i88o.' 
Torpedo War. 
293 
rienced in war-time ; and this is not only possible, but prac- 
ticable.” Here it should be observed that it is not only 
pluck and devotion, but a steadiness of nerve, that is most 
important. There is many a brave man capable of leading 
a forlorn hope in storming a breach, and hand-to-hand com- 
bat whilst boarding an enemy’s ship or blowing in a stockade, 
and such other feats in which excitement and passion of 
combat are incentives to daring deeds ; but it requires a 
different class of cold-blooded, phlegmatic temperament to 
manipulate delicate adjustments with a quiet pulse, free from 
all excitement or apprehension of the immediate neighbour- 
hood of sudden death. It is like the comparison of the 
spirit of a prize-fighter with that of a surgeon during a 
mortal operation. 
(b.) “ An attack of this description, where the assailant 
only risks forces relatively small, offers such chances . of 
success that it should always be tried when the occasion 
presents itself.” This is a self-evident proposition, as the 
materiel and personnel exposed by the assailants to the fire oi 
the enemy is hardly worth mentioning in comparison with 
the amount of damage to be perpetrated ; for instance, a 
small Yarrow boat versus the Inflexible ! 
(c.) “ One single torpedo-boat of moderately good quality 
is sufficient to surprise at night a vessel at anchor ; a day 
attack on a vessel under weigh requires the co-operation 01 
several torpedo-boats, especially built for the. purpose. 
Lord Dunsany instances the exploit of the Russian steamer 
yacht Constantine , who sent off her torpedo-cutter against 
the Turkish ironclad guardship at Batoum, and destroyed 
the latter. He says, “ A point I would call your attention 
to is the very small risk to the torpedo crew at which the 
wholesale destruction is effected. The huge guns of the 
present day make excellent praaice ; but they fire very 
slowly, and, so far as I could judge, the chances of hitting 
a torpedo-boat in motion would be nil.”* The Dmlio would 
be nigh powerless against a small flotilla of swift Yarrow or 
Thorneycroft boats with bow-rudders, able to dart their 
Woolwich torpedoes from their outriggers on all sides. 
Behemoth amid a shoal of threshers and swordfish must 
soon succumb. , . n « ■. 
(d.) “ Under all circumstances where such boats, .collected 
into a flotilla, have to attack one or more ships, their attacks 
should be simultaneous.” The majority of actions fought 
by American and Russian torpedo-boats have been fought 
* In the Navy estimates for 1880-81, just submitted to Parliament, ,mi» 
that fifty-six torpedo-boats are to be construfted by private firms for the British 
Navy. We should like to see double the number provided lor. 
