SECTIONAL DIAGRAM SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF A JAPANESE TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYER. t, explosive charge, k, cartridge primer; o, safety device to check premature explosion; a, depth-regulating piston; e, rod of swinging pendulum d; i, compressed air chamber; fand g, tubes that contain rods connecting depth-regulating device a, e, d, with diving rudders; 1, bevel gear for causing propellers m to rotate in opposite directions, n, vertical rudder. LONGITUDINAL SECTION THROUGH A SCHWARTZKOPFF TORPEDO, A TYPE USED IN THE RUSSIAN NAVY. THE TORPEDO BOAT IN MODERN WARFARE. The Russo-Japanese war has proved the wisdom of building torpedo boat destroyers of the dimensions and power that characterize the latest models. With their length of 220 feet, beam of over 20 feet and draft of between 9 and 10 feet, giving a displacement of between 300 and 400 tons, the modern destroyer is a very serviceable sea boat, which was more than could be said for the torpedo boat of an earlier decade. The high freeboard and the provision of a raised turtle-back forward, render these boats able to maintain their high speed in fairly rough water, and in the present operations the flotillas of Japanese destroyers seem to have been perfectly well able to keep the sea in all weather. Evidently the lessons taught by the disasters that happened to some of the high-powered British torpedo boat destroyers, when they were badly wrenched, and in one case actually broken in two in a heavy seaway, have been laid to heart, and the Japanese destroyers which did such good work around Port Arthur are evidently seaworthy vessels. A surprising feature of torpedo boat service in the Far Eastern struggle is THE MODERN startling events that marked the opening of the Russo-Japan war have established the truth of that statement, for in the hands of an alert, intelligent and daring people, this deadly weapon, in the first half hour of hostilities, so badly crippled two of the finest battleships and one of the best cruisers of the Russian navy that they had to be beached, and a blow was struck at the naval prestige of Russia from which that country will take many years to recover. At the same time, the Port Arthur torpedo attack must be judged at its true value; and, therefore, we must not lose sight of the fact that information is finding its way to the public ear which makes it pretty evident that the Russian ships were not looking for, and were totally unpre the wide range of duties which were assigned to the destroyers. Scouting work which ordinarily would be given to cruisers from 3,000 to 6,000 tons displacement was satisfactorily carried out by these little 400-ton craft. By reference to the section diagram on page 77 the reader can obtain a very complete idea of a torpedo boat interior. Forward in the bow is a collision compartment formed by a bulkhead located several feet from the bow. Aft of that is the chain locker, and then the torpedoes, of which half a dozen are carried on a vessel of this character. Since the torpedo boat carries no armor whatever, the torpedoes, the war-heads, and the magazines are placed below the water-line, where they are safe from any except a plunging shot. The torpedoes are stowed with their war-heads containing the guncotton charge unscrewed, the latter being stowed separately, as shown in the engraving. Aft of the war-heads is the forward magazine and a compartment given up to the general ship's stores. On the deck above are the quarters for the crew, which will number between fifty and sixty men in the larger boats. TORPEDO. pared to receive, a torpedo attack. If this is the case, what has been proved is that if the torpedo boat can get unmolested within easy range, the torpedo is fairly sure of its mark-and this we all knew well enough before the war began. The Whitehead torpedo is undergoing constant development, the latest improvement being the introduction of the gyroscope for the purpose of keeping the torpedo more accurately upon its true course. The latest patterns include this device and are generally of larger diameter and greater length than the earlier types. We show on the preceding page an illustration of a Schwartzkopff torpedo, which is the type used in the Russian navy. It is merely a modification of the Whitehead and operates upon the same principles. The torpedo here shown consists of a cigar-shaped body of phosphor-bronze or steel, divided into six separate compartments as follows: (1) The magazine, (2) the secret chamber, (3) the reservoir, (4) the engine compartment, (5) the buoyancy compartment, (6) the bevel-gear chamber. The magazine contains the explosive charge, which consists of a series of disks of wet guncotton packed snugly together. The cartridge primer, k, for exploding the charge, consists of several cylinders of dry guncotton packed in a tube which passes through perforations in the guncotton disks, t. The foremost of the six cylinders contains a detonating primer consisting of fulminate of mercury. The small propeller at the extreme point of the torpedo is part of an ingenious safety device for preventing premature explosion in handling. When not in use, the firing pin is held in check by a sleeve; but as soon as the torpedo strikes the water the rotation of the little propellers releases the sleeve and leaves the firing pin ready to strike the detonating primer the moment the torpedo meets an obstruction. The "secret chamber" is the most ingenious part of this most ingenious piece of mechanism. Its piston, pendulum and springs perform the important work of regulating the horizontal rudders which keep the torpedo at the proper depth. Immediately in front of the secret chamber is a narrow compartment perforated on its walls to allow the outside water to enter. The front wall of the secret chamber carries a piston, a, which can move in the direction of the axis of the torpedo. The pressure of the water is resisted by three coiled springs, as shown in the longitudinal section. At a certain predetermined depth, according to the tension on the springs, the springs and water pressure will be in equilibrium; below that depth the piston will be driven in by the water pressure, and above it the springs will push forward the piston. To prevent too sudden oscillation in this action, the piston is connected to the rod, e, of a swinging pendulum, d. The motion of the piston is communicated by rods, which pass through the hollow stay rods of the air chamber to the horizontal or diving rudders. If the torpedo goes too deep the piston moves back, the pendulum swings forward and the rudders are elevated, the reverse movements taking place if the immersion is not sufficient. When a torpedo dives into It is the water, the first part of its run is