THE HOWELL TORPEDO.
B, fly-wheel. C, C, screw propellers. D, diving rudder. E, E, steering rudders.
F, water-chamber containing automatic apparatus.
G, firing pin. H, position of gun-cotton magazine.
The general reader is probably not aware of the effect on naval warfare produced by the introduction of the auto-mobile torpedo, affecting the constituents of the fleet itself. Formerly a fleet consisted of battle-ships alone, or with store-ships to provide consumable articles; to these were later added despatch-boats for the service indicated by their title; but since the introduction of the torpedo an additional fleet of torpedo-boats is considered necessary for the protection of the battle-ships. All armored ships are expected to carry at least one torpedo-boat, which is designed for operating against the enemy during an action at sea, and the universal adoption of this practice has led to the introduction into fleets of a new type of vessel called torpedo-boat catchers, whose primary duty it is to destroy the torpedo-boats of the enemy. For this purpose these vessels have phenomenal speed, and besides their equipment of auto-mobile torpedoes, are provided with powerful batteries of single-shot and revolving Hotchkiss guns, capable of penetrating all parts of a torpedo-boat. This type of vessel is now being tested by the English and the Continental governments, and forms one of the constituents of their fleets.
The torpedo-boat is undoubtedly one of the features that should be introduced into our new navy, not only for their possible use on the high seas, but for the purpose of supplementing the harbor-defence vessels, while the type of vessel known as the torpedo-boat catcher would be a powerful auxiliary to the armored cruisers on the first line, or the more powerful vessels forming the second line of the coast defence.
NOTES.
For the new navy of the United States Congress has authorized the construction of twenty-five vessels, of which seven will be armored, sixteen unarmored, and two “such floating batteries, rams, or other naval structures for coast defence” as may be determined by the Navy Department. This list embraces five double-turreted Monitors, one armored battle-ship, one armored cruiser, eight partially protected cruisers, one dynamite-gun cruiser, four gun-boats, one despatch-vessel, and two torpedo-boats. Of the twenty vessels already built or ordered but three are in commission. They vary so much in type that the following conventional data may perhaps be of some use (see table on the following page), though it must be remembered that the performances stated are theoretical, except in the cases of the Atlanta, Boston, and Dolphin.
The defects found in the Atlanta when first tested were so easily remedied that the machinery finally developed a maximum horse-power which was only a little less than that required by the contract; while the Boston reached a maximum of 4248.5 horse-power. In his last report to the President the Secretary of the Navy said:
“The Dolphin and the Atlanta having both been completed, and having had trial trips, it is possible to compare them in their results with similar vessels built contemporaneously elsewhere. The Dolphin, of 1500 tons displacement, can be compared with the Alacrity and Surprise, English despatch-vessels of 1400 tons each, and the Milan, a French despatch-vessel of 1550 tons, all built contemporaneously. The Dolphin was designed for 2300 indicated horse-power, the Alacrity and Surprise each 3000, and the Milan 3900. The highest mean horse-power developed upon trial was, in the case of the Dolphin, less than 2200; of the Alacrity, 3173; of the Surprise, 3079; of the Milan, 4132. The highest speed of the Dolphin, resulting from several trials, was 15.11 knots, running light; of the Alacrity, 17.95 knots; of the Surprise, 17.8 knots; of the Milan, 18.4 knots.
“The Atlanta, the sister ship to the Boston, can be compared with the Esmeralda, the Giovanni Bausan, and the Mersey. All three were built in England: the Esmeralda for Chili, the Giovanni Bausan for Italy, and the Mersey for the English government. The Atlanta is of 3000 tons displacement; the Esmeralda, 2920; the Giovanni Bausan, 3086; and the Mersey, 3550. The Atlanta was designed to attain an indicated horse-power of 3500, the Esmeralda and the Giovanni Bausan each 5500, and the Mersey 6000. The trials had of the Atlanta indicate that her engines will develop less than 3500 horse-power, while the Esmeralda developed 6000, the Giovanni Bausan 6680, and the Mersey 6626. The maximum speed of the Atlanta will be less than 15 knots, while that of the Esmeralda was 18.28 knots, the Giovanni Bausan 17.5 knots, the Mersey 17.5 knots.”