Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1893 — POWER OF TORPEDOES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POWER OF TORPEDOES.

WHAT MODERN SHIPS OF WAR HAVE TO DREAD. Wlien the First Device of This Nature Appeared—How It Has Grown In Abl llty to Destroy—The Variety Adopted by the United States Government. A Formidable Assailant. During our war of independence, says a New York correspondent, David Bushnell, the father of American 1 Submarine warfare, threatened the British war vessels in New York harbor with torpedoes oarried in a turtle-shaped boat that glided to the Attack beneath the surface of the water.

But the first authentic record of the practical efficiency of torpedoes as a recognized means of attack arid defense is found in the river add harbor operations during our late civil war, when thirty-seven vessels

were either sunk or seriously damaged by the explosion of heavy gunpowder mines submerged in the approaches to Southern cities. Submarine torpedo boats harassed the fleet blockading Charleston; while the gallant

Cushing leaped a small steam launch over a barrier of floating logs and suttk the formidable ironclad Albemarle by the explosion of an iron pot full of powder lashed to the end of a spar. Since that time, stimulated both by the rapid advance in electrical engineering and by the study of high explosives, the development of the tofcpedb, thine; has been rapidiJy pushed forward both in this country andin Europe. Bh Bbdrd of Engineers for EbHfflcations teas instructed to ex- 1 “ pewmenUUy study, the general subject of torpedo defense and to prepare detailed plans of applying the approved methods to the several important harbors of the United States. Ctißiri|M|i sriverg apd anchorages were and elaborate projectsfor their defense were submitted, cbtnpVising plans'for bomb-proof electric stations, tjUnnal§ to protect the protect the insulated wires, and maps showing the number and proposed location of the mines. And as , the. hanging or high explosives held ih leaSh hy the electric current allows no margin for ignorance, carelessness or neglect the establishment of a school of defensive submarine mining was recommended, where engineer soldiers could receive a thorough training in this special service. 1 The magnitude of the work outlined can only be appreciated by those who were associated with Gen. Henry L. Abbot ln the development of a practical working system from meager data and an absolute lack of material. ‘ At that time reliable insulated cabie was not manufactured in the Halted States, and the electrical apjpratos bad for some years to be pur'aWMTtn Euro pie; special plants! bad to be established for the fabrication of the steel cases and connection!. As the work advanced it was

found that ce&ain general conditions must be fulfilled. » The torpedo cases should be light, easily handled, and sufficiently buoyant to support the charge, mooring rope, and electric cable in a sensibly vertical position against the depressing effects of swift currents, or the torpedoes will sink below the touch of passing vessels; and the mechanical arrangements should be capable of resisting the shock from the explosion of neighboring mines. The adopted spherical case meets all these requirements, and with anchor, wire mooring rope, electric cable and connections constitutes a complete mine ready for action. From bomb-proof operating casemates seven-colored cables will be laid to junction boxes placed at selected points in the channel. Thence the copper cores will diverge into cables radiating toward the advance, and terminating in three mines, so connected that each will explode singly if struck, while all three can be exploded simultaneously at will. To fill the gaps between the lines, to

menace the enemy far in advance of the main defenses, and to compel him to extend countermining operations over a wide area, lines of skirmish or single-cable mines will cut the waters well to the front. In shallow channels or anchorages on the coast line available for occupation in conducting a distant bombardment large and carefully located ground mines so charged and electrically controlled that their removal by sweeping or grappling would prove both difficult and dangerous will reenforce the mortar batteries in a very effective manner. The primary defense of the mines rests with the guns of the batteries commanding the channels, where the main lines will he so arranged as to be swept throughout their length by a flanking fire. The machine and rapid-firing guns, when we have them, will play an important part in such operations. But, should war be declared to-morrow, our old-fashioned eight and ten-inch smoothbores would prove very effective against torpedo boats and launches attempting to work mischief under cover of night or a fog. Charged with grape and canister, trained by day-light, and placed in circuit with the electric system through electric primers and insulated wires extended to the operating station, any effort to raise a mine or cut a cable will at once automatically draw a volley that would disable or greatly harass the boats.

In the absence of high-power guns an ironclad will move steadily forward'and attempt by countermining to open a safe passage for a beleaugering fleet, and here the adopted SimsEdison electric flsh torpedo would prove a valuable auxiliary to the de-

sense. The range of this aggressive torpedo Is over two miles, while its speed exceeds eighteen miles an hour. It is steered, propelled, and exploded by means of a Cohthbllabls electric current, and carries a-charge capable of disabling the most formidable ironclad. The complete torpedo consists of

two distinct parts, the float and tha hull. The formdr is filled with an unsubmergible material and is practically indifferent to the bullets of rapid-firing guns; the latter, a cigarshaped hull sheltered from fire under seven feet of water, carries in the bow section the explosive, In another an insulated cable, which pays out without strain as the torpedo proceeds, and in the stern section the electro-motor that revolves the propeller and a powerful relay that actuates the steering gear. The electric current, produced by a dynamo on shore, and conveyed to the torpedo through the cable, is under control of the operator through the keyboard switches by which he can at will start, stop, steer to port or starboard, or explode the charge. Movable torpedoes of this type will prove formidable assailants to the enemy’s vessels moving cautiously in obstructed channels, and will re-en-force the fire of the mortars. Ignorance of the nature and object of torpedoes -has led the' public to believe that harbors can, in an emergency, be protected by this branch of the defense alone. Heavy batteries and submarine mines are but correlative terms of a good defense. The function of the latter is to so obstruct the channels that the enemy’s vessels shall be held under fire of the former. But at least it can be said that we have ready for duty a perfected defensive torpedo system, supplemented with a skilled corps of submarine miners and electricians.

OPERATING THE TORPEDO FROM SHORE.

HARBOR DEFENDED BY SUBMARINE MINES, FLANKING GUNS. AND MORTAR BATTERIES.

SIMS-EDISON FISH TORPEDO IN MOTION, NINETEEN MILES AN HOUR.

TORPEDO AT ANCHOR.