made on a wave line which crosses and recrosses the desired and ultimate level of immersion, the piston and the pendulum gradually bringing the torpedo to a true course. The reservoir forms the central body of the "fish." made of forged cast steel and is tested up to seventy atmospheres. A tuyere at its after end feeds the air to the engine. The torpedo is driven by a three-cylinder engine, with cylinders 120 deg. apart, acting on a common crank. The engine is started by means of a valve which is opened by a lever striking a projecting lug on the launching tube, when the torpedo is fired. The buoyancy chamber is an airtight compartment, the purpose of which is to afford the proper buoyancy to the torpedo; it carries a piece of lead ballast, by shifting which the trim can be controlled. The two tubes, f and g, carry the connecting rods for controlling the horizontal diving rudders. Next comes the bevel-gear chamber, where is located the gear, l, for causing the propellers, m, to rotate in opposite directions. The after propeller is keyed to the main shaft; the forward propeller is keyed to a sleeve which rotates freely upon the main shaft, and the motion is reversed by means of two bevel-wheel gears which turn on а spindle at right angles to the main shaft. The "tail" consists of a stock with vertical vanes, which act as the vertical rudder, and two frames which carry the horizontal rudders. The torpedo is fired from a launching tube by the explosion of a small charge of gunpowder behind it. This compresses the air which surrounds the rear half of the torpedo and thrusts it out of the tube without any serious jar. The range and speed of the torpedoes vary with the size. The weapon here shown is 14 inches in diameter, 15 feet in length, carries 90 pounds of guncotton and has a speed of 28 knots for a range of 800 yards. The 18-inch Whitehead torpedo is 16 feet 7% inches in length, carries a charge of 220 pounds of guncotton and has a speed of 31 knots for 1,000 yards. INTERIOR OF The story of the complicated character of the interior of a modern battleship is one that has grown somewhat stale in the telling, and it is not the fault of the magazine writer and the occasional correspondent of Sunday supplements, if the general public is not satisfied that a great battleship or cruiser is complicated beyond the power of words to express. In saying that the battleship is complicated we must be careful to remember that complication does not imply confusion; and that in all the practi A BATTLESHIP. vessel, but will leave it to the diagram to tell its own story. The drawing is what is known as an inboard profile; that is to say, it is a vertical, central, longitudinal section through the whole length of the ship. The huge structure of which we thus obtain an interior view, is a little under 450 feet in length from the extreme tip of the ram to the end of the rudder. The foundation of the whole is the keel, which is nothing more nor less than a deep plate girder, 3 feet 6 inches in depth, extending from the in cable achievements of engineering, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a structure which, in spite of the many parts of which it is made up and the enormous elaboration of detail that it manifests, is really so harmoniously proportioned, or is better fitted to the ends for which it was designed. There are some subjects of which an illustration will tell more in five minutes than tongue or pen can explain in an hour; and in presenting the accompanying view of the interior of one of the latest battleships of the United States Navy, we shall not attempt to give any elaborate description of the 21. Officers' galley. 22. Firemen's room. 23. Boiler room. 24. Firemen's wash room. 25. Trunk to room. 26. Armory. evaporating 27. Evaporator room. board end of the ram structure to the rudder post. Bisecting it at every 3 feet of its length occurs one of the plate girder frames or ribs, which extend athwartship, and run up to the under edge of the armor shelf, where they are reduced to a depth of say from 18 to 12 inches, the frames extending up the sides of the ship to the level of the upper deck. On the outside of these frames is riveted the outer plating of the ship, and upon the inside of the frames, extending as high up as the under side of the water-line belt, say 4 or 5 feet below the waterline, is riveted an inner shell of plat ing. The space between the outer and inner plating is divided up by the frames into transverse water-tight chambers 3 feet in width, and every one of these spaces is subdivided by seven or eight longitudinal plate girders which are built into the double bottom, as it is called, parallel with the keel and extending, most of them, the entire length from stem to stern. Consequently it will be seen that the space between the outer and inner shells of the ship's bottom is divided into an innumerable number of separate compartments, measuring 3 feet in depth by 4 feet in length by about as entrance of the fragments of heavy, high-explosive shells, bursting within the ship above the water-line, a steel deck, 2 to 3 inches in thickness, known the protective deck, extends at about the level of the water-line over the whole of the vitals, and is continued in a gently curving slope to the ram forward and to the stem aft. In the vessel here shown this steel deck is 12 inches thick on the flat and 3 inches thick on the slopes. Now, the space below the protective deck is divided up by a large number of transverse, water-tight bulkheads of steel plating, there being nineteen 6 feet in width. The plates are securely riveted together. Above the inner floor or platform the central portion of the vessel is taken up by the magazines, boiler rooms and engine rooms. These because of their vast importance. are known as the ship's vitals, and great care is taken to provide them against the entrance of heavy projectiles of the enemy, and, as far as may be, against the attack of the still more deadly torpedo. The engines and boilers are so proportioned as to height that they do not extend above the water-line; and to protect them from plunging shot, or from the 46. Steering machinery room. 47. Fresh water. 48. Trimming tank. They of these bulkheads altogether. extend from the inner shell of the vessel to the under side of the protective deck. They are riveted perfectly water-tight, communication from compartment to compartment being by water-tight doors. Forward in the bow are the trimming tanks, used to assist in bringing the vessel to an even keel. Then abaft of the collision bulkhead are bread and dry provision stores, and the construction stores. In the next compartment, which is divided into three decks, we have on the floor of the ship a storeroom for torpedo gear, submarine mines, etc. Above this is |