Part 1

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TORPEDO WAR, AND SUBMARINE EXPLOSIONS.

by

ROBERT FULTON

Fellow of the American Philosophical Society, and of the United States Military and Philosophical Society.

The Liberty of the Sea will be the Happiness of the Earth.

New-York: Printed by William Elliot, 114 Water-Street. 1810

New York Reprinted William Abbatt 1914

Being Extra No. 35 of The Magazine of History with Notes and Queries

CONTENTS

Page TORPEDO WAR, &c. 5 PLATE I 7 PLATE II 10 PLATE III 13 PLATE IV, Fig. 1 15 Fig. 2 17 PLATE V, Fig. 1 & 2 17 Fig. 3 20

THOUGHTS -- On the probable effect of this invention 20 Estimate of the Force to Attack so Formidable a Blockade Fleet 32 Manner of Arranging the Boats Until Wanted 33 First Mode of Attack 35 Second Mode of Attack 36

ON -- the imaginary inhumanity of Torpedo war 40

A VIEW -- of the political economy of this invention 43

EDITOR'S PREFACE

In view of the prominent part played in the present World War by torpedoes and submarines, the subject of our Extra No. 35 is peculiarly timely.

The original of 1810 is very scarce, only one copy having been sold at auction in many years: nor are copies to be found in any but a few of our libraries. Fulton's claims for his invention have been fully substantiated and some of his predictions, made more than a century ago, are remarkably interesting, in view of the events of the past five months. His estimate of our population in 1920 has already been exceeded in fact, and only his plan of affixing torpedoes to their prey by means of harpoons seems--for it was made in the days of wooden ships--fantastic, in these days of iron clads. He could not foresee that almost exactly a century would elapse before his invention would be extensively used--though he cautiously says "it is impossible to foresee to what degree torpedoes may be improved and rendered useful."

In the Joline collection of autograph letters, sold this month, was an extremely interesting letter of Fulton's, addressed to Gen. William Duane. A part reads:

"New York, March 1, 1813

I am happy to find you continue the firm friend to torpedoes; an infant art which requires only support and practice to produce a change in Maritime affairs of immence (_sic_) importance to this country. Expecting the enemy here, I have not been idle, I have prepared 9 torpedoes with locks that strike fire by concussion, and four with clockwork locks."

The letter is of great interest throughout, and tells of his plans for blowing up the enemy or driving them from New York waters, his regret that he had not enough torpedoes for the Chesapeake; and contains a list of the cost of various sorts, &c.

We regret that we could not secure permission to copy the whole of it.

TORPEDO WAR, &c.

_To JAMES MADISON, Esq. President of the United States, and to the Members of both Houses of Congress._

Gentlemen,

In January last, at Kalorama, the residence of my friend Joel Barlow, I had the pleasure of exhibiting to Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and a party of gentlemen from the senate and house of representatives, some experiments and details on Torpedo defence and attack; the favourable impression which the experiments appeared to make on the minds of the gentlemen then present; and my conviction that this invention, improved and practised to the perfection which it is capable of receiving, will be of the first importance to our country, has induced me to present you in the form of a pamphlet a description of my system, with five engravings, and such demonstrations as will give each of you an opportunity to contemplate its efficacy and utility at your leisure; and enable you to form a correct judgment on the propriety of adopting it as a part of our means of national defence. It being my intention to publish hereafter a detailed account of the origin and progress of this invention, and the embarrassments under which I have laboured to bring it to its present state of certain utility; I will now state only such experiments and facts as are most important to be known, and which, proving the practicability of destroying ships of war by this means, will lead the mind to all the advantages which we may derive from it. I believe it is generally known that I endeavoured for many years to get torpedoes introduced into practice in France, and in England; which, though unsuccessful, gave me the opportunity of making numerous very interesting experiments on a large scale; by which I discovered errors in the combinations of the machinery and method of fixing the torpedoes to a ship; which errors in the machinery have been corrected: and I believe I have found means of attaching the torpedoes to a vessel which will seldom fail of success. It is the result of my experience which I now submit to your consideration; and hoping that you will feel an interest in the success of my invention, I beg for your deliberate perusal and reflection on the following few pages. Gentlemen who have traced the progress of the useful arts, know the years of toil and experiment, and difficulties which frequently pass, before the utility and certain operation of new discoveries have been established; hence it could not be expected, that torpedoes should be rendered useful without encountering many difficulties; and I am aware, that in the course of farther essays other difficulties will appear; but from my past experience I feel confident, that any obstacle which may arise can be surmounted by attention and perseverance: of this gentlemen will be better able to judge, after examining the following facts and details:

