A HUMAN TORPEDO.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 77, 7 April 1910, Page 3

A HUMAN TORPEDO.

A problem that has long been exercising naval men is how to escape from a submarine that is disabled under waters A daring experiment was recently mad© by a young American officer. Ensign Whiting, to mid out %vhether the submarine's torpedotube provides a means of escape for imprisoned seamen. He was not the first 'to think of this; some years ago an attempt was made to shoot a dog through a tube, but the animal was killed, and this line of investigation was abandoned as hopeless. Ensign Whiting, however, was not satisfied with this test, and determined to make another with himself. To do this meant placing himself in the torpedo tube and allowing another man to shoot him out into the water by compressed air, just as a torpedo is fired at a ship. The force required to launch a torpedo against the pressure of water is, of course, great, and Whiting knew quite well that he might be killed by contact with the water, or be carried back into the tube and drowned. This, however, did not deter him in the least. As it was necessary to have a helper, he approached the chief gunner of his submarine, but that seaman not only refused to help, but deemed it his duty to inform the ship's commander of the foolhardy proposal. That officer remonstrated with Whiting, who listened respectfully to his superior's arguments and gave him the impression that he was convinced. However, two days later, when the submarine was exercising well under the water, Whiting crawled into the tube and gave the signal to his assistant. The mechanism was set in motion, and Whiting was shot out in the water. By grasping the cap of the tube, which becomes detached when a torpedo is fired, he avoided being ] carried back into the tube by the in- ) rush of water and drowned, and shot j up to the surface, where he was picked up uninjured. The experiment is regarded by the naval authorities as of great importance.