Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 428, 21 July 1904, Page 2

Sketcher.

THETORPBDO IN WARFARE, fT is interesting to learn, ia view of the undoubted success of those of the Japanese, that torpedoes, as weapons of war, though known and proved to be almost irresistible, were for long practically disregarded. They are divided into classes. In the first comes the mine torpedo. In the second the torpedo which is propelled by means of internal mechanism towards the object sought to be destroyed. Both these different kinds were first used during the American war o? secession, and by their aid no fewer than; 84 vessels were blown up, in six caser,,' Ms result being obtained by loaded specimens projecting on the end of a spur from the attacking vessels. To only a very few people, however, were the benefits thus procured for the users of such apparatus genuinely instructive, They at once set their wits to work to find some method by which to improve on the crudities of the originals. In 1864 an officer in the Austrian navy, hit upon what may be regarded as the mother of the present Whitehead torpedo. His, idea, incomplete and .unworkable, was. elaborated by the English manager of an engine manufacturing company in Finme, to whom he showed it;-and now the town on the Adriatic owes its prosperity for the most part to the great factory there founded. The progress of this type of torpedo, which is admittedly the most perfect, to its present state of complete. aoßs has, however, been very gradual. The first constructed was 14. incheß in diameter and 16 inches at the fiaa. It weighed 300 lb, carried an explosive charge of 18 lb of dynamite, and was driven by compressed air at a pressure of 700 lb to the square inch. Running under favorable circumstances its speed was six knots, and that only fcr short distances. The great difficulty experienced was in making it maintain a uniform depth below, the surface, for at one time it would go Bkimming along the surface of the water, and at another dive deep below the waves. Meanwhile Mr Whitehead solved the problem of the uniformity of depth by placing in his machine a "balance chamber,' the secret of which was guarded ! with the utmost care. It was impossible, however, to keep the working of so important a discovery long from the knowledge of other nations, and a few years ago the Austrian Government impressed upon the mechanician the futility of further efforts against the designs of the inquisitive.- They being unable to buy the contrivance outright, its designer entered into negotiations with other powers, and by the British the right of manufacture was purchased aftes numerous trials had been made. To-day, from six knots the speed of the torpedo has been increased to 81 over a distance of about three-quarters of a mile, while at the same time wonderful accuracy of aim has been secured. It is needless to go into detail of the changes the adoption of this means of destruction has wrought in the navies of the world, Suffice it to say that there are now few war vessels unprovided with tubes from which, either by compressed air, or explosives, to launch the terrible torpedo at their foes, Special classes of vessels have been brought into being for its use, and, like the balancing in the weapon itself, as one lot has been proved deadly, another lot has been cheated capable of putting them out of action. With the torpedo boat at present it is, however, most interesting to deal. These being unable long to keep to sea, must work near friendly harbors, and in the darkness are most dangerous. As a rule they hunt in pairs, and' in praatice' it is nerve shaking to come through the murk of night and find them close under the big ship's bows. Racing ahead of the ironclad is the game, and then lying 'doggo' until she comes to meet her doom. Or it may be that the young commanders, finding themselves trapped by a speedier and more heavily armored foe, straight in, hoping only to get one torpedo ; on the enemy before they sink for ever. With their small draught they are enabled' • to lie close behind sheltering rooks, whi:h '. no larger vessel dare approach, and silently issuing from thence, deal a death ' blow at the unwary. Greater, however, ' is it for them in the mist to run into a ' hostile- harbor, and deal destruction' I among the vessels there. 'The adoption of the torpedo, as a wdl known writer has ! expressed it, ' has bsen the means of.'! supplying the youager qfficers of the navy } . with a fresh outlet for the display of dash and enterprise. Twenty years ago there I was every prOßpect that the introduction , of mast-less ships Would turn the life of the ordinary junior officer into the most ■ uneventful humdrum of existences j but the advent of this new weapon, and the new classes of vessel which followed in its o wake, have changed all that. I p