Year: 1877

TORPEDOES AND IRON. CLADS,


The London Times, referring
editorially to a lecture delivered in
that city on the recent develop
ments Of torpedoes, says: "The
question at issueis neither more nor
less than whether our whole system
OF naval warfare, and perhaps of
naval architecture, will not have to
be changed, and whether our mag
nificent iron-clad fleet is not liable
to be paralyzed by means Of little
machines which almost any govern
ment could afford to construct.
Our present system of naval war
fare rests on the supposition, handed
down from the days of the old
three-deckers, that the most power
full vessel is the one which carries
the greatest weight of metal, and,
accordingly, we have taxed the skill
of our naval architects to build. at
any cost, vessels of immense size,
each carrying several of the largest
guns constructed. There is, as we
have more than once observed, very
great reason to doubt whether this
plan is wise one, even assuming
that the naval battles of the future
will be simply contests between
guns. We have had it proved with
in the last few days, by one of those
incidents which real war alone can
furnish, that a single shell, if it
strikes an iron-clad in weak place,
may be sufficient to send it instan.
taneously to the bottom, and it is
obvious to ask whether it is pru
dent to concentrate on board a YES
sci liable to this kind of accident
so vast an amount of fighting
strength, alike in guns, in men and
in money. 1t appears possible to
mount these heavy guns, one by
one, on little vessels, upon which
they would be equally effective, but
which would be far more difficult
to hit, and OF which the loss would
be of comparatively insignificant
Importance. 1t is the old story of
putting our eggs into one basket,
and that basket very frail one.


"These considerations, as we have
sand, would arise even if we had
solely to deal with the fire of mod
ern guns. But they are vastly en-
HANGED by the invention of these
torpedo vessels of which we have
lately heard, and Of which Mr..
Donaldson gave full account. The
invention has passed beyond the
stage of experiment, for vessels of
the kind have been constructed for
several foreign governments, and
one has been built for our own.
These little vessels are described as
little more than the length of a
racing "eight," and from seven to
ten feet in beam. They are made
entirely of steel, and are provided
with engines which give them a
speed varying from fifteen to nearly
twenty knots an hour. They can,
therefore, overtake almost any war
ship adoat. They are armed with
one of two classes of torpedoes,
either the out-rigger torpedo or the
Whitehead fish torpedo. The for
mer is carried projecting from the
bows, and explodes on being
brought into contact with the YES.
sci attacked, the little ship itself
escaping any damage frcm the shock
of the explosion. A little steel
boat, therefore, armed with this
kind of torpedo, is a ram Of the
most powerful and most manage
able kind. 1t can hardly miss Its
mark, and if it strikes its onset is
fatal. But such a boat carrying
the Whitehead torpedo is, perhaps,
still more formidable. This, as its
name implies, is like fish, with its
motive power in its tail and body
and its explosive force in its head.
Like u fish, when its machinery is
set in motion, which is done by
compressed air, it can swim through
the water at any depth and in any
prescribed direction, and it can
carry the largest torpedoes 220
yards at "a knots an hour, or
1000 yards at 16 knots. Such,
it is said, is the skill now
/ lT