Inventions of the Great WarBond, A. Russell (Alexander Russell)
History
Inventions of the Great War
Bond, A. Russell (Alexander Russell)
Inventions; World War, 1914-1918 -- Technology
We found in the Diesel engine that when air is highly compressed it
becomes very hot. When compressed air is expanded, the reverse takes
place, the air becomes very cold. The air that drives the motor of the
torpedo grows so cold that were no precautions taken it would freeze
any moisture that might be present and would choke up the engine
with the frost. And so an alcohol flame is used to heat the air. The
air-motor is started automatically by release of a trigger as the
torpedo is blown out of the torpedo-tube. By means of gearing, the
motor drives two propellers. These run in opposite directions, so as to
balance each other and prevent any tendency for the torpedo to swerve
from its course. The torpedo is steered by a rudder which is controlled
by a gyroscope, and it is kept at the proper depth under water by
diving-rudders which are controlled by a very sensitive valve worked
by the weight of the water above it. The deeper the water, the greater
the weight or pressure; and the valve is so arranged that, should the
torpedo run too far under, the pressure will cause the diving-rudders
to tilt until the torpedo comes up again; then if the torpedo rises
too high, the valve will feel the reduction of pressure and turn the
rudders in the other direction.
The business end of a torpedo is a "war-head" packed with about four
hundred pounds of TNT. At the nose of the torpedo is a firing-pin,
with which the war-head is exploded. Ordinarily, the firing-pin does
not project from the torpedo, but there is a little propeller at the
forward end which is turned by the rush of water as the torpedo is
driven on its course. This draws out the firing-pin and gets everything
ready for the TNT to explode as soon as the firing-pin is struck. But
the firing-pin is not the only means of exploding the torpedo. Inside
there is a very delicate mechanism that will set off the charge at the
least provocation. In one type of torpedo a steel ball is provided
which rests in a shallow depression and the slightest shock, the
sudden stopping or even a sudden swerve of the torpedo, would dislodge
the ball and set off the charge. Hence various schemes, proposed by
inventors, for deflecting a torpedo without touching the firing-pin,
would have been of no value at all.
GUNS ON SUBMARINES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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