Torpedo boat

“ The torpedo-boat is undoubtedly one of the features that should be introduced into our new navy, not only for their possible use on the high seas, but for the purpose of supplementing the harbor-defence vessels, while the type of vessel known as the torpedo-boat catcher would be a powerful auxiliary to the armored cruisers on the first line, or the more powerful vessels forming the second line of the coast defence. ”

“ The torpedo boat is a new danger to blockading squadrons, but it can be met by a line of other small craft whose special mission it would be to paralyse the attack before the boats could reach the main body. It has been shown recently that a special vessel of 600 or 800 tons, suitably armed with numerous light guns, forms the most efficient protection to a battle ship, grappling and subduing the small assailants before they can effectually launch their torpedoes. ”

“ As for a torpedo, it is a long thing shaped like a fish, with a motor in its tail. It is also loaded with stuff to blow up, and it can be fired at an enemy’s ship from a submarine or from a torpedo boat. The motor in its tail makes it travel very fast under water, and if it hits a ship it is almost certain to destroy her.
When the Amphion bumped on a mine, or was hit by a torpedo, a sheet of flame enveloped the bridge and rendered her commander, Captain Fox, insensible. ”

“ A torpedo-boat at thirty knots is an elusive target, and though the sea about her was churned into foam by the fusillade from the Argyll, the Yesso, and the Hondo, she seemed uninjured and went on.
"Nothing but small calibers can touch her," exclaimed the captain, as he looked. "We have nothing, but perhaps the Japanese cruisers can do it. Protect them. Turn every gun possible on those Russian cruisers. ”

“ A torpedo boat exists only to carry one or two torpedoes within launching distance of the enemy. The smaller and cheaper she can be, and the fewer men she carries, provided always she be able to face a fairly rough sea, the better. Now the ordinary steam torpedo boat carries perhaps twenty men, and costs anything from £50,000 to £100,000. A motor boat of equal or greater speed could probably be built for £15,000, and would carry a crew of two men. ”

“ In these thirty-one British vessels of the torpedo gunboat class the elements of strength and seaworthiness are developed at the expense of speed, and they combine in themselves some of the functions of the torpedo-boat with many of the most important features of the small cruiser. The successive increases of displacement are very largely due to additions to the hull, giving greater habitability and trustworthiness for continuous work at sea. It will be noticed that the speed shows a continuous falling off ”

“ The torpedo will be carried on a mast, which at the right moment can be lowered to form a projecting spar like a bowsprit; and the explosion that will take place on its impact with the enemy's hull will be enough to blow a fatal breach in any warship afloat.
For harbour defence and the safety of the battle-ship the wire-guided and propelled torpedo will form a second line behind the fast torpedo-boat. ”

“ But this chaser of ours draws only 4 feet of water and so a torpedo, if it behaves itself, would pass clean under her and never touch her.
“The trouble is,” he went on, “that there never was a torpedo made that stuck to its course and it is liable to shift to the port or starboard or to come to the surface and for this reason we never take a chance but dodge them. You can always tell when a torpedo is coming by the thin white wake she makes on top of the water and while a ship can’t get out of its way, a speedy little boat like ours can make a quick turn and give it a wide berth.” ”

“ Accordingly, the “torpedo boat destroyer” was designed with this object, and which, possessing superior speed, and an armament sufficiently powerful, could run down and destroy existing torpedo boats, would safeguard the fleet, and enable it to keep comparatively near the blockaded coast. These boats were also furnished with a torpedo equipment, so that they could be used as torpedo boats in connection with a fleet.
In these “destroyers,” as they are called for short, everything must be sacrificed to save weight ”

“ Officers and crew put the greatest possible distance between them and the side of the ship exposed to the hostile craft. Without slackening speed, the torpedo-boats described a sharp curve. Their officers must have wondered why they were not greeted by the stranded battleship's quick-firers. As they turned, two gleaming objects flopped ungracefully from their decks and disappeared with a splash beneath the surface. Each boat had fired a torpedo from her broadside tubes. ”

“ BOOM—CAPTURE OF WEI-HAI-WEI—CONCLUSION
My first impressions regarding a torpedo-boat were, firstly, that the deck rests dangerously near the water; and secondly, that the craft itself is unsafe—at least, unsteady. Then the vessel,—or "ship," as I believe it is called,—is, if cabined, certainly "cribbed and confined." There is not much space to live in; perhaps the sailors who man her are not expected to live—much. Where they usually sleep, unless in the coal-bunkers or in the engine-room, I do not exactly know. ”

“ The best way to convey what we mean is to say that the whole craft seems to be alive, and a perfect demon of energy and strength. Many persons hold that a torpedo boat is likely to be more useful in terrifying an enemy than in doing him real harm, and we can safely say that the captain of an ironclad who saw half a dozen of these vessels bearing down on him, and did not wish himself well out of a scrape, has more nerve than most men. ”

“ I am told the most vulnerable spot of a ship is just forward of the mainmast. Hit her there. Don't explode your torpedo until you are in actual contact if possible. Glassell's went off the moment he saw her without touching, else he would have sunk the New Ironsides. You will find the torpedo boat at the government wharf. Everything is ready. You will leave at seven. The three blockade-runners will follow you as close as is practicable, and when you torpedo the frigate they will dart through the Swash and try to get to sea. I reckon upon the other Yankee ships running down to aid the Wabash. ”

“ The torpedo-boat destroyer, contrary to general belief, does not carry any heavy guns, but depends on its great speed and its ability to cripple a torpedo-boat with its 6-pounders while keeping out of range of the enemy’s tubes. All torpedo-boat destroyers carry torpedo tubes themselves, so that they can be used against the enemy’s battle-ships or cruisers if the occasion offers. ”

