Popular Science Monthly 



691 



Monitor" were so successful was because 

 each brought into battle a weapon against 

 which the other side did not know how to 

 defend itself. 



It has been suggested that the "torpedo- 

 plane," that I patented about fiveyears ago, 

 may prove to be an invention which may 

 play a similar part in changing the charac- 

 ter of naval warfare and which may help 

 us to defend our long coast line ver>- 

 cheaply and effectively. At the request of 

 the editor of the Popular Science Month- 

 ly, I will sketch here the principle of its 

 operation and its utility. 



That the torpedoplane will become an 

 important factor in naval warfare in the 

 near future, man}- people have no doubt. 

 It is an invention v>hich renders it possible 

 to launch the regular Whitehead torpedo 

 from an aeroplane as effectively as it is 

 launched from a destroyer. 



A destroyer dashes for her enemy at a 

 speed which can rarely be as high as thirty 

 knots an hour, and launches a torpedo from 

 her deck into the water. That act of 



launching, throws back a lever on the 

 torpedo, called the "starting lev^er," which 

 causes the propelling mechanism of the 

 torpedo to go ahead full speed. After 

 reaching the water, therefore, the torpedo 

 goes along in the direction in which it is 

 pointed; and if it is pointed correctly, it 

 hits the target ship below the water line and 

 usually sinks or cripples her. 



Maneuvering the Torpedoplane 



The torpedoplane, as it is illustrated in 

 the accompanying drawing, needs little 

 explanation. The aviator approaches his 

 target from a great distance and high up 

 in the air. At a distance of, say six or 

 seven miles away, he volplanes toward the 

 water, runs above the surface of the water 

 a short distance, and heads for his target. 

 When ready he simply pulls a lever. The 

 action of pulling the lever releases the tor- 

 pedo, which is rigidly held under the 

 aeroplane, and at the same time throws 

 back the starting lever, with the result 

 that the torpedo falls into the . water 



largest size torpedo weighing about a ton, could discharge their torpedoes with comparative 

 safety. The torpedo would hit the ship below the water line and sink or cripple her 



