Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/835

 TORPEDO 805 ^loits on record, such as that of Lieut. Gush- ing in the destruction of the Albemarle. Fig. 2 represents the Wood and Lay apparatus used by him. A reserve torpedo, a, is shown oa its spar &. The port torpedo c is about to ex- plode. It has been detached from its spar d by a pull on a rope, and is rising by its own buoyancy to be fired at the proper moment by the lanyard e. Since the civil war boats espe- FIG. 2. Wood and Lay Torpedo. cially fitted for this kind of attack have been devised by many nations, but the same kind of torpedo may be used from any vessel pos- sessing the requisite speed. The automatic fish torpedo, of which the Luppis "Whitehead is most widely known, consists of a small cigar- shaped boat, fig. 3, carrying a contact tor- pedo in the bow, and containing an engine driven by some powerful agent, like com- pressed air, which, acting on the propeller Z>, gives it an effective range of about 300 yards. It is started usually from a large vessel, but sometimes from a launch or boat, and passing under water strikes and destroys the object of attack. Usually a directing tube is employed, but for simplicity the engraving shows a device sometimes used in experiments. The otter or Harvey torpedo is emphatically a sailor's wea- FIG. 3. Luppis Whitehead Torpedo. pon, requiring high nautical skill for its use. It consists of a thin vertical copper torpedo case, enclosed in wood, a a, fig. 4, and so attached to a tow rope, 5, leading from a reel on deck through a leading block on the yardarm, as to diverge from the quarter of a fast vessel, whose duty it is to move rapidly past the enemy. The course is so directed as to bring the torpedo in contact and explode its charge under his bot- tom. This is accomplished by skilfully caus- ing the case to dive at the proper moment, by the slackening of the tow rope, and then, by suddenly checking the latter, making the tor- pedo rise and explode by contact, either through the agency of a contact fuse acted upon by the levers c c, or by electricity. The cork buoys d d are used to give the requisite flotation. Official trials in England have shown that when properly handled this is a most effec- tive weapon, and oce which admits of use on the high seas as well as in harbors. Submarine rockets, in connection with sub- marine guns, are now receiving much atten- tion. The design is to render it possible to attack the enemy under his armor by a movable torpedo, in a manner analogous to the ordinary fire of artillery in air. Experiments lead to the belief that this project will ultimately be successful, for the short ranges usual in the combats of armor-plated ships. Submarine torpedo boats FIG. 4. Harvey Torpedo. have been an object of study since the days' of Bushnell; and, under the name of Davids, they played a conspicuous part during the civil war, in which the Housatonic was sunk off Charleston by a night attack of this de- scription. The French plongeur is a more elaborate type of the same class. The general idea is to form a water-tight vessel, propelled by compressed air, which can be navigated under water to the enemy, there to deliver a blow through the agency of a contact torpedo. As success, and even failure, has heretofore often involved the lives of the crew, the pro- ject is not now regarded with much favor. Indeed, it may be said to be superseded by fish torpedoes controlled by electricity, which may be made equally effective without endan- gering the operators. This device consists essentially of an ordinary fish torpedo, which carries a coil of insulated wire to be paid out as it proceeds. One end of the wire remains with the operator, who can thus at will send a current of electricity, positive or negative, through certain electro-magnets in the fish,