Protecting Ships from Torpedoes 



A U-shaped buffer is provided, in 

 which the hull of the vessel floats 



IS there no defense against the torpedo 

 and the mine? Can nothing be done to 

 protect a Lusitania or a Laconia ? 



Xaval architects have succeeded in giv- 

 ing warships some measure of protection 

 by subdividing their hulls into literally 

 hundreds of 

 cells. When 

 the battle- 

 ship Auda- 

 cious struck 

 a mine she 

 stayed afloat 

 for over four 

 hours be- 

 cause of her 

 multi -cellu- 

 lar construc- 

 tion. Why is 

 not the same 

 idea applied 

 to merchant 

 vessels? Sim- 

 ply because 

 it is prohib- 

 itively ex- 

 pen s i v e . 



Even so, 

 the Lusitania 

 was built 

 not unlike a 

 warship ; for 

 she had a 

 double hull and was subdivided after a 

 fashion. Because she was not minutely 

 subdivided, like a battleship, she went 

 down in twenty minutes. 



Why not use torpedo nets? They have 

 proven of no avail. But the idea of 

 catching a torpedo and stopping it before 

 it ever reaches a ship seems sound. Ac- 

 cordingly, we find that Thomas Thurston, 

 a naval architect connected with one of the 

 large British shipbuilding firms, has in- 

 vented and patented a system for protect- 

 ing ships from the effects of a submarine 

 explosion, which system depends on the 

 principle of providing a buffer for a ship. 



As the illustration shows, Thurston's 

 buffer is a U-shaped structure, not unlike a 

 floating dr>'-dock, in which floats the hull 

 of the vessel to be protected. This U- 

 shaped structure comprises side walls con- 



The protecting U-shaped structure is compxised of side walls 

 connected by a bottom beneath the ship's hull. It is a 

 mere shell, as may be seen from the diagrammatic drawing 



nected by a bottom which lies beneath the 

 ship's hull. The U-shaped structure lies 

 at a suitable depth so that the ship to be 

 protected can be floated in and secured to 

 the structure. Since the protecting struc- 

 ture is merely a shell, it offers but little 



resistance to 

 the water. 



It is evi- 

 dent that if 

 a torpedo or 

 a mine were 

 to explode, 

 the U-shaped 

 protector 

 would be 

 destroyed, 

 but the ship 

 itself would 

 be saved. 



Even if the 

 ship were 

 damaged to 

 some extent 

 the injury 

 would prob- 

 ably be slight 

 and could 

 be easily 

 repaired by 

 the ship's 

 mechanic. 



The Perfect Poise — How We Can 

 Attain It 



FOR the perfect physical poise we don't 

 need to study pictures in the modern 

 magazines. The ideal form is well expressed 

 in sculpture dating back to 500-600 B. C, 

 when the Spartans were masters of Greece. 

 These ancients carried themselves in such 

 a way that the muscles, organs, circulation 

 and even the brain and nervous system 

 were placed in harmonious relationship. 

 How can we attain the same poise in walk- 

 ing? Briefly, by setting the shoulders back 

 and squaring them evenly, by carrying the 

 chest high and well arched fo^^vard, by 

 keeping the stomach in and the neck per- 

 pendicular, like a column, and by forcing 

 the chin in. Whether sitting, standing or 

 walking, these principles involve a correct 

 and graceful carriage. 



847 



