Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I
Forfatter: Archibald Williams
År: 1945
Serie: Engineering Wonders of the World
Forlag: Thomas Nelson and Sons
Sted: London, Edinburgh, Dublin and New York
Sider: 456
UDK: 600 eng - gl.
Volume I with 520 Illustrations, Maps and Diagrams
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{Photo, West and Son, Southsea.)
PICKING UP A TORPEDO AT SEA.
TORPEDOES.
BY ALAN
H. BURGOYNE.
THOUGH most people must have seen
photographs of a torpedo, if not a
torpedo itself, it is doubtful if many
civilians understand how intricate is the in-
ternal mechanism of the steel missile that
has been developed from the invention of the
Austrian officer, Captain Luppis.
Externally a torpedo presents the appear-
ance of a steel cigar, 16 feet 8 inches long,
and having a diameter at its widest part of
18 inches. Its nose is very blunted, and, at
its apex, carries a small, sharp-bladed pro-
peller. Two-thirds of its length from the
front small guide-flanges are fitted in the
hull, and right at the tail are twin propellers,
one behind the other, and revolving on separ-
ate shafts, one of which is placed within the
hollow tube of the other. Then there are
small horizontal and vertical rudders, which,
through the movements of beautifully-arranged
internal - balance mechanism, maintain the
depth and direction of the torpedo after launch-
ing. Beyond these features, and sundry little
holes, movable valves, and screw-heads laid
flush into the steel skin, nothing noticeable is
presented outwardly to elucidate the working
of a torpedo. We may learn, perhaps, that
the weight is 1,227 lbs. ; that the speed for
600 yards is about 30J knots ; and that the
effective range against moving ships is reck-
oned to be 1,000 yards. Of the total weight
given above the charge of dry explosive car-
ried in the nose weighs 188 lbs. Finally, we
may be told that the cost of a torpedo,
according to its type, lies between £200 and
£500. So far so good. Now let us dissect the
tube, and metaphorically cut it in half from
end to end and see what is laid bare.
We discover six distinct and separate
parts. Beginning from the nose, these are
named as follows: (1) the head, (2) the
air chamber, (3) the balance
i. k • Divisions.
chamber, (4) the engine-room,
(5) the buoyancy chamber, and (6) the tail
and propellers. In times of peace the torpedo
is fitted for practice purposes with what is
called a “ collision-head,” made of thin copper
and filled with water up to a weight equalling
that of the “ war-head.” In these practices
an indicating light, the Holmes light, is so
placed inside the torpedo that, when the head
collapses against an obstacle, the influx of
water causes an immediate display of smoke
and flame, making it a fairly easy business to
(1,408)
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