Fig. 112.—Explosion of Whitehead’s Torpedo, containing 67 lbs. of Gun-Cotton.
The employment of torpedoes develops, as a matter of course, a system of defence against them. Nets spread across a channel will catch drifting torpedoes, and stationary ones may be caused to explode harmlessly by nets attached to spars pushed a great distance forward from the advancing ship.
Before the final adoption of Whitehead’s torpedo, presently to be described, the British Government had, after various official trials, approved of a towing torpedo designed for offensive operations. It is the invention of Commander Harvey, and is worthy of a detailed description for the ingenuity of its construction.
Fig. 113.—Explosion of 432 lbs. of Gun-Cotton in 37 feet of Water.
Fig. 114.—Explosion of 432 lbs. of Gun-Cotton in 27 feet of Water.
The shape of Harvey’s torpedo, as may be noticed on reference to Fig. [118], is not symmetrical, but it has some remote resemblance to a boat, though constructed with flat surfaces throughout. The outside case is formed of wood well bound with iron, all the joints being made thoroughly water-tight. The length is 5 ft. and the depth 1¾ ft., while the breadth is only 6 in. Within this wooden case is another water-tight case made of thick sheet copper, from the top of which two very short wide tubes pass upwards to what we may term the deck of the wooden case. These are the apertures through which the charge of gunpowder or other explosive material is introduced; and when the tubes have been securely stopped with corks, brass caps are screwed on. The centre of the internal case is occupied by a copper tube, g, Fig. [115], which passes the entire depth, and is soldered to the top and bottom of the copper case, so that the interior of the tube has no communication with the body of the torpedo, the principal charge merely surrounding it. Thus the tube forms a small and quite independent chamber in the midst of the large one, which latter is capable of containing 80 lbs. of gunpowder. The copper tube or priming-case contains also a charge, a, which when exploded bursts the tube, and thus fires the torpedo in its centre. The priming charge is put in from the lower end of the tube, which is afterwards closed by a cork and brass cap, h; for the centre of the priming-case is occupied by a brass tube, b, closed at the bottom, but having within a pointed steel pin projecting upwards. In this tube works the exploding bolt c d, which requires a pressure of 30 or 40 lbs. to force it down upon the steel pin. This pressure is communicated to the bolt by the straight lever working in the slot at its head, d, and itself acted on at its extremity by the curved lever to which it is attached. Thus from the mechanical advantage at which the levers act a moderate downward pressure suffices to force the exploding bolt to the bottom of the brass tube. The lower end of this bolt has a cavity containing an exploding composition sufficient in itself to fire the torpedo, even independently of the priming charge contained in the copper tube. This composition is safely retained in the end of the bolt by a metallic capsule, c, which, when the bolt is forced down, is pierced through by the steel pin at the bottom of the brass tube, and then the explosion takes place. The bolts are not liable to explosion by concussion or exposure to moderate heat, and they can be kept for an indefinite period without deterioration.
