The Wasps of a Modern Fleet 



Torpedo boat destroyers sweep upon a warship and torpedo it before it 

 has a chance to retaliate. As scouts, they have proved indispensable 



A TORPEDO boat destroyer is no 

 longer, as its name seems to indicate, 

 primarily a destroyer of torpedo 

 boats. It is a fast torpedo boat of large size 

 and capable of making prolonged cruises on 

 the seas. Its preeminent purpose is to bag 

 big game, such as dreadnoughts, by torpe- 

 doing them. Its most important armament 

 is torpedo tubes which it carries on an aft 

 deck on both sides of the ship. A number of 

 rapid-fire guns of small caliber are also 

 mounted on the destroyer. These are for 

 fighting with swift, powerful destroyers like 

 itself and for attacking submarines. Such 

 performances, however, are incidental. The 

 sinking of a huge warship during a battle is 

 of greater importance than separate quar- 

 rels amongst small vessels like itself. 



The Destroyers Lead the Way 



A number of torpedo boat destroyers 

 accompany a fleet into battle. They are 

 always foremost in the fray. Led generally 

 by a fast light cruiser, the torpedo de- 

 stroyers sweep down upon the enemy's war- 

 ships at a speed of forty miles an hour. 

 The cruiser endeavors to ward ofi the 

 counter-attacks of the enemy's lighter craft 

 and strives to break a way for the destroyers 

 that follow her, so that they can maneuver 

 into firing position. The destroyers' work, 

 however, is hazardous, for just one well- 

 aimed shot will send one of them to the 

 bottom. But, on the other hand, they are 

 able to dash about here and there rapidly 

 enough to bafifle the enemy's fire. 



This initial attack happens before the 

 real battle begins. The slower battleships 

 of the main fleet steam up and open fire 

 upon the big ships of the enemy. Now the 

 destroyers swarm about the battleships, 

 "stinging" whenever they can. Their tor- 

 pedoes can be launched with facility as 

 the firing tubes, after being once loaded 

 and aimed, operate automatically. The 

 torpedo tubes are swung into firing position 

 around their circular track which is 

 mounted on the deck. Each torpedo tube 

 is aimed by sights which are somewhat 

 similar to those on any naval gun. An 

 electric control is thrown in, then com- 

 pressed air enters the rear of the tube and 

 sweeps the torpedo out automatically. 



The usefulness of these wasps goes even 



further than this. A destroyer continually 

 tries to get to leeward of the enemy fleet, 

 where she turns off the draft of her boilers. 

 Clouds of smoke are immediately emitted, 

 which the wind blows towards the enemy, 

 and which soon envelope tlie enemy's ships. 

 The enemy is temporarily blinded by the 

 screen of smoke produced by the de- 

 stroyer though the tops of his masts can 

 be faintly seen. In an instant, the de- 

 stroyer takes advantage of this fact and 

 sends a torpedo, guided by the masts. 



Smoke Screens Turned the 

 Tide of Battle 



It was this style of tactics of the German 

 destroyers which served the Germans so 

 well in the battle of Jutland. At the time 

 their battleships were being hard hit, the 

 German destroyers formed a veritable wall 

 of smoke and enabled their countrymen 

 to gain a temporary advantage. 



The torpedo boat destroyers have still 

 another duty equally as important — that 

 of scouting." Their lightness makes them 

 swift and gives them a very large cruising 

 radius. They can therefore scout far 

 ahead of a squadron and can report their 

 observations of the enemy by wireless. 

 The advancing line of bigger ships by this 

 means is made well aware of what it is up 

 against long before the enemy ranges into 

 sight. Forewarned is forearmed, and the 

 squadron can prepare itself for the im- 

 pending fight as a consequence. 



Methods of the Scout 



This competency of the destroyer as a 

 scout will undoubtedly make her of great 

 importance in our coast defense. She is 

 capable of discovering the approach of 

 any hostile fleet days ahead of the time 

 that fleet will near our coast. She would 

 immediately make her wireless report, 

 and would continue to follow at a safe 

 distance from the fleet and report its every 

 movement. The destroyer will continually 

 use her long-distance tactics of firing 

 torpedoes in the general direction of the 

 fleet, and there are two chances out of 

 seven that she will hit the ships of the 

 line. Meanwhile she can give information 

 to our submarines to facilitate their surprise 

 attacks also. 



8S6 