“ The two most celebrated builders of torpedo boats in the world are Thornycroft and Yarrow, in England. Each is capable of producing a first class torpedo boat, from 100 ft. to 130 ft. long, and with 10 ft. to 14 ft. beam, that will steam at the rate of from 18 knots to 22 knots per hour for 370 knots, or at the rate of 10 knots per hour for 3000 miles. A second class torpedo boat is from 40 ft. ”

“ No one cares to enter a conning-tower in action until driven in by gun-fire, and the captain and his officers remained without, where, though there was greater danger, there was more air and a clearer view. Leaving out the tale-bearing torpedo-boat, now far to the rear of the Russians, the two fleets were evenly matched in numbers, each consisting of two battle-ships and two cruisers; but the advantage in weight of armor and armament lay with the Russians ”

“ The torpedo-boat is about one hundred and twenty-five feet long, and perhaps twelve feet at beam. There are larger craft than this, I think, but these dimensions will suffice for the usual limits. The torpedoes are fixed from the tubes, which, in my "ship," extended one on each bow and astern. There is a steering-tower, or "conning-tower," fore and aft, and very small space for living in. There are no bulwarks to prevent one sliding away into the sea in a calm, only a rail with stanchions, upon which a wire rope is stretched as a protection. ”

“ But a worse and more insidious foe than even these sneaking, hiding, surface torpedo-boats threatens us in the submarine torpedo-boat, which inventors have been experimenting with since naval warfare first began. It is said that twenty-five hundred years ago divers were lowered into the water in a simply constructed air-box, to perforate the wooden bottom of an adversary’s war-galley and sink it. Again, in our Revolutionary War, a tiny walnut-shaped boat was made by an American, which was actually tried. It would hold one man, and air enough for him to breathe for half an hour. ”

“ A prompt cry from the look-out, a steersman ready to put his helm over instantly, and the torpedo goes bubbling past, a few feet ahead or astern, or comes in on a tangent and runs harmlessly along the ship’s side without exploding. Then away it goes across the open sea, until the compressed air is exhausted, the engine stops, and the mechanical sinker sends it to the ocean bed, which must be fairly strewn with dead torpedoes by this time; for as we know, to our advantage, the proportion of misses to hits is very large in the U-boat’s record. ”

“ It is not feasible to armour the bottoms of ships even if it were effectual—which it is not.
But the pith and marrow of the whole matter lies in178 the fact that the Submarine Boat which carries this automobile torpedo is up to the present date absolutely unattackable. When you see Battleships or Cruisers, or Destroyers, or Torpedo Boats on the horizon, you can send others after them to attack them or drive them away! You see them—you can fire at them—you can avoid them—you can chase them—but with the Submarine Boat you can do nothing! ”

“ 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. ”

“ Of course if you are playing a naval war game and you are shooting at some enemy ship, it will give her [97] a good hard bump, and this counts ten points in your favor.
How a Real Torpedo Is Made.—A torpedo, as you can plainly see, is nothing more nor less than a miniature submarine boat that moves under its own power and that is self-controlled. And now that you have built and experimented with a little model it will be easy for you to understand how a real one is made and works. ”

“ I can conceive that, as it is desirable to have special ships to destroy torpedo boats when discovered, other craft might be equally advantageously fitted with powerful lights for this special duty, while the main force remained in darkness.
The electric light detects one colour much better than another. White is most easily distinguished, while a black boat can approach much nearer without being discovered. Steam escaping shows up at a great distance. Torpedo boats, whose period of action is during the hours of darkness, should show as little white as possible. ”

“ Admiral Fiske believes the flying torpedo boat would make it possible to attack a fleet even within a landlocked harbor. The range of the newest navy torpedoes is ten thousand yards and even the older types will be effective at seven thousand yards.
Carried on a huge aeroplane, the 2,000 pound weapon would be taken over harbor defenses at an altitude safe from gunfire. Once over the bay, the machine would glide down to within ten or twenty feet of water, the torpedo rudders would be set and it would be dropped to do its work while the aeroplane arose and sped away. ”

“ As regards torpedo-boats, which launch their torpedoes one at a time, and directly in the line in which the boat is pointed, the opinion is that they will prove very useful for coast and harbor defence, but unfit for severe weather or heavy seas, very wearing upon their crews, liable to accidents of a serious nature, and only able to carry fuel for short runs. Many of the accidents to this class of boats have involved loss of life, and, while the French and English have increased their number, other nations, such as the Italians and the Germans, have rather decided against their increase. ”

“ Here is a sea-going torpedo boat armed with three fifteen-inch air-guns that can throw 400 or 500 pounds of high explosive to a range of a mile or more with reasonable accuracy. It is not a popular style of warship with naval officers, and so far541 as its purpose is for harbor defence, these officers are entirely right. It is the business of the army, with its forts and submarine torpedoes, to defend the harbors. For forts and submarine torpedoes are entirely sufficient for the purpose, and much more economical than ships adapted only for harbor defence. ”

“ It is wrong to speak of firing a torpedo. A torpedo is really an automatic, self-propelled, submarine boat. All that the destroyer or submarine does is to set the steering gear in this little boat and then launch it at the enemy with a blast of air that ejects it from the torpedo tube. Most of the body of the torpedo is filled with compressed air which drives a small air motor coupled to a pair of propellers. These propellers run in opposite directions so as to balance each other and they drive the torpedo through the water at a speed of about forty miles per hour. ”