Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 March 1901 — An Aerial Torpedo. [ARTICLE]

An Aerial Torpedo.

An air torpedo of a construction heretofore unknown has been patented by a Swedish Major, Mr. Unge, and the inventor has just received a Government subsidy for making experiments with the new torpedo. ConsulGeneral Guenther has written to the State Department about it as follows: “The motion of this peculiar projectile through the air, according to the patent specifications, is caused exclusively by a force which is developed in the torpedo, little by little, from Ignition of a gas generated from slowly burning material. The pressure of the gas gradually becoming stronger propels the torpedo through an arrangement by which the gas can escape at the bottom. Once in motion, the torpedo therefore Increases its speed in the same degree as the gas pressure is Increased. The charge may consist of any explosive, provided the same is ignited only by shocks or blows. The initial velocity need be but slight, as the torpedo Is impelled by Its own force. Therefore, the discharge from the torpedo gun, constructed for the purpose, occasions no report or recoil and but little pressure, and consequently is not in the least dangerous to those handling the gun. At the trials made so far the torpedoes traveled a distance of 16,000 feet”