| Show 1 TORPEDOES MADE IURMlESS It By Meansof a Balloon the Approach of Submarine Vessels I lit I Can Now Be Detected 1 I 6 r BY LIEUT R SCALLAN tS The baloon is nn novelty on board ship Many European battleships are t already equipped with apparatus for its reception filling and maneuvering Its purpose so far however has merely I been to extend the lookout horizon and I detect the approach of a distant enemy en-emy but henceforth the balloon enters I I Ion i I-on a nstr role that of defending the navies of the world from the insidious j f attacks of submarine vessels by ex j I tending the field of view beneath the I surface of the ocean The story of the changes in naval material which have resulted in the j j adoption of the balloon as an adjunct I to the warship is both interesting and instructive Ever since steam and iron I accomplished such a radical change in j modem navies gradually transforming I proach it still within certain limits watching his target by means of an instrument j in-strument called the periscope consisting I consist-ing of a small mirror attached to the boat through a long tube When finally I he has arrived within so short a dis j tane that even the little mirror might i attract attention he draws it in as a i snail does his horns and now himself I deprived of vision but rejoicingin the knowledge of his unconscious adver j i sarys position and capable of making this i his way toward it without mistake he can proceed onward and discharge a i 1 torpedo at the sleeping giant utterly i i I demolishing at one stroke the stout test I t-est battleship that ever waved her ensign en-sign to the breeze There is but one 1 I chance of failure namely a sudden 1 change in the battleships course or1 1 speed after the mirror has been drawn in which change would not only defeat j i de-feat the meditated attack but would I also expose the submarine vessel to i II I I j I I i I 1 i = = = 1 I i = = j 1 x I = = = alI al-I iP 4 f N I I J N cy 1II t iit1Ifli1 = = = = = = = 1Nl1 W M f 1fnn Wf Ibkc JNI = = TORttlO FOC ATe My < eN F O A 6 > > lY THEIf PRO = = = WILL NOW BE WATCHDFROI1 ALOOIHA OTtfEIPOSl ioN TElECMPIi D 2 ntOUCK Fu 1EcTRIC CPBLE TO Tilt nct orTliL Mtt OFW R = = NEW METHOD OF DETECTING TORPEDO BY MEANS OF A BALLOON the old threedeckers of Nelsons day into the terrible 20knot battleships of our times the sole aim of naval invent j inven-t w and engineers has been to devise uessive ways and means of destroying destroy-ing the product of their own skill and t ingenuity Firt came the torpedo a t rrible weapon carried by the warship j itself to destroy its fellow speedily fol 1 l4vtl by the torpedo boat the sole I mission of which was to endeavor total I to-tal unperceived within close range of the 1atMrship and quietly discharge a w hitehead at its vitals To effect this purpose the smaller boats speed had iu > ssarily to be increased or in other word more powerful engines had to be l built within a much smaller compass com-pass Now in naval affairs as in nature the theory of evolution seems to hold good so the necessary sequence to a torpedo boat wan the catcher or destroyer de-stroyer of torpedo boats larger and I stouter than these latter vessels but possessing the speed of an express trai1 and an armament of light quick j I firing guns of sufficient power to warrant II war-rant the cognomen destroyer I The only resource left to the torpedo boats lay in seeking to become invisible I invisi-ble ur at least very difficult of detection detec-tion Th > 1S9T type of this class is a lowlying black hideous craft very unsea worthy and unreliable but practical I I prac-tical indistinguishable at night or at any distance These very qualities however only tend to defeat the very I end aimed at for a torpedo cannot be fired with any measure of success beyond about 600 yards and surprises I at night are both risky and difficult now that all menofwar are fitted out I with powerful electric searchlights Consequently naval designers disappointed I disap-pointed at the nonsuccess of the torpedo I tor-pedo boat sought for the next devel I ooment in the evolution of that vessel 11 anJ found it in the submarine boat that climax of the imagination which j furnished Jules Verne with such good i I I material for a romance and that represents j rep-resents to sailors what the flying mat ma-t rhine does to landsmen the ultima thuie of locomotion Only a few months ago the account of a trial irip of the I Holland submarine boat at Elizabeth N J attracted the attention of every civilized government and its apparent success seemed to sound the death knell of the huge cumbersome ironclad and i predestine the naval superiority of whichever nation effected its purchase DEFYING THE HOLLAND I i But apart from the engrossing question ques-tion as to which government would succeed suc-ceed in acquiring the rights of Mr Hollands invention arose the equally important proposition of how to nullify nul-lify partially at least if not entirely the seemingly i overwhelming preponderant preponder-ant > of advantages which such a vessel ves-sel ust possess Both officers and men began to ask themselves How can we fight ak enemy that we can neither > ee nor hear that can approach us under water in broad daylight and destroy de-stroy the ship at any moment The solution of the riddle seemed impossi be yet there were some who philo sopbicaiy reflected that the last danger dan-ger vvouid without doubt be met and prepare for as many others had been bt > fofe aiid as events showed they were vipht as philosophers always are or claim