Whitehead torpedo

“ Recent experiments in England have shown that the Whitehead torpedo, over which control ceases after it is fired, is not so formidable a weapon when fired at a ship under way as many supposed, for the simple reason that it can be dodged. But an electrical torpedo, over which control is exercised while it is in motion through the water, cannot be dodged, provided it receives sufficient speed. For effective work against ships capable of steaming fifteen knots per hour, the torpedo should have a speed of twenty knots. ”

“ THE WHITEHEAD TORPEDO—“THE MOST WONDERFUL MACHINE IN THE WORLD” “When you have been shown lovingly over a torpedo by an artificer skilled in the working of its tricky bowels, torpedoes have a meaning and a reality for you to the end of your days.”—Rudyard Kipling.
“The next great naval war will bestow upon the torpedo and its users a halo of romance which will eclipse entirely that surrounding the gun and the ram.”
“The arts of shipbuilders and steel-workers stand for nothing when a Whitehead torpedo succeeds in striking a ship’s bottom and tears and rends it with the explosion of 200 lbs. ”

“ There was an idea that the torpedo might expend its energy on the outer skin, leaving the inner hull intact, and thus save the ship from fatal injury. But as Sir Nathaniel Barnaby truly remarked fifteen years ago: 'I say it is idle to attempt to form the bottom of a ship strong enough to resist a fair blow from a powerful torpedo. The utmost that can be done is to keep the disabled ship afloat after she has received such a blow. It would be possible to protect the bottoms of ships with armour to withstand the present charges of the Whitehead torpedoes. ”

“ Obry, at one time of the Austrian navy, of a small weighted wheel, or gyroscope, which acted on the ‘servo-motor’ by means of a pair of vertical rudders and steered a deflected torpedo back to its original course. The invention, which disarmed the torpedo's severest critics, was acquired and considerably improved by Whitehead. In its present form the Whitehead torpedo is a weapon of precision, its capabilities entirely eclipsing those of the gun and ram. ”

“ Before the advent of the torpedo boat, Great Britain was secure in her position of Mistress of the Seas, so long as she possessed more line-of-battle ships than any other nation. The arrival of the torpedo-boat, the destroyer, and the submarine, all armed with the Whitehead torpedo, has given weaker nations the chance of attacking our ironclads with new weapons, and there are even those who affirm that the battleship is doomed, and must give way to a different type of craft.
The whole trend of modern invention has been to the advantage of weaker nations. ”

“ If a general naval war broke out to-day most nations would undoubtedly pin their faith to the Whitehead torpedo for use in the open sea, now that its accuracy has been largely increased by the gyroscope, a heavy flywheel attachment revolving rapidly at right angles to the path of the torpedo, and rendering a change of direction almost impossible. ”

“ The Whitehead, or “fish” torpedo, is a cigar-shaped steel cylinder 14 to 19 feet in length, and from 14 to 16 inches in diameter. It is sent off, requiring no crew, against the ship to be destroyed; and if one torpedo fails to deal the death-blow it can be followed up by another, or yet a third. It consists of three compartments. The head contains the explosive—say 360 lbs. of gun-cotton; the centre holds the machinery; and the tail the highly-condensed air which works the engine. The engine is about thirty-five pounds weight, and can be worked to forty horse power! ”

“ Whitehead torpedoes, be it known, are mechanical fish about sixteen feet long, carrying two hundred and twenty pounds of gun-cotton in their heads, which travel under water of their own volition to explode upon impact, but which are aimed and merely propelled from long, eighteen-inch tubes by the explosion of a small charge of powder which, compressing the air behind the torpedo, exerts a pressure just sufficient to overcome its inertia. ”

“ A boat of this size may carry eight Whitehead torpedoes, each torpedo being capable of destroying a fifteen-million-dollar battleship, and as a five-hundred-ton displacement submarine can be built for about one-half million dollars, and is capable of carrying eight Whitehead torpedoes, potentially good for eight fifteen-million-dollar battleships, or a total of one hundred and twenty million dollars' worth of capital ships, it seems as if that would be sufficient to ask of one little submarine boat. ”

