4i8 : The Atlantic 



Paixhans gun to be mounted on a United States naval vessel was 

 placed on Fulton II in 1837 but the old naval cannon throwing shot 

 continued to be used for many decades after that time. 



The arts and skills of gunnery were modified again toward the 

 end of the century with the development of high explosives and of 

 smokeless powder. As early as 1886 the French chemists were lead- 

 ing in these developments but again it took a lapse of some time for 

 their inventions to become absorbed in effective naval use. 



Different from the guns but related to them as a substitute or ad- 

 junct was the development by Robert Whitehead in 1866 of the first 

 effective self-propelled torpedo. This gave rise to a whole succession 

 of changes in naval architecture. First there was the fact that the 

 torpedo required a launching device or tube. The original idea was 

 that a special vessel was needed to store and handle the torpedoes 

 and to carry or incorporate the launching tubes. This gave rise to 

 the torpedo boat. The appearance of torpedoes naturally called for 

 defensive measures such as nettings which could be hung outside 

 the hull of the vessel to catch or arrest the torpedo before it could 

 do damage to the hull. Another defensive measure was the idea of 

 attacking torpedoes at their source through the construction and use 

 of very rapid and nimble vessels called torpedo-boat destroyers. Pres- 

 ently torpedo tubes were mounted or incorporated in many varieties 

 and sizes of vessels and the torpedo boat itself disappeared. Its en- 

 emy, that is the vessel to which it gave rise, dropped the "torpedo" 

 part of its name but has continued to the present time a busy life as 

 a "destroyer." 



The submarine also had made its appearance. The idea was at least 

 as old as Leonardo Da Vinci, who had sketched one along with his 

 other fancies, and a one-man submarine had been built in America 

 and tried unsuccessfully against the flagship of Lord Howe during 

 the Revolution. The first submarines of sufficient size and power and 

 ability to stay under water to be of practical value were constructed 

 by a number of different inventors in the last decade of the nine- 

 teenth century. 



The developments mentioned above relate to firearms and other 

 methods of attack so they were bound to have an influence on the 

 design of ships of war. The development of new fuels and new ways 

 of utilizing power was also bringing about changes in naval war- 

 fare and the design of ships. The burning of oil instead of coal came 

 by stages to be incorporated in naval vessels. The Parsons steam tur- 

 bine and the oil engine of Rudolf Diesel both came into use before 



