THE SUN, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1919. ,11 ems Isham's Diving Torpedo Shell Latest Marvel in Projeptiles

New Invention Ef- fective Against Armor Where Old Type Would Fail Capable of Dealing Death :n in ii mil i iw mi ii Blow Even When Falling Short of the Target V ...... ,r ?1HRM

By ROBERT G. SKERRETT. R13 tho ordnance exports of our iii' i iy i I mim ii ii in if mm i navy any Hie wiser for tho Mil VJUtKT GATUMVV4N SUP.LI.S J-- vorld war? Aro tho men that Willi W Did to a target simlT- -i design tho guns and tho projectiles for Mil LATIMG TfTe WATERUHE 1 fighting Hoot going to profit by BELT Tf?& BATTLESHIP our tha " of IOWA lemons of tho battlo of Jutland? Aro ANCLE OP FAIL AT they going to depond upon tho samo 2QOOO YARDS methods of attack to which thoy hayo t(To &R.EAT long suspended piles. subscribed persistently for many Gr ATH and between two MANN GUN THAT was years? HULLED 18-IN- TORPEDO One run of sixty yards secured nnd others ot shorter length. Indicat Theso queries aro particularly pcrtl-no- nt SHELLS nt tho present tlmo In view of the ing, in my opinion, that If the action EQUIVALENT TARGtT of tho fuso to detonate the sholl culd fact that tho General Board of tho AT 20.000 fDf. Navy has recently recommended that bo depended on tho length ot the r was sufficient to wc mako our battlo squadrons second durincr a battle In tho nnnn fip.n with underwater run mako on element of value in naval to none within tho next fivo years, tho enemy vecsels zigzagging to in- - this "Whatever may bo the warrant for crcaso oonquity of impact and tho gunnery." such a policy, and theso tcchnlclsts rolllni? motion nf thnsn nlil na nt Inn - ANGLE OF FALL Rear Admiral, Fiske recommended ' no dOubt know facta of which the pub- rango also promoting acuto angles AT 50.000 YDS. that the experiments should bo con- of RICOCHET AT lic commonly Is "AnCIXOF FALL tinued. This wns not done. ignorant, the man in striking. Tho British still persisted -- 8.000YOS. tho street, tho taxpayer, will at leant In devislnc nrolectllos which Beforo tho world war tho British want to bo reasonably assured that tha effect penetration with delavpri hurst. -- 150'- Admiralty conducted experiments with tremendous sums potentially Invoivea Ing pursuing tha samo questionable torpedo shells, and tho Empress of ship, was In such a programme shall be expend- -' wcio or procedure that had previously India, an armored sunk at ed to tho beat advantage. AVhat is the failed. Admiral Jelll a, rango of 16,000 yards. According to prospect of tho nation getting its eludes; "Had our shina nosse3seil tha It. reports, "great gaps wero blown in money':? worth if tho suggested build- now typo of armor nlerclnir sholl nt her side as big as lock gates." But in - ing scheme be carried out? Jutland many ot tho enemy's vessels, A P R.ICOCHETING- ARMOR- - PI ER.CING SHELL tho early period of the recont conflict, purposo i wumu explosion Tho ,01 this article is to instead of being only damaged, would t.s. nivms Too.PF.nn quci wii.i owing to thu untimely of point out wherein wo have apparently SINrd A SHIP WHEN EXPLODINfe. 40 FEET AWAY projectiles loaded with picric acid, tho failed to seo aright somo vitally im- TT "EQUIVALENT TARGET" INDICATES TOTAL Grand Fleet, according to Admiral portant ordnance problems, and there AREA VULNERABLE TO Tftf TORPEDO SHELU Jelllcoo, was skittish of such missiles, is reason to believe that wo must mend nnd It is evident that the armor pierc- our ways unlesa we aro willing to in- ing shell becamo tho accepted weapon. vito a futuro conflict by weaknesses To-da- y wo know that TNT is a that would make us a relatively easy thoroughly B.ifo high explosive, not- prey for an enemy, not hampered by withstanding its enormous powers bureaucratic conservatism. Tho writ- when properly detonated; and MR ing has been upon the wall In tho years Isham Is thoroughly satisfied now tha gone for those that cared to read; nnd his fuso Is capablo of functioning cor cumulative evidence to the same end rectly. has been given frankly recently by no Hull IlenrliiK Failed. less an authority than Admiral Vis- CSs- count Jelllcoo of Scapa. As ho says, "I have improved my fuso since the tests wero made, and Xnvnl miles Mont lined. failure then was duo to a defcctlyo' baJl Even the layman knows that tha