OCR Text |
Show One man with a dondlr torpcilo floating about beneath the surface of the water. The torpedo charged so that It will Mow a (t rent warship to destruction; the man provided with meant by which to discharge hla dangerous weapon In a way to do tho moat barm. Such I the Intent of all torpedo posts a one-man affair, not lamer (ban a large Ann, and yet aa effective In Ita purposes, If the theory of Ita Inventor la correct, aa one of the Holland Hol-land submarine boat a. The man who haa perfected till a offenalve and Invlalble destroyer la Thomaa.J. Mortarlty, for many yeara the mocbanlcal eipert lu the employ of the United Rtntca government at Uw torpedo atatlon at Newport. Mr. Mortarlty waa lung aKO Ira-preaaed Ira-preaaed with the Idea that the only way by which to mako tho action of tho torpedo actually certain waa to put an experienced operator Inetclo It; (or, while Ita automutlc machinery operatea with almost human Intelligence, Intelli-gence, thero la no ccrlnlnty that It will on long ranges do exactly what Is required of It. From tun Idea of putting a man In-. side It to that of placing a man out-aldo out-aldo It, the trnnaltlon waa easy; and It then became a problem to give him a aafo shelter, means of locomotion, of submerging and of discharging tho projectile. To accomplish these essentials he has ilevlncd a clgar-ahapcd boat of bronr.o plates, about ten feet long, threo fi-cl deep and five feet wide. Ileneath thla Is suspended the Whitehead White-head torpedo In a frame and It Is propelled pro-pelled by romprcBNcd air when the operator haa approached near tho murk. When In the boat the operator Ilea on a cradle astride of its support. Padded prongs on thn cradle curve over his shoulders and hold him In place, providing also a purchaao for hla arma when operating the lever In front of him. He weara a waistcoat mncle of two thlckneaaea of airtight materlnl, to which la attached a small mouth tube by which It la Inflated. It aervea aa a padding for tho body while the op-orator op-orator Is In tho boat and also as a life preserver In an emergency. Air Is admitted through the rear mnat and circulates throughout the boat. Thla air tube la. however, automatically auto-matically rloaed when the boat la beneath be-neath the surface of tho water, and the cunning tower la completely covered cov-ered by menna of a hydrostatic platon, open to the water at the bottom of the boat, the preaaurq of tho water at the lncrruttcd depth forcing up the platon, pla-ton, which actuntea a lever to force a valve over the air tulKt opening, thus preventing tho entry of water through It. The same motion of the platon operatea op-eratea levera connected to a valve In the compressed air tank In tho bottom bot-tom of the boat, opening t and thus allowing a line atresm of air to Issue therefrom Into the boat, and supplying supply-ing the operator with fresh air. As the boat again reaches the surfsre the preaaure on the byilroatatlc platon la released because thero Is less depth of water and the air tubo Is again opened and the air tank valve cloned. The torpedo Is fired by compreaaed air. but on leaving Ita casing the propelling pro-pelling mechanism of the projectile la set In motion, and It starta off under Ita own power for tho mark. |