DYNAMITE TORPEDOES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2426, 28 January 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

DYNAMITE TORPEDOES.

Some interesting experiments were made in New York Bay lately with Zalinski's pneumatic: dynamite torpedo, tbe latest addition to torpedo warfare. An S-inch gun was mounted on the southern end of Fort Lafayette. A mile and a half further down the harbour a dilapidated old schooner was anchored. The tide was flowing out and only the stem was presented to the gun, making a narrow target of about 25 feet wide. Tho masts were stripped of their sails, and had only such cordage as could not safely be removed. The hull was low down in the water, and as compared with a fleet of war-ships the doomed schooner was like the bull's eye of a target. The shells are shaped like huge rockets, with a cap, and have both impact and battery fuses. Behind tho cap are sjib of nitrogclatine in a brass shell, to which is attached a brass tail, making the old rocket about 6 feet long. There was a loud hiss when the first loaded shell came, and a little white cloud escaping into tho air. The rocket hissed along for 10 or 12 seconds, and then plumped into the water a few yards off the starboard quarter of the schooner. As soon as it struck there was an explosion, and columns of water and spray wont 100 feet into the air as if a giant whale had just blown. The schooner rocked iu the water and the mainmast tumbled over, breaking the top nf the foremast nnrt carrying bulwarks and cordage with it. Lannchcn ran out to see what damage had been done, and found that the schooner was leaking and that tho woodwork of her quarter had been smashed. Tho shell had not struck the boat, but the force of the concussion was enough to wreck it. The air reservoir was charged again, and in a few minutes a second loaded shell came hissing along high enough in the air to clear the top-mast of any boat that might have been in the way. It plumped right under the stern of the schooner and exploded. The old boat rose in the air wirlv a mass of water and came down a totii wreck, Shu was broken into pieces, and the wreckage began to float , away. The water tank had been blown up from the hold and was on the top deck. The forecastle was kindling wood, and th.s foremast had toppled over the wreck, while the main mast that had been knocked over by the first shot now began to drift away. Two other shots were fired to show the accuracy of the gun. The first struck the rigging of the foremast and, exploding, smashed the wrackage more completely. The schooner was cut from her anchorage and drifted on with the floating pieces from the wreck. The tide carried it some '20 yards, and tho lar.t fihot did not hit it, but plumped into the water by the side oF it. The experiments were thoroughly successful.