Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1887 — GEN. BERDAN’S TORPEDO. [ARTICLE]

GEN. BERDAN’S TORPEDO.

Designed Especially for the Attack of Vessels Protected by the Steel Net. [New York dispatch.) The Berdan torpedo, a working model of which was shown before the JJnited States Naval Torpedo Board at the Navy Yard Friday, is designed especially for the attack of vessels protected by the steel net, though equally effective in the absence of a net. The individual expression of the members of the Board was that of favor and admiration for the device, but this was not formulated by the Board, as it must await an authorization to accept the terms under which Gen. Berdan will let it go to the Government for trial. There is no doubt that an agreement will be reached, and the trial made this summer. Out of twenty-five torpedoes offered to the consideration of *the Board, twentythree were deemed to be unworthy of being ordered to trial. The one selected besides Gen. Berdan’s was the Howell, a self-di-recting torpedo, against which the net is a sufficient protection. Gen. Berdan has contracts with the Governments of England, France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Italy, and Spain for the use of this invention. In England it is known as the “Yankee trick.” The torpedo is described as a diving torpedo, with a snubbing line. It can be rigged on vessels of any size, and has the advantage of being capable of working effectually in heavy seas and rough weather when a self-steering torpedo would be as helpless as a chip on the waves. The boats are intended to be swift, handy craft, and to be used in connection with mother ships to carry coal and supplies. A heavy ram bow, plated to protect the men and machinery, is a feature of the boats, the slanting surfaces requiring only light plating for this purpose. The torpedoes may be fired automatically or by mechanical or electric devices controlled from within the boat.