Popular Sn'cnrr Moittlili/ 



723 



Should an invasion of the United States be attempted Uie first troopship to appear on 

 the horizon would be immediately attacked from all directions by the mosquito fleet 



A modern torpedo is nineteen feet long 

 and twenty-one inches in diameter, and 

 it weighs over a ton. Obviously it can- 

 not be carried on the deck of a small 

 motor boat, or in an overboard tube. 

 Accordingly I have devised a method of 

 attaching torpedoes to the hull itself, one 

 along each side of the keel. Thus sup- 

 ported the torpedoes neither add nor 

 subtract from the weight of the vessel; 

 for the torpedoes have neither positive 

 nor negative buo\ancy. There may be 

 a slight reduction in speed; but that 

 disad\antage is far outweighed by the 

 fonnidable character of the weapon 

 carried. No launching machinery is 

 required; the mere starting of the 

 torpedo-propeling machinery is enough 

 for launching. The torpedo is so sus- 

 pended that it can be dropped off, what- 

 ever may be the speed of the vessel. 

 Still more important, the torpedoes are 

 launched with the motor boat bow on, 

 thus facilitating fire-control. The motor 

 boat need only be pointed at its target; 

 a torpedo launched from a deck-tube, 

 athwartship, as on a torpedo-boat de- 

 stroyer, may miss its mark l)ecause of a 

 hea\y roll. To be sure a motor boat will 

 pitch; but pitching is never so marked 

 as rolling and is more easily allowed for. 



But is it not dangerous to earn,- 

 torpedoes in this way? May not the 

 motor boat be blown u|) by its own 

 weapons? Rare experience convinces 

 me that so long as the pistols in the war- 

 heads of the torpedoes are locked (and 

 the^• will be unlocked onlv when the 



tc^rpedo is to lie lired) tliere is no danger. 

 A warhead, e\en though it is filled with 

 five hundred pounds of guncotton can 

 withstand a severe shock. 



At interv^als of about one hundred 

 miles along our coast stations would be 

 maintained for ten or fifteen motor boats. 



Hmc the Motor Torpedo Boats Would 

 Defend Us 



Imagine, now, an attempt to in\ade 

 the United States. Two hundred miles 

 at sea our fleet is engaging the enemy's 

 battleships in an effort to stop him from 

 reaching our .shores. The outcome of 

 the battle is at least doubtful. Mean- 

 while his transports steam on. A motor 

 scout sees them. At once the wireless 

 telegraphic key of a radio operator 

 Hashes to the nearest boat station the 

 number of the transports and their 

 bearing. Tiie news is wired from station 

 to station. A verilal)le swarm of motor 

 torpedo boats sets out. Their com- 

 mander employs regulation torpedo- 

 boat tactics; a dozen boats are sent 

 against a single vessel; one at least will 

 strike a telling blow. The boats lie low; 

 they are difficult to hit. The enemy's 

 transports, on the other hand, are large 

 and \ery distinct. Moreo\er, the range 

 is a mile and a half. The pistols in the 

 war heads are set. A half dozen tor- 

 pedoes are launched at once against the 

 broadside of the transport. There is 

 the thunrler of an explosion; a troopship 

 dJN'es head foremost into the waves; 

 tliree regiments perish. 



