7th Experiment.
Torpedo:—33 lbs. of dynamite, enclosed as in first experiment. It was placed 4' from No. 4 frame, 9·25' below the surface of the water.
Effect of explosion:—Effect very great; ship hurled suddenly to starboard. On going on board two minutes after the explosion, the fore compartment was found full, the after compartment became full ten minutes later. Shores and struts were considerably displaced, and there was evidence that the ship had sustained a severe shock. Outer bottom injured over an area 14' × 16', the plates being split in all directions; one piece, 5' square, was torn completely off, and an irregular hole was formed in the outer skin 14' × 12'. In the inner bottom below the wing passage bulkhead a piece 6' × 9' was blown completely out; the wing passage bulkhead was torn from the longitudinal frame and split from top to bottom. The inner skin above the upper longitudinal frame was torn from the latter, and forced in and upwards, but was not otherwise damaged. The vertical bracket frames Nos. 3 and 4, the latter opposite the torpedo, were destroyed, but the solid frame No. 5 was almost uninjured. The outer bottom, where it was not torn off, was forced in 7', or 4' beyond where the inner bottom had been.