bearing, which could not stand the powers of a, battle craft of tho first prcssuro to which it was subjected. crder are variously divided between This could have been determined In th attack and defence ; and up to data first month of tests mado by tho Flsbe the principal medium of attack has board had that organization beonfu been the long range, powerful naval nlshed, as requested, with the usslsfc-anc- o rifle, depending for the most part upon ot fnsa men. High explosive different sorts of armor piercing pro iimiMii Timrn nwwrn nr wn have been used in shells for the last jcctlles to smash through tho foo's pro twenty years or more, but prior to th tfctlng walls of steel and then to burst war only In small quantities just sufr with a maximum of violence amid tho flclont to break up and spread out tlw enemy's "vitals." Thai is to say, to fragments us they oontlnuo in their spread flame and hurtling fragments forward movement. Tho great strength in the engine rooms, tho boiler com of high explosives mado it .possible to partments and the magazines and shell construct shells with thick wall3 that i rooms. could be fired through armor under Theoretically, the capabilities of y certain favorable conditions nnd break armor piercing shells to boro their up into pieces after effecting penetra- way through defensive steel in tlmo ricochet over the objective or strikJ But the Isham shell has another tion. This use In shrapnel and armor of time battlo havo been established whero they do but little serlous dam- characteristic which makes Us kin- piercing shells Is er.llroly different and tlmo again under ideal clrcum age. ship to the automatic torpedo still from tho manner In which I proposo Simi- stances on tho proving ground. .The shortcomings of tie armor closer than the Gathmann invention. to use high explosives In shells nnd larly, much tho samo thing has been piercing projectile were brought out If it strikes the water a hundred or from tho way they wero used In Bel-glu- achieved but with Ies3 bpectacular SHELL FAILS TO OITC by certain experiments conducts! more feet short of its target it will My aim is to employ the pro success on the tarfwt range, whore against the old monitor I'uilL-i- and cive nnd continue to ndvanco toward jectile merely as a carrier for tho de- fighting craft have blazed away at the target ship Siin Marcos somo tho objective. This is induced by a structive charge, whicli should, there- rjma obsolete battleship with wind, yiMrs ago liefore the wor.ld war, and cup shaped cavity In tlienoi'o of the fore, be tho maximum to secure-- tho atmosphere, and the state, of the water V similarly tlm potency of tho external missile which onuses it "to bite and greatest results. ontrlbutlng to accuracy of practlco V attack of a high explosive was dem- - penetrate tho water inttend of glanc- "Velocity Is useful merely because and the favorable impingement of tho enstrated hut belittled by our ura-- ing off from it a.nd ricocheting 'sky- - of lis necessity to secure range., On noses of the projectiles against tho nsnre expei ts then In power !n tha wain. lanil such missiles will destroy any PENETRATIVE LIMITATIONS As long as Mr. Isham not sheltering barrier of metal. ARMOR-PIERCIN- Bureau of Ordnance. They could not could structure may bo employed as a G prove that It was in tho faith Inspired by kin ofTfie alter their preconceived theories, lor that his torpedo shell would defence, nnd will fill up or bury any SHELL. DATA FURNISHED I'lve di ed tests that tho British Grand to do so would have meant the akin- - and travel for some distance un- earthwork or dugout employed to pro- TO CONGR.ESS Bu BUKEAL) der tho essayed to square accounts with Of ORDNANCE NAVy donment o instrumentalities whl:!i surface at a meuuclngly mod- tect men. At sea such projectiles will tho German forces In tho spring of they declared to lie Indispensable. erate depth, his critics weiv willing tho armored protections of DEPARTMENT to dfstroy IMG off tho coast of Jutland. To be brief, tho armor piercing concede that this form of attack, if battleships nt any rango within reach attainable, It Is protty projectile did measure up reasonably would be n pcill to battlo when presented angle, a matter of general Thoy or at an as is knowledge something wrong well at comparatively short range a