But instead of having the increased current caused by striking the torpedo to fire the torpedo directly, a better way is to have it simply make a signal on shore. Then, when friendly vessels are to pass, the firing battery can be disconnected; and when the friendly ship bumps the torpedo, the working of the signal shows not only that the circuit through the fuse is all right, but also that the circuit closer is all right, so that, had the friendly ship been a hostile ship, she would certainly have been destroyed.
While the management of the torpedo is thus simple, the defense of a harbor becomes a complex problem, on account of the time and expense required to perfect it, and the training of a corps of men to operate the torpedoes.
In order to detect the presence of torpedoes in an enemy's harbor, an instrument has been invented by Capt. McEvoy, called the "torpedo detecter," in which the action is somewhat similar to that of the induction balance, the iron of a torpedo case having the effect of increasing the number of lines of force embraced by one of two opposing coils, so that the current induced in it overpowers that induced in the other, and a distinct sound is heard in a telephone receiver in circuit with them. As yet, this instrument has met with little practical success, but, its principle being correct, we can say with considerable confidence that the reason of its non-success probably is that the coils and current used are both too small.
Lieut. Fiske described the spar torpedo and the various classes of movable torpedoes, including the Lay. His conclusion is that the most successful of the movable torpedoes is the Simms, with which very promising experiments have been conducted under the superintendence of Gen. Abbot.
Recent experiments in England have shown that the Whitehead torpedo, over which control ceases after it is fired, is not so formidable a weapon when fired at a ship under way as many supposed, for the simple reason that it can be dodged. But an electrical torpedo, over which control is exercised while it is in motion through the water, cannot be dodged, provided it receives sufficient speed. For effective work against ships capable of steaming fifteen knots per hour, the torpedo should have a speed of twenty knots. There is no theoretical difficulty in the way of producing this, for a speed of eleven knots has already been recorded, though an electric torpedo, to get this speed, would have to be larger than a Whitehead having the same speed. It may be conceived that a torpedo carrying 50 lb. of gun-cotton, capable of going 20 knots per hour, so that it would pass over a distance of 500 yards in about 45 sec., and yet be absolutely under control all the time, so that it can be constantly kept pointed at its target, would be a very unpleasant thing for an enemy to meet.
Military telegraphy is a second use of electricity in warfare. Lieut. Fiske traces its origin to our own civil war. Foreign nations took the hint from us, and during the invasion of France the telegraph played a most important part. In military telegraph trains, miles of wire are carried on reels in specially constructed wagons, which hold also batteries and instruments. Some of the wire is insulated, so that it can rest on the ground, and thus be laid out with great speed, while other wire is bare, and is intended to be put on poles, trees, etc. For mountain service the wires and implements are carried by pack animals. Regularly trained men are employed, and are drilled in quickly running lines, setting up temporary stations, etc. In the recent English operations in Egypt, the advance guard always kept in telegraphic communication with headquarters and with England, and after the battle of Tel-el-Kebir news of the victory was telegraphed to the Queen and her answer received in forty-five minutes.
The telephone is also used with success in warfare, and in fact sometimes assists the telegraph in cases where, by reason of the haste with which a line has been run, the current leaks off. A telephone may then be used to receive the message—and for a transmitter a simple buzzer or automatic circuit breaker, controlled by an ordinary key. In the case of vessels there is much difficulty in using the telegraph and the telephone, as the wire may be fouled and broken when the ship swings by a long chain. In England in the case of a lightship this difficulty has been surmounted, or rather avoided, by making hollow the cable by which the ship rides, and running an insulated wire along the long tube thus formed inside. But the problem is much simplified when temporary communication only is desired between ships at anchor, between a ship and the shore, or even between a ship and a boat which has been sent off on some special service, such as reconnoitering, sounding, etc. In this case portable telephones are used, in which the wire is so placed on a reel in circuit with the telephone that communication is preserved, even while the wire is running off the reel.
The telegraph and telephone are both coming largely into use in artillery experiments, for example, in tracking a vessel as she comes up a channel so that her exact position at each instant may be known, and in determining the spot of fall of a projectile. In getting the time of flight of projectiles electricity is of value; by breaking a wire in circuit with a chronograph, the precise instant of start to within a thousandth of a second being automatically registered. Velocimeters are a familiar application of electricity somewhat analogous. In these, wires are cut by the projectile at different points in its flight, and the breaking of the electric current causes the appearance of marks on a surface moving along at a known speed. The velocity of the projectile in going from one wire to another can then be found.
Electricity is also used for firing great guns, both in ships and forts. In the former, it eliminates the factor of change produced by the rolling of the ship during the movement of the arm to fire the gun. The touch of a button accomplishes the same thing almost instantaneously. Moreover, an absolutely simultaneous broadside can be delivered by electricity. The officer discharges the guns from a fighting tower, whither the wires lead, and the men can at once lie down out of the enemy's machine guns, as soon as their own guns are ready for discharge. The electric motor will certainly be used very generally for handling ordnance on board ships not very heavily plated with armor, since a small wire is a much more convenient mode of conveying energy to a motor of any kind, and is much less liable to injury, than a comparatively large pipe for conveying steam, compressed air, or water under pressure. Besides, the electric motor is the ideal engine for work on shipboard, by reason of its smooth and silent motion, its freedom from dirt and grease, the readiness with which it can be started, stopped, and reversed, and its high efficiency. Indeed, in future we may look to a protected apparatus for all such uses in every fort and every powerful ship.
In photographing the bores of great guns, electric lights are used, and they make known if the gun is accurately rifled and how it is standing the erosion of the powder gases.