Evening star., 1940-05-12
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star
Arrival Of the
Cushing

ATTlNol or tne IN 1ne star OF May >,
Cushino 1890. telling of the ar
rival at the Navy Yard
in Washington Of the first torpedo boat
built for the American Navy:
"A long, low, narrow little boat, paint
ed dirty gray with two fiat smoke
stacks and a couple of warty looking
turrets protruding from her long back,
lies tied to her wharf at the Navy Yard,
the center Of admiration and comment
The little vessel is the new torpedo boat
Cushing, recently built by Herreschoh,
the blind inventor, for the United States
Navy, and she arrived at the yard last
evening after a 28-hour run from New
York in heavy sea-. This vessel is
probably one of the swiftest ever put
into the water, her record last week Of
running from Newport to New York In
hours and 81 minutes, being the best
on record by seven minutes.
"A Star reporter visited the wharf
this morning shortly after 10 O'Clock
and found everything in hustle, ship
cleaning. 1t. Herbert Winslow, the
commander of the brisk little vessel, had
gone to the Navy Department to report
his arrival and Ensign William Truxtun,
the executive, was in charge. He said
that he was sorry, awfully sorry, but he
could not take the reporter over the
boat, for everything was in such con-
fusion below that it would be extremely
disagreeable to 60 aboard.
"'We passed under the Brooklyn
Bridge Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock
precisely said Ensign Truxtun, headed
for sea and when we struck the outside
weather we found it very rough. The
seas were quite high and we were almost
completely covered with spray. Our
speed averaged over Is knots and some
times we ran as high as II knots an
hour
"The Cushing is a torpedo boat OF the
first class, about 1875 feet In length and
10-foot beam. She carries two Thonny-
croft boilers. fore and aft, with an engine
room in the middle and can make, on
spurts of an hour or more, about %
knots an hour. At present she has no
armament whatever, but when complet-
ed by the Government she will be pro-
vided with two torpedo tubes amidships
and one in the bow. The Ordnance De-
partment is now waiting, before putting
in the tubes, to find out
Torpedo whether or not the
Experiment Howell automobile tor
pedo Is success. It Is
now being tried by board and If found
to come up to the claims of the inventor.
will be used on the Cushing. A number
OF rapid-fire guns will be mounted on
the deck 'en eschelon' and this will COM
plete the biting powers of the boat. She Is
designed to run up on an enemy under
cover Of a heavy fire from her own
fleet, to surprise the antagonist II pos
sible and shoot out torpedo before she
is discovered. II shot should strike
her, good-by! Her sides are covered
with quarter-inch steel, which Is the
heaviest material used on her and the
only protection she has from an enemys
fire comes from her coal bunkers on each
side, extending from one boiler to the
other. She carries about 80 tons Of coal.
Near her sharp PROV, on the highest
part Of her curved deck, is pilot house
or coming tower Of iron, round, with
sides slanting slightly and turtleback
roof that screws up and down, thus al
lowing ventilating space Of several
inches all around. Glass ports are flxed
In the sides for sighting. From this
tower the vessel Is run and fought, her
steering apparatus being controlled by
steam worked by hand gear In the
tower. Here is also the firing gear Of
the torpedo tube, which comes up from
near the waterline to within foot or
two of the tower. Abaft the smoke
stacks Is . second tower, to be used In
case the forward one Is shot away. and
here Is hand-steering appartus.
'The vessel Is very low and sharp and
cuts long waves very easily. She rolls
slightly. but not unpleasantly. recover
ing herself without . jerk. She Is ex-
tremely steady IN seaway, her dispro-
poettonats length keeping hsr from