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Page 12
First came the simple torpedo, at the end of an ordinary boat's spar.
Then came the special torpedo boat with its great speed, then the
revolving cannon and rapid-fire gun to meet the torpedo boat. At
present the possible rapidity of fire is much greater than can be
utilized, on account of the smoke; hence the necessity of smokeless
powder. Smokelessness is, however, principally a martial demand that
has been made upon the science of explosives and has attracted public
attention on that account. The commercial demands for various other
properties have been much greater than the military, and between
gunpowder near one end of the line in point of power and
nitro-glycerine near the other, there are now over 350 different
explosives manufactured, and most of these have been invented within
the last twenty years.
The simplest application of high explosives in warfare is in
connection with torpedoes, since within the same bulk a much more
efficient substance can be obtained than gunpowder, and with
reasonable care there is very little danger of premature explosions by
reason of accidental shocks.
Torpedoes were made by the Chinese many years ago, they were tried in
our war of independence, and also by the Russians during the Crimean
war; but the first practical and successful use of them as a
recognized weapon was during our war of secession, when thirty-seven
vessels were either sunk or seriously injured by them. Gunpowder was
used in these torpedoes, though it is stated that attempts were made
to use other substances without success. Since that time all maritime
nations have made a close study of the subject and have adopted
various high explosives, according to the results of their
experiments. In general terms it may be stated that explosive chemical
compounds have been found more suitable than explosive mixtures,
because of the uniformity of direction in which they exert their
pressure, and from the fact that water does not injure them. Mixtures
may be very powerful, but they are erratic and require tight cases. In
the United States we use dynamite for harbor mines. It is composed of
seventy-five per cent. nitro-glycerine and twenty-five per cent.
silica; but blasting gelatine and forcite gelatine will probably be
adopted, when they can be satisfactorily manufactured here, as they
are more powerful. The former is composed of ninety-two per cent. of
nitro-glycerine and eight per cent. of gun-cotton, and the latter of
ninety-five per cent. of nitro-gelatine and five per cent. unnitrated
cellulose.
For naval use we have adopted gun-cotton as being the most convenient.
In Europe gun-cotton is generally used for both fixed mines and
movable torpedoes; Russia, Austria, and Italy use blasting gelatine
also.
In actual warfare but little experience has been had. Two Peruvian
vessels were sunk by dynamite in the Chili-Peruvian war, one Turk by
means of gun-cotton during the Turco-Russian war of 1877, and two
Chinese by gun-cotton in the Franco-Chinese war of 1884.
In making experiments to determine the relative strength of the
different explosives under water, very curious and puzzling results
have been obtained. Nitro-glycerine being the simplest and most
complete in its chemical decomposition, and apparently the most
powerful in air, it was natural to suppose that it would be the same
in submarine work, but it was found by Gen. Abbot, at Willets Point,
after repeated experiments, as shown in his report of 1881, that it
was not so powerful in its effect by twenty per cent. as dynamite No.
1, although the dynamite contained twenty-five per cent. of an
absolutely inert substance. His idea was that it was too quick in its
action, and, since water is slightly compressible, a minute fraction
of time is required in the development of the full force of the
explosive. Gen. Abbot's results for intensity of action per unit of
weight of the most important substances is as follows:
Blasting gelatine........................... 142
Forcite " ........................... 133
Dynamite No. 1.............................. 100
Gun-cotton, wet............................. 87
Nitro-glycerine............................. 81
Gunpowder.............................. 20 to 50
Col. Bucknill, of the Royal Engineers, in his publication of 1888,
gives the following:
Blasting gelatine........................... 142
Forcite " ........................... 133
Dynamite No. 1.............................. 100
Gun-cotton, dry............................. 100
" " ............................. 80
Gunpowder................................... 25
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