Show from prom tle the new kew york post rost march 2 1 SUBMARINE ae WARFARE the dest Zest destruction ruction of the steam sloop of 0 war by a torpedo is an event in the war worthy of more attention than it has received torpedoes have bare been used in all naval wars in this century but uniformly with wib wih such ill success that though there were always ingenious enious men ready with new contrivance f r blowing wing up an eremya ship seamen came to think little of this danger Di during irino the war of the revolution david businell bashnel Bus hneil bnell 1 a citizen of connecticut contrived a machine which he be called an american ts turtle irtle irtie 11 intended to be used for destroying british hips bips then blockading our coast his turtle was arranged to accommodate a man who was to 0 o apply the explosive shell to the ships bottom it was in fact a submarine boat wa ich was made to hold air enough to last one man half an hour during that time titre be was obliged to do his bia work and make good bib bis escape the shell or magazine containing r the powder was to be fastened to the abiba bottom with a screw and exploited by means of clockwork mith with this machine an attempt was made to blow up the eagle eagie sixty couri four foun gun ship lying at an chorin new york harbor but this as well as several other attempts failed it was found impossible to control the direct liin itin and the time of explosion with accuracy mr bushnell Bus hneil bnell however gave the british a great fright while they occupied philadelphia by another contrivance ivanc isanc a large number of powder kegg kegs set adrift and so connected and arranged as to explode wh ahn n they come in contact with any anyon j ct some of thee kegs exploded on the ice in in the delaware and give great alarm to the enemas seamen who looked with suspicion at every floating object and fired industriously at all kegs and barrels they saw in the water A song bong was wrilen ten len upon this occurrence which was known as the battle of the keg 22 robert fulton the inventor of the steamboat contracted a torpedo which was exhibited in 1805 in england alili grill an two years later in our harbor where a vessel dev ted tea purpose was blown up and destroyed fulton was much excited at his bis success and imagined imagine d that it would effect important import impo ant changes in in maritime warfare in 1810 be tie published an ihus grated treatise on torpedo war and submarine explosions Fult Ful fulgona onya tona torpedo consisted of two cases of powder so fastened together by a rope a as i when they floated squarely down I 1 upon the bows of a ship to strike on each eade bi de the explosion exposi on was timed by clock work samuel colt the inventor of the repeating fire arms constructed also aiso a autharine but aut marine battery which was believed at one time to be very perfect several experiments were made with perfect it in this harbor and a vessel was c mple tely destroyed by one explosion the secret of his bis invention was we b lieve sold to the government it might be well to look up this matter it all is true that was promised at the time colts colla torpedo was vas before the public it ight be possible to enter the harbor of charleston with it and blow up the ibe rebel ironclads iron tron clade there which have formed an important reserve deserve force for the enemy during the crimean war the russia russians ins encumbered cumb ered the harbor rt of cron Cren stadt with torpedoes ingeniously placed to blow up vessels which might strike against them of 0 course stich sch an arrangement as this is perilous to friends as well as enemies and is too troublesome for practical use unless all intercourse with the port is a to cease du during r ng the p present war wan ar the rebels have very industriously planted the southern waters with torpedoes of all boits botts styles and shapes but with very little effect the mississippi was guarded by y torpedoes at columbus and belch new OrieAn orean abut dut but the swift current of the river made these machin machina a useless there the ba bab bas a sounds bounds and creeks of north and south carolina and georgia have been covered with torpedoes torpedo ep but except to make our seamen keep a sharp lookout they have done little or no harm barm b arm until the destruction test ruction of the housatonic 0 0 e of the monitors rn ren upon an internal machine in lit 0 isabal sound lat ial t spring but was not d disabled isa bled the ironsides was struck by another but scat scarcely cely injured and though it was not uncommon for one of our fleet near charleston to ee a torpedo torpe dop the rebel bureau of infernal machines ras fas kasnot not hitherto paid expenses all the ingenuity ingeni ity which bas baa been spent upon the construction of submarine batteries has failed to enable the managers to control w tb th sufficient accuracy the motions t ani and the explosion 4 f the machines t was the success of the attempt upon the accidental or was it the result of new and beuter better expedient it this thia is a q question of great interest to our navy i whose officers are no doubt industriously dinv inv investigating estigo ting it we have heard that the rebels bave have been for some bome time tune a submarine boat intended to guide and apply the torpedo or it is known that the attack ou ort be he ironsides was made by th help of such a boat Is it possible that they ar now abie able to move be ow the surface of me the w iten iter with sufficient ease and certainty to mke make the application and ex posio n 0 of a torpedo reasonably certain tali talt if BO they have gaind an important unimportant eucless huc ruc cess and attali attall eda ed a result which will make the blockade bervice service henceforth on any coast as dangerous as it has heretofore been dexa cious the facts at this time before the public in il r gard eard to the destruction of the housatonic mave rive reason to believe that the torpedo which exploded under her was applied by the help of a submarine it if it bad been drifted upon herlt herit her it must have struck her bows bowa on one side orthe or the other instead of that it appear appears sto to have been pushed up against the tide or cur rent till it reached her stern and there it was it hired fired 31 |