(3) Having torpedoes powerful enough to be effective against the ships to be attacked. (4) Dropping the torpedo from a suitable height to prevent its being put out of order by a too great impact or of its rebounding and striking the tail of the torpedoplane. (5) Holding the torpedo in position and dropping it while the torpedoplane is flying towards the ship so that the gyroscope, being started while the torpedoplane is heading for the ship, will direct the torpedo in the direction of the ship. The plane may, of course, change its direction immediately after dropping the torpedo and make its escape, FUTURE TORPEDOPLANES The naval seaplane N C-1, could easily carry two full-size torpedoes. This flying boat has a wing spread of 126 feet and is equipped with three low-compression Liberty motors of 350 H. P. each. It has a cruising speed of 80 miles an hour, weighs 13,000 pounds unloaded and 22,000 pounds fully loaded. The British flying boat constructed by Colonel Porte of the Royal Air Force is larger. It is a triplane, equipped with five Rolls Royce motors. Larger seaplanes are under construction and it is expected that aeroplanes capable of lifting 25 tons will be produced this year and over double that size next year. Larger still will follow. ONE HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR TORPEDO BOATS! Some of the transatlantic flyers being planned are to be capable of covering 3000 miles without stopping. These machines can be converted into torpedoplanes by merely attaching the torpedoes under their planes or at some other convenient place. And then they become flying torpedo-boats, capable of cruising at a speed of about 100 miles an hour and of crossing the Atlantic within 30 hours! A crew of half a dozen men will be sufficient to operate such a torpedoplane. What a marvellous combination of speed, potentiality and mobility! What better weapon can we find for the defence of our coasts and island possessions? An enemy fleet bent on attack or carrying an invading force would have to contend with large torpedoplanes before it could come within 1000 miles of our shores and with smaller torpedoplanes launched from aerodrome ships, such as are recommended by Admiral Rodman. Our island possessions will be most powerful as torpedoplane bases, almost invulnerable. Is this not truly revolutionary in its prospective developed stage? [COPYRIGHTED] U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE, ANNAPOLIS, MD. THE 110-FOOT SUBMARINE CHASERS AND EAGLE BOATS By COMMANDER J. A. FURER, Construction Corps, U. S. Navy The usefulness of naval craft at the lower end of the scale of size and power has been one of the striking lessons of the war. For many years the thought of the naval designer had been directed only toward the production of larger and more powerful types of vessels, whether submarines, destroyers or capital ships. The idea that any surface fighting craft smaller in size than a destroyer could have a place in a well-balanced naval establishment was given up years ago by all first-rate naval powers. The reasoning which led to the abandonment of small craft similar to the former torpedo-boat was correct, from the point of view of the use that could be foreseen for such vessels at that time. However, the rôle played by the submarine, even in the early stages of the European war, brought about new conditions. The destroyer and cruiser forces of the Allied powers were found inadequate for effectively patrolling the waters of the war zone and for combating the activities of the submarine. Pleasure craft and small commercial vessels of all descriptions were converted by Great Britain to this use, so far as possible, by mounting guns of such caliber as could be carried and as were available. Early in 1915, the British Government placed a contract with an American company for 550 motor boats, for the purpose of augmenting the patrol forces of the British Navy. These boats had the following characteristics: Length, 80 feet. Beam, 12 feet 2 inches. Draft, 4 feet 6 inches. Speed, 18 knots. Machinery, two 220 H. P. gasoline engines, built by Standard Motor Construction Company. |