to be Already before the new ecmv is fairly equipped for battle bat-tle its supposed invulnerability is disk dis-k counted its detection assured and its I pretensions ridiculed as preposterous I It remained for a Frenchman to discover i dis-cover the means by which this submarine subma-rine prodigy is to be defied and his plan consists simply of attaching a balloon bal-loon to the warship from whose eminence emi-nence it has been proved by the experiments ex-periments of the French government that tl movements of a submarine i vessel can bu easily detected long before be-fore it reaches a dangerous proximity k to its intended victim A little explanation expla-nation of the system of submarine attack at-tack is necessary for th complete understanding I un-derstanding of the advantages in the use of a balloon The actual creation of Vernes fertile brain is stiii a myth existing only in his famous book but boats do exist which like the Holland P travel ordinarily along the surface but I can when neccssaiy submerge themselves them-selves entirely and are yet capable of proceeding several hundred yards in any particular directon ti Hence the enemy to be faced by the ironclad Is one wh as soon as he it thinks himself within the range of vision f vis-ion w4 l disappear beneath the surface a and having taken the direction of his objective will silently invisibly ap 1iI 11e 1BL H p retaliation if it should come to the surface j sur-face to search for its lost adversary The French government has acted on the well known and undeniable fact thatfrom the car of a balloon it is possible pos-sible to see objects under water even at a considerable depth and within a large area The explanation is that though the refraction of the rays of light prevents a person near the surface from seeing objects at even slight j depths yet the higher one goes the easier it becomes to detect a submerged sub-merged object as long as the distance does not prevent vision altogether As an example if a straight iron bar be suspended half in and half out of the water it will seem to a person standing near to be bent at the surface like the legs of a pair of compasses but if the observer happens to be sta ling in the car of a balloon and the latter begins to rise he will remark that the bar seems to be gradually straightening itself it-self out and the higher the balloon rises the larger the area becomes within with-in which submerged objects can be distinguished dis-tinguished and the plainer they appear ap-pear to the eye Now imagine the balloon bal-loon in telephonic communication with a warship and the whole thing is readily read-ily understood FATE OF SUBMARINE VESSEL And now let us contemplate the fate of the submarine vessel Advised from above of the enemys stealthy approach ap-proach the ironclad will instantly change its course a movement which as we have seen the submarine boat cannot perceive for being completely submerged at the moment toothing is visible for more than a few feet ahead while to display a searchlight would be incompatible with concealment Pursuing I Pur-suing its blind journey it will pass in close proximity to the battleship and j I become an easy prey for the latters j torpedoes accurately aimEd and fired from information furnished by the observed I ob-served station in the balloon Furthermore i Further-more it is claimed that it will be practicable prac-ticable to shell the submarine vessel with a vertical plunging fire from the ship and though the plan sounds ridiculous I ri-diculous yet some measures of success might no doubt result as the boat I j cannot be at any great depth since it is aiming for the body of the ironclad and the plunging fire will not be greatly great-ly deflected through striking the water vertically I The effect of one lucky hit at a submarine sub-marine boat can easily be appreciated I the slightest leak and the unfortunate I boat goes plunging down down to the i I uttermost depths while the imprisoned i I crew like so many rats caught in a trap knowing that escape is impossible I impossi-ble see themselves doomed to a horrible I hor-rible death slowly asphyxiated the very thought of which drives shudder j through the frame j I Remarkable indeed has this contest j been between the ironclad and the torpedo tor-pedo boatremarkable from many i points of view but more especially from that of the contrasts afforded by the two methods of fighting adopted by the two adversaries At night the torpedo boat puts out its fires and seeks to become invisible The ironclad I iron-clad immediately sweeps the ocean far I and near with its powerful searchlights search-lights turning night into day The torpedo boat seeks to approach in silence si-lence and is equipped with noiseless engines The ironclad on the other j hand bristles from the waters level i to the crows nest with light guns i which in a conflict will bark most infernally t in-fernally The torpedo boat again strains every nut and bolt to increase I its speed the ironclad on the contrary is surrounded with huge ponderous I steel torpedo nets which effectually I i bar progress speedy or otherwise Asa As-a last resort the torpedo boat has determined I de-termined to travel below the surface to sink out of sight but in vain for I the ironclad pressing the balloon into its services as a detective laughs jon temptuously at the endeavors of its puny opponent to effect beneath the I surface what it had found impossible to do honestly and above board What will bft the ultimate outcome I of this duel of ingenuity between pigmy and giant |