Note on vessels of war of the United States

From which a comparative estimate may be made of their expence, and the expence of armed Torpedo boats; also the degree of protection which a given sum would effect, expended in either way.

_The Ship Constitution_

Guns 54 First cost, dollars 302,718 Annual expence when in commission, dollars 100,000 Draft of water, feet 23

_The Wasp_

Guns 18 First cost, dollars 60,000 Annual expence in commission, dollars 38,000 Draft of water, feet 15

_A Gun Boat_

First cost, fitted for sea, dollars 12,000 Annual expence in commission, dollars 11,000 Men 36 Number of gun boats of the United States 167

This Work having been published in haste, the errors of the press, and those of diction, shall be corrected in the second edition.

(For tables, see pages 54-55)

PLATE I

_Is a view of the brig Dorothea, as she was blown up on the 15th of Oct. 1805._

To convince Mr. Pitt and lord Melville that a vessel could be destroyed by the explosion of a Torpedo under her bottom, a strong built Danish brig, the _Dorothea_, burthen 200 tons, was anchored in Walmer road, near Deal, and within a mile of Walmer Castle, the then residence of Mr. Pitt. Two boats, each with eight men, commanded by lieutenant Robinson, were put under my direction. I prepared two empty Torpedoes in such a manner, that each was only from two to three pounds specifically heavier than salt water; and I so suspended them, that they hung fifteen feet under water. They were then tied one to each end of a small rope eighty feet long: thus arranged, and the brig drawing twelve feet of water, the 14th day of October was spent in practice. Each boat having a Torpedo in the stern, they started from the shore about a mile above the brig, and rowed down towards her; the uniting line of the Torpedoes being stretched to its full extent, the two boats were distant from each other seventy feet; thus they approached in such a manner, that one boat kept the larboard the other the starboard side of the brig in view. So soon as the connecting line of the Torpedoes passed the buoy of the brig, they were thrown into the water, and carried on by the tide, until the connecting line touched the brig's cable; the tide then drove them under her bottom. The experiment being repeated several times, taught the men how to act, and proved to my satisfaction that, when properly placed on the tide, the Torpedoes would invariably go under the bottom of the vessel. I then filled one of the Torpedoes with one hundred and eighty pounds of powder, and set its clockwork to eighteen minutes. Every thing being ready, the experiment was announced for the next day, the 15th, at five o'clock in the afternoon. Urgent business had called Mr. Pitt and lord Melville to London. Admiral Holloway, Sir Sidney Smith, Captain Owen, Captain Kingston, Colonel Congreve, and the major part of the officers of the fleet under command of Lord Keath were present; at forty minutes past four the boats rowed towards the brig, and the Torpedoes were thrown into the water; the tide carried them, as before described, under the bottom of the brig, where, at the expiration of eighteen minutes, the explosion appeared to raise her bodily about six feet; she separated in the middle, and the two ends went down; in twenty seconds, nothing was to be seen of her except floating fragments; the pumps and foremast were blown out of her; the fore-topsail-yard was thrown up to the cross-trees; the fore-chain plates with their bolts, were torn from her sides; the mizen-chain-plates and shrouds, being stronger than those of the foremast, or the shock being more forward than aft, the mizenmast was broke off in two places; these discoveries were made by means of the pieces which were found afloat.

