A TURBINE TORPEDO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13640, 9 July 1906, Page 6

A TURBINE TORPEDO.

The furbine lias won .'1 triilmpli on ihe other side of ihe Atlantic in connection with I lit' most recent of torpedoes, llio Bliss-Leaviir, which won 11 triumph on the other sine of the Atlantic in connection with the iii<.--:r recent of torpedoes., flip Bliss-Lesviii. whvii is to supersede the Tlov.eli and the Whitehead in the United .States navy. The Daily ; Chronicle publishes an interesting account of the new weapon, from -which it appears that in its general fo'm ;>.nd arrangement the Bliss-Leavitl. torpedo is very like ihe Whitehead. Its djsl.iiiauishiii:; features are the n-i> of ilic turbine* wiitciplo. not- cnly in the propelling engine, but. also in the gear for steering by the vertical rudders. Tin* main engine is a comprcwed air turbine, running at a much higher rale of speed and developing higher power than the old reciprocating- lorprvio engine. The 13iu Whitoli.wl has a speed of 27 to 23 knots at 1200 yds range., fulling to about 22 at 2GOO, which is near the limit of its effective range. The Bliss-Lcavitt has a speed of 56 knots at 1200 vards, and still has a speed of 28 al- MOO. Up t<> this range it can nuke ifcod practice, which means that a ship armed with ibis torpedo could sink an enemy ab.int iwo miles away. Part of this great increase in speed and range is duo Io a device for increasing the working tension of the fompres-cd sir by heating it. This is effected by moans of a spirit-lamp or stove, which is lighted automatically in the air-chamber the moment the torpedo is discharged.

Thei'M are two main type; of turbines. Tn cue, the most usual kind, ihe steam, air. or water ants by in.'pigning on blades ,-i.itaclied io ihe shaft that is to he rotated. The other depends upon reaction. Tb* oldest form is Hero of AloxamlriaV liitle engine revolving under the backward drive of jcrs of fiteaur escaping from |>oirii - - ni

its circumference. Tlilm-o is a, spnlioaiinn of flio second kind <■;",. turbine in the Hliss-Lenviit. Tn {!:(>' Whitehead the rudder is' controlled l.y tho Obry sryi'osi#i gw. Thn sy)'o?t;iv, a heavy wheel revolving at high speed, and always, keeping tl'io s.ime plane or direction, is -,cf running by the Jcleaso of a powerful roiled spring: at tlie moment when the tor-, pedo is rliseliargod. In tho Eliss-Lcavilt tor|K<!o the gyrostat principle is used to control the steering, but there is no spring In si art the revolving- disc or wheel. The disc is hollow, and has a number of small nozzlci opening from its circuniforo>'ce, each nozzle hcinsr at (he end of a tube, which projects like the spokes of a wheel, but. in the line of a tangent, to the circumference, or forming a right angle with the radius. Compressed air passes into the interior of the disc and escapes in jcl.s i from the nozzles, and the result is thai, rho disc is driven round in the reverse direction to the escape of the air. It is claimed that its velocity rises to 18,000 revolutions per minute. This device may be called a turbine-gyrostat, and will doubtless have other useful applications found for it. Driven at. this high speed, the revolving disc would require an enormous force to divert it from its original direction.

After prolonged tests the United Stales navy has adopted the Bliss-Loavitt as its service torpedo. Two hundred of them are now being manufactured, half of ihem of the ].Bin diameter type, and the rest of ?,lin in diameter. The lowest torpedoes in tho British navy are the ISin Whiteheads. The 21in Bh'ss-Leavift, carrying an increased charge of gun-cotton, will be the most powerful torpedo in any navy. Its guaranteed ranee is 3500 yds, but it has rum over 4000 in the lost trials. The only torpedoes above ISin in" diameter that have yet been made anywhere were a set of 10 24-iti Whiteheads, manufactured for (lie Japanese OoYornmcnt just before the war. Rut it is believed that these were intended tn be discharged frorn tidies mounted on land. The 21 in Bliss-Leavitt is apparently intended for use on shipboard.