IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKET TORPEDOS, AND IN THE APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING THE FLIGHT OF THE SAME UNDER WATER
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th January
1863.-A communication from abroad by Rufus Waples and Pascal
Plant, both of the City of Washington, in the District of Columbia, in the
United States of America.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and, of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKET TORPEDOS, AND IN THE APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING THE
FLIGHT OF THE SAME UNDER WATER," a communication from abroad by Rufus
Waples and Pascal Plant, both of the City of Washington, in the District of
Columbia, in the United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
rocket torpedos and to improvements in the apparatus employed in directing
their flight under water.
According to this Invention it is proposed to apply hinged guiding or
steering wings to the rear end of the torpedo, which will open out or expand
by the action of the gases issuing from the rear end of the torpedo, and so
be brought to act upon the resisting body of water in place of being fixed and
situate in the line of the issuing gases where the resistance required for
effecting the steerage is, really speaking, nil, by reason of the gases displacing
the water at that part. Springs may be substituted for hinges in attaching

page_text: the wings if preferred. The rear part of the torpedo, the case of which
is of metal is filled with "rocket composition" whilst the front chamber
is charged with gunpowder or other explosive material. This charge is
exploded either by the burning out of the "rocket composition
of any convenient percussion fuse arrangement which will ensure the firing of
the explosive charge the instant the torpedo strikes a resisting object. The
means employed for directing the flight of these or other rocket torpedos
consist of a tube passing through the side of a vessel or fort and dipping down
into the water some distance below the surface. This tube is passed through
a ball and socket or other form of universal joint contained in the side of the
vessel or fort, and is provided with suitable blocks and tackle for drawing it in
or out of the joint or for adjusting its angle either vertically or horizontally.
The lower or submerged end of the tube is bent so as to be nearly horizontal,
and this portion is left open on the upper side. The tube may be either an
ordinary tube or provided with three or more longitudinal strips or bars of
metal inside to form tho guides for the torpedo, which is introduced through a
closing cap or cover at the upper end inside the vessel or fort. These bars
alone need be continued below the water line in lieu of carrying the tube itself
below that point. When the tube is continued below the water line, air holes
should be made therein below the surface to allow of free escape of the gases
and displaced water therefrom. The tube is sighted by means of a pendulum
sight fitted to the upper end of the same whereby its vertical angle is indi-
cated and the depth of immersion of its lower end shown upon a divided or
graduated plate. The sole propelling power is the rocket composition, which
is fired by means of a fuse when the torpedo has been inserted into the breech
end of the tube.