The experiment was of the most satisfactory kind, for it proved a fact much debated and denied, that the explosion of a sufficient quantity of powder under the bottom of a vessel would destroy her.[A] There is now no doubt left on any intelligent mind as to this most important of all facts connected with the invention of Torpedoes; and the establishment of this fact alone, merits the expenditure of millions of dollars and years of experiment, were it yet necessary, to arrive at a system of practice which shall insure success to attacks, with such formidable engines. For America, I consider it a fortunate circumstance that this experiment was made in England, and witnessed by more than a hundred respectable and brave officers of the Royal navy; for, should Congress adopt Torpedoes as a part of our means of defence, lords Melville, Castlereagh, and Mulgrave, have a good knowledge of their combination and effect. Lord Grenville, Earls Gray and St. Vincent[B], have on their minds a strong impression of their probable consequences. Sir Home Popham, Sir Sidney Smith, and Colonel Congreve, the latter now celebrated for his ingenious invention of Pyrotecnic arrows or rockets, were my friends and companions in the experiments; they are excellent and brave men, and from my knowledge of those noblemen and gentlemen, and their sentiments on this subject, I can predict that they would feel much disposed to respect the rights, nor enter the waters of a nation who should use such engines with energy and effect.

[Footnote A: Twenty minutes before the _Dorothea_ was blown up, Capt. Kingston asserted, that if a Torpedo were placed under his cabin while he was at dinner, he should feel no concern for the consequence. Occular demonstration is the best proof for all men.]

[Footnote B: The morning of my first interview with Earl St. Vincent he was very communicative. I explained to him a Torpedo and the _Dorothea_ experiment. He reflected for some time, and then said, Pitt was the greatest fool that ever existed, to encourage a mode of war which they who commanded the seas did not want, and which, if successful, would deprive them of it.]

This fortunate experiment left not the least doubt on my mind that the one which I made in the harbour of New-York in August 1807, would be equally successful. The brig was anchored, the Torpedoes prepared and put into the water in the manner before described; the tide drove them under the brig near her keel, but in consequence of the locks turning downwards, the powder fell out of the pans and they both missed fire. This discovery of an error in the manner of fixing the locks to a Torpedo, has been corrected. On the second attempt, the Torpedo missed the brig; the explosion took place about one hundred yards from her, and threw up a column of water ten feet diameter sixty or seventy feet high. On the third attempt she was blown up: the effect and result much the same as that of the _Dorothea_ before described. About two thousand persons were witnesses to this experiment. Thus, in the course of my essays, two brigs, each of two hundred tons, have been blown up. The practicability of destroying vessels by this means, has been fully proved. It is also proved, that the mechanism will ignite powder at any required depth under water within a given time. It now remains to point out means by which Torpedoes may be used to advantage with the least possible risque to the assailants.

PLATE II

Represents the anchored Torpedo, so arranged as to blow up a vessel which should run against it; B is a copper case two feet long, twelve inches diameter, capable of containing one hundred pounds of powder. A is a brass box, in which there is a lock similar to a common gun-lock, with a barrel two inches long, to contain a musket charge of powder: the box, with the lock cocked and barrel charged, is screwed to the copper case B. H is a lever which has a communication to the lock inside of the box, and in its present state holds the lock cocked and ready to fire. C is a deal box filled with cork, and tied to the case B. The object of the cork is to render the Torpedo about fifteen or twenty pounds specifically lighter than water, and give it a tendency to rise to the surface. It is held down to any given depth under water by a weight of fifty or sixty pounds as at F: there is also a small anchor G, to prevent a strong tide moving it from its position. With Torpedoes prepared, and knowing the depth of water in all our bays and harbours, it is only necessary to fix the weight F at such a distance from the Torpedo, as when thrown into the water, F will hold it ten, twelve, or fifteen feet below the surface at low water, it will then be more or less below the surface at high water, or at different times of the tide; but it should never be so deep as the usual draught of a frigate or ship of the line. When anchored, it will, during the flood tide, stand in its present position; at slack water it will stand perpendicular to the weight F, as at D; during the ebb it will be at E. At ten feet under water the waves, in boisterous weather, would have little or no tendency to disturb the Torpedo; for that if the hollow of a wave should sink ten feet below what would be the calm surface, the wave would run twenty feet high, which I believe is never the case in any of our bays or harbours. All the experience which I have on this kind of Torpedo is, that in the month of October 1805, I had one of them anchored nine feet under water, in the British Channel near Dover; the weather was severe, the waves ran high, it kept its position for twenty-four hours, and, when taken up, the powder was dry and the lock in good order. The Torpedo thus anchored, it is obvious, that if a ship in sailing should strike the lever H, the explosion would be instantaneous, and she be immediately destroyed; hence, to defend our bays or harbours, let a hundred, or more if necessary, of these engines be anchored in the channel, as for example, the Narrows, to defend New-York.