“ The Pizarro, thus being busy with the cruiser, would not notice the torpederas, which could then steal silently within five hundred yards, and launch a Whitehead or so. The result would be obvious.
The torpederas, with twin screws and powerful engines, manœuvred with wonderful rapidity, darting here and there in the darkness like black sharks. Both were armed with Hotchkiss guns and four Whitehead torpedo-tubes, while their strong search-lights protected them against the unexpected approach of an enemy. ”

“ That beautiful machine, the Whitehead torpedo, is maintained at a set depth below the surface by means of a pendulum and a hydrostatic valve which regulate the horizontal rudders, and also in its true course by the gyroscope. In the case of the submarine it is necessary that it should not pass a certain limit when on its downward course, and that it keep so far as is possible the same level throughout its run under water. ”

“ During this short exposure of the turret—much too short to give the enemy a chance to find its distance and train a gun on it capable of inflicting any injury—the pilot ascertains the bearing of the enemy's ship, alters his course or makes another dive if necessary. If he finds that the submarine boat is within safe striking distance, say one hundred yards, a Whitehead torpedo is discharged at the ship. ”

“ As the effective range of the modern Whitehead torpedo is about three miles, no ship could pass between the submarines without passing within torpedo range. However, a commander of a submarine would hardly take a chance of making a hit at such great distance, and on sighting the enemy he would leave his station and attempt to intercept her, so as to get a shot at shorter range. If the enemy succeeded in running the gauntlet of the outer circle it would have to pass the submarines distributed on, say, a ten-mile radius. ”

“ All torpedo boats under construction, and most of those already completed, are therefore armed with the Whitehead torpedo. A modern torpedo boat is built entirely of steel, the plates often not exceeding 1/16 inch in thickness, as, in order to get the necessary high speed, the minimum of weight consistent with the necessary strength is of the first importance. ”

“ First the introduction of the Whitehead torpedo as part of the auxiliary armament of battleships and cruisers gave the ship attacked a means of sinking the aggressor as she approached, and the increase in the power of guns led naval tacticians to accept as a principle that fleet actions must be fought at ranges which were regarded as too distant for any effective action in earlier days.
But for nearly thirty years after Lissa there were no [Pg 253] fleet actions. Ships, armour, guns, were all improved, and the great naval Powers built on a larger and larger scale. ”

“ By planting several parallel lines of such torpedoes across a channel, at no great distance apart, in such a way that the mines in one row stand opposite the open spaces in another, it is rendered extremely hazardous for a hostile vessel to attempt to pass. Of the locomotive submarine explosives, one of the most formidable is the Whitehead fish torpedo, the construction of which is more or less a secret, sold by the inventor to the English, Austrian, and Russian navies. ”

“ A Whitehead torpedo costs something like four thousand dollars, and is altogether too valuable to leave adrift when it has been fired and misses its target. Those who had discharged the torpedo would surely look for it—and, if they found it, they would also find Matt. ”

“ These are the oldest submarines in the Russian Navy, and are small vessels of the Holland-Bubnoff type. They have a submerged displacement of 200 tons. Petrol and electric engines drive them at 9 knots on the surface and 6 knots when submerged. Their armament consists of one bow torpedo tube and two exterior holders, with four 18-inch Whitehead torpedoes. ”

“ The development of torpedo-attack brought about the Whitehead automobile torpedo, and the improvements in the speed and construction of destroyers and torpedo-boats caused also the introduction of "auxiliary batteries" of rapid-firing 3- and 6-pounder-shell guns. The machine-guns firing rifle [163] bullets, and, later on, small steel shot, were found to have no "stopping-power" against torpedo-craft, and more powerful weapons became imperative. ”

“ Those who discuss submarine navigation as if it were quite a new development are apt to forget that the earliest use of the torpedo was in an under-water vessel. Bushnell and Fulton, no less than the Confederates of a later day, saw that their best chance of success lay in attacking by stealth, and though the modern Whitehead is a very different weapon to the cases of explosive used by Bushnell and Fulton, or the spar-torpedo employed by the Confederates in their Davids, there are still the same advantages to be gained by a submarine attack. ”

