314 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Spray. 
2Ift. Fast Cruiser. 
{Continued from page 294, April 9.) 
We give this week the cabin and deck plans of the 
■design published in our previous issue, with table o\ 
•offsets. The sail plan and details of construction will 
iiollow next week. 
Torpedo-Boat Destroyers* 
The probability of a war with Spain has brought into 
prominence within the past few weeks the term "torpedo- 
boat destroyer," heretofore unknown on this side of thfe 
water, oulside of naval circles. The fact that theSe fteW 
and formidable engines of destruction, of which Spain 
now has eight in commission and the United States 
none, are likely to play very important parts in a n^ival 
war, makes the subject of sufficient general interest to 
warrant the reproduction of the accompanying illustra- 
tions and description, published in the English journal. 
Engineering, of January i, 1897. just after the comple- 
tion of the vessels. The two sister craft. Furor and Ter- 
ror, are of more immediate interest than any others, as 
tliey are now at the Cape Verde Islands as part of thi 
Ifirst Spanish sciuadron. 
The torpedo-boat destroyers Furor and Terror, de- 
■signed and built by Messrs. James and George Thom- 
pson, Limited, Clydebank, to the order of the Spanish 
'Government, have now completed their trials and 
f-have arrived in Spain. Although similar in general 
'design to the destroyers of the British navy, there are 
■.several departures in detail, and the vessels are in some 
'respects more nearly akin to the torpedo gunboats. For 
' example, they are fitted with teak upper decks in addi- 
tion to a complete steel deck; double awnings for the 
"whoVe length of the vessel, with side curtains hanging to 
the water's edge, electric lighting throughout and a num- 
lief of electrical ventilating fans for insuring a supply of 
''tresh air to the officers' and crew's quarters; so that the 
"vessels will be much more habitable than an ordinary 
torpedo-boat destroyer when serving in the tropical or 
-semi-tropical climates for which they are intended. The 
' contract provided that the mean speed should be deter- 
mined by four runs on the measured mile, and by a fur- 
ther trial of two hours' duration, during which the speed 
should not be less than 28 knots. It was further stipu- 
lated that a load of 75 tons should be carried on trials, 
which is more than twice the load required in the case of 
vessels of a similar type built for the British navy. 
The vessels have a length of 220ft., breadth 22ft., and 
have a moulded depth of 13ft. The loaded displacement 
is 380 tons. The armament consists of two 14-pounder 
quick-firing guns, the one mounted forward on top of 
the conning tower and the other aft; two 6-pounder guns 
of the same type mounted on the broadside, and two 37- 
millimetre automatic quick-firing guns, one on the star- 
board and the other on the port bow. All these guns 
have been supplied by the Maxim-Nordenfeldt Guns and 
Ammunition Company, Limited, and are of the latest and 
most improved pattern. Their position in the ship is 
shown by the deck plans given on the present page. The 
vessels are also equipped with two torpedo tubes, I4in. in 
diameter, mounted on the upper deck, so as to fire off 
either side of the ship (Fig. 3). The torpedo tubes are 
on the Schwartzkopfif system. Four torpedoes are car- 
ried, and there is, of course, a complete installation of 
air-compressing machinery for charging them, the en- 
gines and pumps being in the engine room. 
After some preliminary trials, the Furor successfully 
passed her official forced draft trial on October 30, 
1896. The mean speed of four runs on the measured 
mile exceeded the contract by about a quarter of a knot, 
and the revolutions were maintained without difficulty 
for the two hours' trial. The Terror, after a single pre- 
liminary trial, completed her natural draft trial, and 
at the next succeeding trial, successfully completed her 
official forced draft trial. The natural draft trials 
were of the same duration as the forced draft trials, 
•and it was provided by the contract that a speed of 21 
'knots be maintained with the air pressure in the stoke- 
iholds not exceeding 54i"- of water. It was fottnd that 
this speed coulcLbe maintained with very great ease; in- 
deed, the stipulated speed was exceeded by about a knot. 
After the speed trials, the firing trials of the guns were 
carried out to the entire satisfaction of the inspecting 
officers. The terribly destructive nature of the fire, es- 
pecially from the automatic guns, was very apparent, a 
perfect hail of projectiles of 37 millimetres or about ij4 
in. in diameter being delivered by these guns, and con- 
tinued so long as the person firing the gun kept his finger 
pressed on the trigger, the whole of the operations of 
loading and firing being automatically performed by the 
energy of the, recoil. 
The vessels are fitted with steam steering gear of the 
type usual in torpedo-boat destroyers. The engine, 
which is of the vertical pattern, bolted to the after bulk- 
head in the engine-room, was supplied by Messrs. Cald-" 
well & Co., Limited, of Glasgow. The steam capstan 
gear is driven by a horizontal two-cylinder engine, sup- 
plied by Messrs'. Napier Brothers, Limited, also of Glas- 
gow. 'I ^ 
The vessels are propelled by twin screws, each pro- 
peller being driven by an independent set of four-cylinder 
triple-expansion engines situated in ^one compartment 
aft of the boiler rooms. Steam is supplied by 
four boilers of an improved Normand type, 
placed in two water-tight compartments. These 
are fired from two stokeholds, the furnaces of 
the forward and aft boilers discharging into sep- 
arate funnels, while .those of the two center boilers 
lead up to a common central funnel of larger size. The 
cylinders, which are entirely independent castings, are 
bolted together, and are stayed transversely between 
each other, and also to gusset plates in the wings, con- 
necting the deck beams and frames. A pair of struts ex- 
tend from each of the high-pressure cylinders to gusset 
plates between the deck and forward bulkhead of the en- 
gine-room, and similar ties secure each of the aft low- 
pressure cylinders to the structure of the vessel. The 
cylinder bottoms are separate castings, and bolted 
to the cylinders, and they, together with tlie cylinder 
