THE GRINDELL-MATTHEWS TORPEDO.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9573, 20 August 1909, Page 3

THE GRINDELL-MATT-HEWS TORPEDO.

REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT TN NAVAL WARfAKE. The man in the street, in these days of naval supremacy discussions, would pin his faitn to the torpedo. And the opinion of the man in the street is sometimes worthy of respect: His argument is that a torpedo will take a Dreadnought unawares and DUt her to the bottom in the twink ling of an eye. Bat. of course, the man in the street does not know everything. Perhaps a naval officer would vouchsafe the same opinion, but would qualify it with arguments based or practical experience. The naval fights of the last two decades back up the torpedo as a subtle weapon of attack, hut what ever they show in support of its use they detract with evidence pointing to its uncertainty in action even under the most favourable circumstances. The percentage of hits with torpedoes is small, and with the existing system is likely to remain so. Yet torpedoes and their launching tubes are very costly. Each tube cannot be intsalled for less than £3,000, and each time the torpedo is fired, "bang goes" £6OO. The modern torpedo is a marvel of inventive genius, and a miracle of constructive skill. It is a remarkable tribute of engineering to the science and practice of naval warfare. Its mechanism would do credit to a Watt or a Kelvin, and yetyes, the truth must be faced—the torpedo is not reliable. All attempts to steer torpedoes failed for many years. Ever since Hertzian waves made wireless telegraphy possible, torpedo direction has Deen the dream of inventors. Many toiled; all have failed save two, and the.first was an Englishman! The Grindell-Matthews wireless submarine and aerial torpedo control is the latest triumph to be placed upon the scroll of fame, which already bears the names of scores of famous Englishmen. The system adoted is absolutely innocent of "aerials," "antennae," earthplane*, or any of the paraphernalia of ordinary wireless telegraphy. The transmitters and receivers are of small compass, and, quite unobtrusive. "" They would givtf no warning to an enemy of the approach of the torpedo. Similarly, the system is entirely secret, an cannot be disturbed by any of the wireless telegraph equipments with which modern battleships are fitted. During'the Russo-JapaneseWar,"The Times" correspondent's ship Hamum seriously interfered with tne signals transmitted'from Port Arthur to (he Russian squadron, and was forced to leave the scene of action. It is known that by sending out meaningless signals in the neighbourhood of a wireless station serious interfering waves can be set up. But none of these methods' would suffice to detect the wireless power used in the Grin-dell-Matthews system from is dread purpose of guiding the speedy seasnake torpedo sure and true to its goa '- -. X t The operator sits at a row of small keys, and by the position of his selective device he can tell exactly how to steer the torpedo. By clay the wake of the torpedo would tell him of its course, and his control keys would give him absolute command of it. At night a tiny electric lamp, carefu'ly screened from the enemy, would be used to show the position of the torpedo, and by this it would be guined with absolute certainty until the fatal blow was struck.

Torpedo nets! Y>s, even theie are no longer of value with the »wift and sure sea-snake torpedo! Let us mentally reproduce an engagement conducted, say, from the secretive protection of a submarine. The object of attack is sighted from the conning slower, and the range is found. By the aid of glassy re is seen that torpedo nets are ujt, or it is assumed that they will ie in position. A torpedo is sent <>n its fateful missoin and steered into the very nets of the doomed ship. By the wake of the little craft its course has been guided under the influence of the invisible wireless power at ihe command of the attacking party. The first torpedo has hardly landed in the net of the battleshin before its charge has baen exploded and the nets shattered. Before repairs can be effected a second torpedo is sped on its way and steered through the gap torn in the nets by its predecessor. Once past the borderline of the nets its mission is fulfilled. It strikes the side of the ship, and the rest is a matter of time. Fdw vessels survive torpedo attacks, especially in a vital spot, and once disabled, the great ship if she does not s=i-k at once, is at the mercy of the submarine. This method of attack can, of course, be elaborated in many ways. The rudder may be blown away and the battleship put out of control by the Grindell-Matthewa wireless torpedo, so sure is the directive power of the operator over its ingenious mechanism. The system presents endbsa possibilities, which would become apparent when once practical experiments were be^un. "Ihe airship! « The airship. Of 1 what use are our]battleship3 now?" is again the cry of the alarmist. Yet again the Grindell-Matthews I wireless torpedo comes to the rescue. 1 Its remarkable powers cannot alone be demonstrated beneath the surface of the sea. The hand which guides by' invisible wireless power the lurking submerged torpedo can guide the aerial torpedo on its course to bring down the attacking dirigible or even the scouting aeroplane. The J, apparatus is precisely the same. There is only a slight difftranee in ■ the power required to transmit | through the air those same directive I impulses which control the seasnake torpedo. It matters not that j the enemy can perceive the danger. I The torpedo holds on its way, pursuing it until it comes within reach !of the the flying gasbag. There is | a flash as the detonator circuit is i closed by the operator on the j ground, and the work of the wireless aerial torpedj is done. All by 'the pressing of a key, the mere tapping out of messages of death by one man, and he invisible to -the enemy who succumb to him.