"TORPEDO WARFARE."
"The Russian operations on the Danube are now inviting
attention to this destructive arm of the service. We offer some
illustrations of the chief of the present recognized systems.
One of the most formidable of ocean-going torpedo vessels is
the dispatch boat Alarm, designed by Admiral Porter. This
vessel has a length of 172 feet, including the snout or ram,
which projects 32 feet from the stem; her breadth of beam is
27 feet 6 inches, and she draws 11 feet of water, with a displacement
of about 700 tons. She is built of iron, with double sides and
bottom, divided into water-tight compartments. She carries three
cylinders, one at the snout and one on each side. By these cylinders
or hollow spars of iron, which are 18 feet long at the sides
and 32 feet long forward, either of two kinds of torpedoes might
be placed against the hull of the enemy's ship. One is a modification
of the Whitehead or fish torpedo, to be detached and darted off;
the other kind is a fixed spar torpedo, to be held and thrust
forth."
"The Whitehead torpedo is a cigar-shaped steel cylinder
14 feet to 19 feet in length and from 14 inches to 16 inches
in diameter. It is to be sent, requiring no crew, against the
ship to be destroyed; and if one torpedo fails to deal the death-blow,
another and a third can be sent after the enemy without much
trouble or expense. This torpedo consists of three compartments--head,
centre, and tail. The head contains the explosive, say, 360 pounds
of gun-cotton. the central chamber holds the machinery and mechanism
for regulating it, so as to remain at the depth at which the
torpedo is to travel under the water-line; and the third part
holds the supply of compressed air for the engine. The motive
power is supplied by a small engine capable of indicating 40-horse
power, but so compact that it can be made to weigh only 35 pounds.
The working pressure of the air in the tail is usually about
1000 pounds per square inch, and the quantity carried is sufficient
to propel the large torpedo 200 yards at a speed of 25 miles
an hour, or about 1000 yards at a speed of 17 miles."
"Another illustration shows a launch placing ground
torpedoes, or submarine mines. Such defenses are of great use
in protecting a harbor or shipping of inferior force from the
fire of an enemy. This class of torpedo consists of an iron cask,
part of which contains the charge and fuse, and the remainder
is the air space for buoyancy. It is held in position, a few
feet beneath the surface of low water, by a chain, which is secured
to an iron mooring-block. Two or more lines of mines are necessary:
they can be fired by the enemy striking them, or by electricity
at the desired moment when two observers, stationed at points
well situated for getting lines of intersection, note the enemy
exactly over the position of a mine. Each torpedo might contain
250 pounds of gun-cotton. We may suppose 100-feet spaces to exist
between neighboring mines on the same line, and some 500-feet
spaces between each of the lines crosswise, over which series
of two or three independent lines an enemy would have to pass
before entering the harbor. Should the first explosion fail,
the torpedo on No. 2 line will be fired as soon as the vessel
crosses, and finally, if necessary, the torpedo on No. 3 line.
The inside line would usually be supplied with circuit-closers
in addition to the means of firing them on cross bearings and
signal, these circuit-closers being always rendered active when
darkness or thick weather sets in. To ensure the greatest accuracy
in firing the torpedoes by cross bearings, telescopic firing
keys have been designed, so that all that is necessary is for
the observer to watch the approaching vessel through the spy-glass,
and, whenever its movement brings the firing key over one of
the points, the position of a mine, to press it down to close
the break in the circuit."
===================== |