Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORPEDO CRAFT 421 - SWI FT - -NILE- Speed - //. Knots I-HP 12000 Tonnage 1/940 Same -SWIFT- Speed-38.3 Knots LHP. 30.000 Tonnage 1824 length definite recognition. Each advance in calibre of the tertiary armament has been induced by the growing—or possible—effectiveness of torpedo craft, whether destroyers, torpedo boats, or submarines. As years advanced, destroyers developed along ordinary lines, until in 1897 such mem- bers of the British public as were present at the Naval Review were astounded by the meteoric appearances of the speedy A DIAGRAM COMPARING THE LENGTH, TONNAGE, HORSE-POWER, AND SPEED OF THE OLD SECOND- CLASS BATTLESHIP “ NILE ” AND THE NEW DESTROYER “ SWIFT.” the displacement of the torpedo boats they were designed to tackle. Let it be said here that the “ destroyer ” undoubtedly came into existence primarily as an antidote to the French torpedo boats, and that its success and speedy multiplication rendered at least a quarter of our neighbour’s small craft, as well as most of those possessed by other European nations, immediately obsolete. Our policy of type initiation bore the excellent fruit that has ever fallen to our lot, as instance the most recent cases of the battleship Dread- nought, the armoured cruiser Invincible, and the Tribal class of destroyer. We promptly established a lead, and by doing so added vastly to our experience in the use of the new craft—an experience profiting naval officer and designer alike. ’At this point the submarine boat—which will be dealt with separately—came promi- nently to the front. Its general acceptance by all navies did no little towards developing the secondary and tertiary batteries of ships of the line, and the menace it held out to its greater brethren received more and moro BATTLESHIP DISPLACEMENT 25,000 DESTROYER COMPLEMENT SPEED 1825 TONS 22 KNOTS 20.000 u??:. TONS. 30000 HORSE POWER 37 KNOTS AN INTERESTING COMPARISON OF A FIRST-CLASS BATTLESHIP AND A DESTROYER. The squares are proportional to the displacement, horse- power, complement, and speed of the two vessels.