You have perhaps seen in the papers a French account of a little blow-up which took place at Boulogne on the first of this month; it was an experiment on a small scale to try the effect of four of my submarine bombs or torpedoes. They were carried in by two small boats which the French have magnified to many fire-ships with a formidable attack of boats, etc., which shows that they were much frightened or that the public must be amused with a long story; however, the torpedoes did not produce the desired effect and I saw a great prejudice arise in the minds of the officers against them: but sure of their effects and convinced that they had only been badly applied, I the next day purchased a strong Danish brig of 250 tons, determined to blow her up and at the same time give the officers a lesson how to act: the brig was soon put in order, ballast and water casks were laid in, and sails bent as if intended for a voyage; she was then surveyed and acknowledged on all sides to be as strong as any of the craft at Boulogne: Everything being ready she was on Monday morning sent to Walmar road and anchored opposite Walmar Castle, about half a mile at sea. The public curiosity was soon excited, who expected the experiment to be made about 4 o’clock; but that evening and the next morning passed in practicing my men. About 3 yesterday I came on there and walked down the beach where I made the signal of attack: instantly one of my long galleys rushed forward and grappled the torpedo line in the cable of the tug. The force of the tide then pressed the torpedo, which was set to fifteen minutes, under her bottom, and in fifteen minutes the awful explosion took place: it lifted the whole body of the vessel almost out of water and broke her completely in two in the middle; the mainmast and pumps were blown out of her and in one minute nothing of her was to be seen but floating fragments. The torpedo contained 170 pounds of powder. The experiment was the most complete that could be desired but most tremendous and frightful and carries with it one reflection which gives me some pain, that in vessels thus attacked it will be impossible to save the men, and many a worthy character must perish.
All doubts are now removed on the power and simplicity of this invention. The defects which have attended it was bad management which is now corrected.
Yours truly,
Robt. Fulton.
Success was apparently at hand, but again it eluded him. A strong combination of national forces turned the tide of war. Austria and Russia combined forces against Napoleon and the emperor was forced to break camp at Boulogne to transfer the seat of war to Central Europe; nor was this all; on October 21st, less than a week after Fulton’s demonstration of torpedo warfare, Nelson with his banner “England expects every Man to do His Duty,” won the great victory at Trafalgar, routing the forces of France and Spain, and disposing of any Napoleonic dream of conquest over England on the high seas. Great Britain held supremacy on the ocean,—she needed no new weapon of destruction; and with the artillery of France silenced, the country was unlikely to listen further to Fulton’s plan. The old way was considered the best way. Pitt was called “the greatest fool that ever existed, to encourage a mode of war which they who commanded the seas did not want, and which if successful would deprive them of it.”
So faded again Fulton’s dream of universal peace through the stratagems of war. Yet he was under contract with the British government to supply the invention, which he found, after many inquiries, they did not want. They offered to grant him an annuity if he would promise to suppress the submarine torpedo and agree that neither England nor any other country should adopt it. Fulton sent a fearless reply to the Arbitration Committee who made the suggestion. He declared that he would never consent to the abandonment of his project. “In fact, I will do my utmost to make it a good philosophic work and give it to the world. I will then form a committee of the most respectable men of America and proceed regularly in experiments on a large scale, publishing the result from time to time and thus drawing the attention of the ingenious and enterprising to such pursuits. I shall hope to succeed in my first object, that of annihilating all military marines and giving liberty to the seas.”
The English probably smiled contentedly at the ardor of the enthusiast. Fulton continued:
“Gentlemen, a man who has the candor to give you this in writing has but little deception or fear in his character and will not abandon so glorious an enterprise for trifling rebuffs or mean consideration.
“At all events, whatever may be your reward, I will never consent to let these inventions lie dormant should my country at any time have need of them. Were you to grant me an annuity of twenty thousand pounds a year, I would sacrifice all to the safety and independence of my country. I hope that England and America will understand their mutual interest too well to war with each other. And I have no desire to introduce my engines into practice for the benefit of any other nation.”[2]
[2] On the 6th of June, 1914, the writer laid aside work upon this volume, to serve as sponsor for the U. S. Submarine Tender Fulton, launched at Quincy, Massachusetts,—the first vessel of its type in our navy, to serve as Mother of the Fleet of Torpedoes.