The figure to the right of the plate is an end view of the Torpedo H. H shews its lever forked, to give the better chance of being struck.

Having described this instrument in a way which I hope will be understood, I may be permitted to put the following question to my readers, which is, knowing that the explosion of one hundred pounds of powder, or more if required, under the bottom of a ship of the line, would destroy her, and seeing, that if a ship in sailing should strike the lever of an anchored torpedo, she would be blown up, would he have the courage, or, shall I say, temerity, to sail into a channel where one or more hundred of such engines were anchored? I rely on each gentleman's sense of prudence and self-preservation, to answer this question to my satisfaction. Should the apprehension of danger become as strong on the minds of those who investigate this subject as it is on mine, we may reasonably conclude that the same regard to self-preservation, will make an enemy cautious in approaching waters where such engines are placed; for, however brave sailors may be, there is no danger so distressing to the mind of a seaman, or so calculated to destroy his confidence, as that which is invisible and instantaneous destruction.

The consideration which will now present itself, is, that the enemy might send out boats to sweep for and destroy the Torpedoes. It is therefore proper to examine the nature of such an operation, and its chance of success. Suppose two hundred Torpedoes to be placed in three miles of channel, the enemy's boats, in attempting to sweep for them, would be exposed to the fire of our land batteries, or necessitated to fight our boats, for whenever they leave their ships and take to boats, we can be as well armed and active at boat fighting as they; and thus opposed by batteries and boats, they would have three or more square miles of channel to sweep, which, even if successful, would be a work of time, and were they to get up some of the Torpedoes, they could not ascertain if all were destroyed, for they could not know whether five or five hundred had been put down; nor could they prevent our boats throwing in additional numbers each day and night. It therefore amounts to an impossibility for an enemy to clear a channel of Torpedoes, provided it were reasonably guarded by land batteries and row boats. Added to the opposition which might be made to the enemy, there is a great difficulty in clearing a channel of Torpedoes with any kind of sweep or drag, so as to establish full confidence in sailing through it. It is only they who put them down and know the number, that could tell when all were taken up. To facilitate the taking of them up, I have, since Plate II was engraved, thought of a very useful and simple piece of mechanism which, being screwed to the box C, will hold the Torpedo under water at any given depth, and for any number of days. They may be set to stay under water a day, week, month, or year, and on the day which shall be previously determined, they will rise to the surface; at the same instant each will lock its lever H so that it cannot strike fire, and the Torpedo may be handled with perfect safety. Not having time to engrave this improvement, it shall be exhibited to Congress in a working model, by which it will also be better understood.

I will now suppose the enemy to be approaching a port; a signal announces them; our boats run out and throw into the channel two hundred Torpedoes, set each to 15 days. Should the enemy sail among them, the consequence will teach future caution; should they cruise or anchor at a distance, what could they do? They not knowing the number of Torpedoes which were put down, nor the day on which they were to rise to the surface, could not have their boats out exposed to our fire, and waiting from day to day for a time uncertain. Whereas, our officers, knowing the number which were put down, and the day they were to rise to the surface, would have their boats ready to take them in, and at the same time replace them with others set for ten, fifteen, twenty, or more days. Viewing this subject in all its bearings, the impression on my mind is, that it would be impossible for an enemy to enter a port where anchored Torpedoes were thus used, without their incurring danger of such a kind, that courage could not guard them from its consequences. Prudence and justice would warrant their abandoning such an enterprise; and the probability is, that knowing us to be thus prepared, they never would attempt it, or should they, and only one vessel were to be destroyed, we might calculate on its good effect to protect us from future hostile enterprises.

PLATE III

_Represents a clockwork Torpedo, as prepared for the attack of a vessel while at anchor or under sail, by harpooning her in the larboard and starboard bow._