TORPEDO BOAT ARMED WITH PNEUMATIC DYNAMITE GUNS.
In former issues of the Scientific American we have given illustrations and detailed descriptions of the pneumatic dynamite gun invented by Lieutenant E. L. Zalinski, of the U. S. Artillery Corps. This gun, it will be remembered, was designed to throw a projectile loaded with dynamite or nitro-glycerine by means of compressed air; and so successful were the experiments carried on with it at Fort Lafayette, under the supervision of a board of naval experts, that Congress eventually appropriated $350,000 for building a swift torpedo boat, large enough to go to sea, and to be armed with three of these guns. Contracts for this boat have been signed with the Cramps.
The upper view in the accompanying engraving is a longitudinal vertical section, the lower one being a plan view. The following details regarding the boat we take from the Sun. The boat will be 250 ft. long, 26 ft. beam, and will draw 8 ft. of water. Her displacement will be about 800 tons. The engines will be of the triple expansion type, of the best known design, and the guaranteed power will be 3,200. She will be propelled by twin screws, and it is expected that the guaranteed speed of 20 knots an hour will be exceeded.
The three dynamite guns are to be placed side by side, at the elevation indicated in the upper view. They are to be fired in their places, but their range can be varied by increasing or diminishing the charge of air let in behind the projectile. An extreme range of one mile is put down in the contract, and the weight of gelatine to be thrown is 200 pounds; but the guns, as now building, will throw 400 pounds instead of 200 pounds, and the effective range will probably be about two miles. Air chambers and compressors of sufficient size and power are provided to enable fifteen shots to be fired to the distance of one mile without stopping; but if the boat were heading for the enemy at full speed, thirty shells could be thrown before the air would be exhausted and the cruiser obliged to turn tail. Thirty shells would mean the explosion of 12,000 pounds of nitro-glycerine about the enemy.
In fixing the gun permanently in its place, the designer has followed out the old idea of making the ship simply a floating gun carriage. The new British cruiser Polyphemus is built on the same idea, and there are other floating gun carriages. In this cruiser the firing is entirely under the control of the officer in the pilot house. He has simply to head his boat for the enemy, dash ahead at full speed, and blaze away. The trained pilot, even in the excitement of battle, would steer his ship instinctively, so there would be little trouble with the aim, except, perhaps, in getting the range.
Each gun can be fired once in two minutes, or the three successively in two minutes.
The new cruiser has a freeboard of about four feet above water. This is quite enough to enable her to travel anywhere along the coast. She carries enough coal to travel 5,000 miles at 12 knots an hour. This would take her about 700 miles at full speed. She could probably turn a complete circle of a radius of twice her length in between two and three minutes. She can carry 100 or even a much greater number of torpedoes with her when going on a cruise. To show how she compares with the best of the latest English built torpedo boats, it may be said that the Destructor, built for the Spanish Government, carries but ten torpedoes, although she has five tubes to fire them from, and this is the usual number carried. The range of the best of these foreign torpedoes is 600 yards, under the most favorable circumstances, and in a seaway not more than 100 or 200 yards. The exploding charge is 75 pounds of gun-cotton, an explosive that is exceedingly inefficient when compared with nitro-glycerine.
The new boat will also be armed with the usual rapid-firing guns which are placed on foreign torpedo boats. These are to be used in battle with craft like herself and small boats. It is expected that she will be finished in six months.
TORPEDO BOAT ARMED WITH PNEUMATIC DYNAMITE GUNS.