“ The British Naval yards in conjunction with the big shipbuilding and engineering firms, such as Messrs. Vickers Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness; Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. Ltd., Newcastle-on-Tyne; the Whitehead Torpedo Company Ltd., Weymouth; Messrs. Siebe, Gorman and Co. Ltd., London; and Messrs. Scotts’ Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd., as well as many other firms and individual submarine experts had been engaged for many years in solving one after another the problems continually arising in the practical application of all forms of submarine warfare. ”

“ Abreast the mast were two seven-pounder automatic guns, protected from Maxim fire by light steel shields forming a complete turret. Abaft the mast, and twenty feet from the guns, were the two 21 in. torpedo tubes, taking an improved Whitehead with an effective range of five miles. From this point was a clear run of deck-space—save for the ventilating cowls and hatchways, that could be respectively unshipped or battened down should occasion arise—to the aft torpedo-tubes. ”

“ But forty-eight years ago an Englishman named Whitehead invented the automobile, auto-steering, torpedo, which still bears his name. This torpedo is used in all the navies, and is launched on its mission from battleships, battle cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other craft of various kinds.
Most torpedoes are to be found in destroyers—long, fast, frail vessels, averaging about 700 tons displacement, that are intended to dash at enemy ships at night, or under other favorable conditions, launch their torpedoes, and hurry away. The torpedo is "a weapon of opportunity." ”

“ Breen's last order carried a meaning to these men that was reflected back in their pale faces as they removed the starting-levers and the small fan-wheel which, by the torpedo's motion, would bring the detonator into action. "Any port in a storm," muttered one. "They're good life-buoys on a pinch." They withdrew the Whitehead always carried in the tube, prepared it like the others, inserted it, and closed the breech; then, opening the bow port, they turned on the compressed air, and a cough, a thud, and an inrush of water testified that the torpedo was out. ”

“ Messrs Whitehead & Co., of Fiume, then acquired the invention, and after exhaustive experiments produced the apparatus which is now fitted to every torpedo made. It is based on the principle that a body revolving on a free axis tends to preserve its plane of rotation. A gyroscope with plane of rotation parallel to the vertical axis of the torpedo will have an angular motion if the torpedo is diverted from its original course. This angular motion is employed to actuate the steering mechanism by operating an air motor connected with the rudders, and keeping the torpedo in the line of discharge. ”

“ Under water they are propelled by an electric waterproof motor of seventy horse-power, and proceed at a pace of seven knots per hour. There is a superstructure for deck, with a funnel for the engine and a small conning-tower protected by 4-inch armour. The armament carried comprises five 18-inch Whitehead torpedoes, 11 feet 8 inches long. One hundred and twenty tons is the displacement, including tank capacity for 850 gallons of gasolene; the full length is 63 feet 4 inches, with a beam of 11 feet 9 inches. ”

“ Despite these occasional instances of its deadly power, the ram holds a secondary place among naval weapons. To strike a modern vessel at high speed will require more than the skill of the swordsman.
The torpedo, like the ironclad, was an American invention, whose neglect by the United States government brought retribution when this deadly engine of war in 1861–65 destroyed not a few war-vessels flying our flag. Bushnell of Connecticut during the Revolution appears to have invented both the submarine boat and the marine torpedo, the latter being fired by clock-work. ”

“ Then, firing torpedoes is not at all like firing big guns. At a range of five miles a shell will still be making 2000 feet a second or 1400 miles an hour. At the same range a torpedo like those used at Jutland would be making only 50 feet a second or 35 miles an hour. Thus shells whizz through the air forty times faster than torpedoes sneak through the water. A torpedo, in fact, is itself very like a submarine, more or less cigar-shaped, and with its own engine, screw, and rudder. Hitting with a torpedo really means arranging a collision between it and the ship you are aiming at. ”