful The
| torpedo ran straight and true without a
perceptible track, the first notice of the
approach being given by the explosion as
It hit it's target.
The early model was regarded as a
beginning, and the Germans were work
| ing on one of 20 inches diameter with
a range of 10000 yards, which they fig
ured would increase the efficiency OF the
| U-boats fifty per cent
| The secret was well kept, but members
of the Allied Naval Missions scented it
out Previously, however. tracRless tor
pedoes had been designed by France and
England. but not built The japanese
are now known to be giving much atten-
ton to this subject and are reported to
have produced at the Kure arsenal cleo
| tric torpedoes with a speed OF thirty
knots and a range of 5000 yards
Experts say that the new torpedoes
will exert an influence upon naval tac-
tics quite as much as upon torpedOes
themselves. A British flag officer who
fought at Jutland. speaking TO THE New
YORK HERALD correspondent, said:
THE trackless torpedo isn't a novelty
! in the sense that II was unforeseen or
unexpected. We have always known Il
to be inestimable in value, but happily
for us the Germans were late with It,
Had they used such torpedoes early in
the war our naval and mercantile losses
might have been doubled, and we GER
tainly would have lost more ships at Jut-
land"
Among the American ships attacked
and saved by the wake of torpedoes were
the Florida and the Delaware in Febru-
airy. 1918, and the Arkansas July 2s,
1918. In each Of these cases the tor
pedoes were seen approaching and were
avoided.