Total of boat's crew
| 1 | Harpooner. | |
| 1 | Bowman. | |
| 4 | Marines. | |
| 6 | Oarsmen. | |
| Total | 12 | Men. |
Such boats would be active well armed, and, if good men, may be said to be strong handed, and well prepared to make good a retreat, or act on the defensive, in case of encountering the enemy's boats.
A, is a bird's eye view of a vessel at anchor; B, her cable; EE, two Torpedoes; CD, is their coupling line, about 120 feet long; it is here represented touching the cable collapsing, and the Torpedoes driving by the tide under the vessel. This is the manner in which the Dorothea in Walmer roads, and the brig in New-York harbour, were blown up.
PLATE V. Fig. 1
A, shews a Torpedo, with the harpoon-line fixed to the centre of its end; when the line is thus fixed, the tide cannot drive the Torpedo under a vessel, for the pressure of the current being equal on both sides, it will hang perpendicular to its suspending box of cork C, [Fig. 2], and remain as at B, where, exploding, it would blow the water perpendicular to C, and up the side of the ship; the lateral movement of the water from B to E would give her a sudden cant to one side, but do her no injury. This has been proved by the following practice.