December 11, 190S] 



SCIENCE 



823 



attainable by the charge of compressed air 

 they are capable of carrying. 



During the past few years the air pres- 

 sure has been increased from 1,300 pounds 

 to the square inch to 2,250 pounds to the 

 square inch, and the weight of air from 

 sixty pounds to one hundred and thirty 

 pounds in the eighteen-inch torpedo; and 

 still the maximum range of the eighteen- 

 inch torpedo is only from 3,000 to 3,500 

 yards, practically about one-third of the 

 range of the high-power guns which de- 

 termine the distance apart of the lines of 

 battle; and the maximum rate of speed of 

 this torpedo is about thirty-five knots. 



In order to carry the air under the enor- 

 mous pressure, a verystrong and very heavy 

 steel air flask is needed ; and as the weight 

 of the entire torpedo must not exceed the 

 weight of the water displaced by it, the 

 propelling mechanism has necessarily to be 

 made very light and delicate for the energy 

 it has to transmit. 



But what is far more important, the 

 explosive charge also has to be reduced to 

 a minimum, in order to float the heavy air- 

 flask and the weight of air it contains ; and 

 this notwithstanding the fact that the quan- 

 tity of high explosive ought to be greatly 

 increased in order to ensure destruction of 

 the warship struck by it. In the recent 

 war between Russia and Japan the White- 

 head torpedo proved a great disappoint- 

 ment. 



If the speed of an automobile torpedo 

 could be increased fifty per cent., its accu- 

 racy also would be greatly increased, for it 

 would be far less affected by currents, and 

 would be far more likely to strike a moving 

 target, while if its range could be increased 

 one hundred per cent., it would then be- 

 come an efficient adjunct to the armament 

 of every war vessel, whereas if its range 

 could be increased to five miles— practically 

 three times what its range now is— even 



though its speed were to remain at thirty- 

 five knots, it would be able to pass over the 

 intervening space separating the lines of 

 battle of opposing fleets. 



During the last ten years I have con- 

 ducted a large number of experiments at a 

 cost of more than $50,000 in the develop- 

 ment and demonstration of a system for 

 the propulsion of automobile torpedoes and 

 torpedo-boats by energy derived from the 

 products of combustion of a self-combustive 

 fuel called motorite, consisting of seventy 

 per cent, nitroglycerin and thirty per cent, 

 gun-cotton. The gun-cotton is gelatinated 

 by the nitroglycerin, forming a dense, tough 

 and rubbery material. This material is 

 made into bars about seven inches in diam- 

 eter and six feet long, for use in torpedoes 

 the size of the eighteen-inch Whitehead 

 torpedo. For the twenty-one-inch torpedo 

 the stick will be both bigger and longer. 



The motorite bars are forced into and 

 sealed in steel tubes for use, and these steel 

 tubes containing the motorite are inserted 

 into the torpedo and are surrounded by ai 

 water-jacket. The motorite can be ignited 

 and can burn only at and from one end, 

 and water is forced through the water- 

 jacket into the combustion chamber, to be 

 evaporated by the flame blast forcing the 

 water along with it through an atomizing 

 device, whereby it is instantly converted 

 into steam, and the combined steam and 

 products of combustion form the motive 

 fluid. 



The water will be taken in from the sea 

 as required, so that it will not be necessary 

 to carry the water-supply on board the 

 torpedo. 



One pound of motorite evaporates a little 

 over two pounds of water, so that one 

 pound of motorite produces the equivalent 

 of three pounds of steam, for the products 

 of combustion of the motorite mingle with 

 the steam produced. The steam from the 



