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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TORPEDOES.
435
through which the torpedo shall continue its
passage to the hull.
The charge itself consists of gun-cotton,
either built up in sections shaped to fit the
conical head, or else compressed into one solid
mass which just fits the steel shell, and has a
centre tube pierced for the reception of the
detonator. When the head has been filled, a
air is led through a valve, which automat-
ically keeps the feed pressure constant, to
the engines.
At the back of the air chamber comes (3)
the 'balance chamber. This contains the mech-
anism for keeping the torpedo at the depth
at which it has been arranged to run. It
would take too long to explain the principle
READY TO DISCHARGE A TORPEDO FROM ITS TUBE.
(Photo, Gale and Polden.)
thin containing plate is placed over the back
of it, and it is fitted directly on to the next
of the six sections—(2) the air chamber. This
is a cylinder having walls from J to | of an
inch thick, and capable of withstanding a
pressure of 2,250 lbs. to the square inch. It
is made of the very finest high-tensile steel,
and only a few firms are entrusted with its
manufacture. The result of the explosion of an
air-cylinder charged to the enormous pressure
used can best be left to the imagination. At
the top of the rear end of the air chamber is a
small tube—the supply tube—by which the
in detail, but briefly stated the movements of
the torpedo in the horizontal sense are con-
trolled by the pressure of the surrounding
water at various depths upon a very delicate
movable “ hydrostatic disc ” in the wall of
the outer hull. The disc is made water-tight
by an india-rubber joint, and is pushed out
by a spiral spring inside, which can be ad-
justed to equal the pressure exerted by
the water at various depths. In conjunction
with the disc a pendulum works according
to the inclination of the torpedo. Both
are connected with a “servo-motor,” a