Fig. 106.—Harvey’s Torpedo. Working the Brakes.
TORPEDOES.
The notion of destroying ships or other structures by explosions of gunpowder, contained in vessels made to float on the surface of the water, or submerged beneath it, is not of very modern origin. Two hundred and fifty years ago the English tried “floating petards” at the siege of Rochelle. During the American War of Independence similar contrivances were used against the British, and from time to time since then “torpedoes,” as they were first termed by Fulton, have been employed in warfare in various forms; but up to quite a recent period the use of torpedoes does not appear to have been attended with any decided success, and it is probable that but for the deplorable Civil War in the United States we should have heard little of this invention. During that bitter fratricidal struggle, however, when so much ingenuity was displayed in the contrivance of subsidiary means of attack and defence, the torpedo came prominently into notice, having been employed by the Confederates with the most marked effects. It is said that thirty-nine Federal ships were blown up by Confederate torpedoes, and the official reports own to twenty-five having been so destroyed. This caused the American Government to turn their attention to the torpedo, and they became so convinced of the importance of this class of war engine that they built boats expressly for torpedo warfare, and equipped six Monitors for the same purpose.
It has been well remarked that the torpedo plays the same part in naval warfare as does the mine in operations by land. This exactly describes the purpose of the torpedo where it is used defensively, but the comparison fails to suggest its capabilities as a weapon of offence. There are few occasions where a mine is made the means of attack, while the torpedo readily admits of such an employment, and, used in this way, it may become a conspicuous feature of future naval engagements. Many forms of this war engine have been invented, but all may be classified, in the first place, under two heads: viz., stationary torpedoes, and mobile or offensive torpedoes; while independent distinctions may be made according to the manner of firing the charge; or, again, according to the mode of determining the instant of the explosion. The stationary torpedo may be fixed to a pile or a raft, or attached to a weight; the offensive torpedo may be either allowed to float or drift against the hostile ships, or it may be propelled by machinery, or attached to a spar of an ironclad or other vessel. The charge may be fired by a match, by percussion, by friction, by electricity, or by some contrivance for bringing chemicals into contact which act strongly upon each other, and thus generate sufficient heat to ignite the charge. The instant of explosion may be determined by the contact of the torpedo with the hostile structure (in which case it is said to be “self-acting”), or by clockwork, or at the will of persons directing the operations. In some cases lines attached to triggers are employed; in others electric currents are made use of.
Fig. 107.—Submerged Torpedo.
In the American Civil War the stationary torpedoes at first laid down were self-acting, that is, they were so arranged as to explode when touched by a passing vessel. Such arrangements present the great disadvantages of being as dangerous to friendly as to hostile ships. The operation of placing them is a perilous one, and when once sunk, they can only be removed at great risk. Besides this, they cannot be relied on for certain action in time of need, as the self-acting apparatus is liable to get out of order. The superiority of the method of firing them from the shore when the proper instant arrived, became so obvious that the self-acting torpedo was soon to a great extent superseded by one so arranged that an observer could fire it at will, by means of a trigger-line or an electric current. Similar plans had often been previously employed or suggested. For example, during the war between Austria and Italy the Austrian engineers at Venice had very large electric torpedoes sunk in the channels which form the approaches to the city. They consisted of large wooden cases capable of containing 400 lbs. of gun-cotton, moored by chains to a wooden framework, to which weights were lashed that sufficed to sink the whole apparatus, Fig. [107]. A cable containing insulated wires connected the torpedo with an electrical arrangement on shore, and the explosion could take place only by the operator sending a current through these wires. The torpedo was wholly submerged, so that there was nothing visible to distinguish its position. There was no need of a buoy or other mark, as in the case of self-acting torpedoes, to warn friendly vessels off the dangerous spot, and therefore nothing appeared to excite an enemy’s suspicions. But it is, however, absolutely necessary that the defenders should know the precise position of each of their submarine mines, so that they might explode it at the moment the enemy’s ship came within the range of its destructive action. This was accomplished at Venice in a highly ingenious manner, by erecting a camera obscura in such a position that a complete picture of the protected channels was projected on a fixed white table. While the torpedoes were being placed in their positions an observer was stationed at the table, who marked with a pencil the exact spot at which each torpedo was sunk into the water. Further, those engaged in placing the torpedoes caused a small boat to be rowed round the spot where the torpedo had been placed, so as to describe a circle the radius of which corresponded to the limit of the effective action of the torpedo. The course of the boat was traced on the picture in the camera, so that a very accurate representation of the positions of the submarine mines in the channels was obtained. Each circle traced on the table was marked by a number, and the wire in connection with the corresponding torpedo was led into the camera, and marked with the same number, so that the observer stationed in the camera could, when he saw the image of an enemy’s ship enter one of the circles, close the electric circuit of the corresponding wire, and thus instantly explode the proper torpedo. The events of the war did not afford an opportunity of testing practically the efficiency of these preparations.
Another mode of exploding torpedoes from the shore has been devised by Abel and Maury. It has the advantage of being applicable by night as well as by day. The principle will be easily understood with the assistance of the diagram, Fig. [108], in which, for the sake of simplicity, the positions of only three torpedoes, 1, 2, 3, are represented.
Fig. 108.—Mode of Firing Torpedo.