craft. wouldn't admit, however, r.ow nearly always case In naval that went that his invention the during de- range well within tho effective roach would work. Con I aitles, which piercing that crucial conflict; and is gress had more at armor shelLi spite the splendid of men that a detonating shell will do dam- c.f the nutomobllo torpedo, but It was faith In Mr. Ishum'si will do nothing. Torpedo shells will practice tho ago whether proposal and behind tho guns of JoH'eoo's forces, the opposing steel wall la also made manifest that the armor therefore directed that net as torpedoes or mines If striking thick or thin, while armor piercing his weapon bo subjected to practical s' ill a great many of tho Kaiser's the piercing shell would bo of very doubt-fi- il 175 feet short of tho target, and HIT "WHERE IT MAY, ABOVE BELOW projectile must bo slowi-- down by in.ua. near Admiral Itradley A. teii - Miips got back to their home porta OR WATER, T;? TORPEDO SHEILL a value at fighting distances beyonl a single projectile- of this sort ot 12 massive barrier otherwise it will sim- I'isKe was made when they should have gone to tho VILL SPREAD RUiy. the then acknowledged range of the b W" U Ut ply make a succession of clean holes of a boanl caTlTd no or Ids !,,C" JUn "n," Z'a upon torpedo. , Ison, tho carry bottom if all of the hits hnded through Intervening thin phtej and imrnow. ,i i...,,...... them had told effectively. Tho man In the street must boar in .' ' British f ,A pierce a ship devoted about W'," from sldo to side and mind tho fact battle arc nlno months T.P " tX a- - not-ha- that craft marksmanship was of high ordor, probably been able to reach harmlessly ing Into various phases I f an appropriation burst after doing o. of thu h,lV . ' from Congress for square With matter. T3 ?" '",? . and salvo salvo of great armor iweivo feet below the water kept nt arm's dlsfhnco by the torpedo, a 111 ljcU bo T"!.? after port." tnc building of an h gun to rtro a torpedo shell the whole of an en- piercing projectiles repeatedly line! Through an opening of that which is capable, of hitting below the Ail in I nil Fluke' Statement 150 pounds of this powerful explosive. Btrad What thon was it that mudo it his torpedo shells, then emy craft is an effective target and ' and another magnitude in the side of a damaged vater line whero the. powers of bo x 12 died the dreadnoughts and battle practicable lax the Germans to score appropriation was hitting It anywhere may lead to a dis- Under date of July 21, "It should remembered that made to put tho craft 300 tons of water could Jn aro lowest; and, therefore, In llfl, Wear cruisers of Admiral Relnhold von more effectively when their projectiles weapon and its projectiles rush astrous consequence, but an armor Admiral Kisko mado Inch torpedo shell with 200 pounds of to a test in the courso of a mlnutp. In tho face order to cripple one another hostile: an Individual Seheer's fleet. Onjhe other hand, the wero opposed by the heavy armor of competition with an army rifle piercing projectilo Is of comparatively statement to the Secretary of TNT will hao a greater effect than of this target damago. however, the capital shlpj rely at the greater dh- - the an torpedo chargo Teuton shells wrought n vast deal of the British battle craft? Thero Is a using nrmor piercing projectiles little avail unless It happens to strike Xavy which Impartially summed up automobile with a Joint army nnd navy board reported tances upon gunfire, which Is counted r havoc, and ono or two bro.ideides suf. persistent and well founded belief that cnargeu witn dunnlte. Just whero tho armor plato Is massive tho performances to of S00 pounds, because in tho latt.-- Thero was evl that the Gathmann shell "Would upon to down and to break that date. Tho flced In somo Instances to cause the Teutons used a type or types of denco In plenty tho not enough to bring the delayed batter following extracLs will weapon tho explosive forco will first the that Gathmann have endangered a vessel." action through tho foe's sheltering coat of aullico for tho shockingly prompt foundering of big high explosive shells designed to burst projectiles did not detonate they fuso into servlco beforo tho missile present purpose In showing be exerted backward into tho air llas!c as m.ill. A prerequisite to success at that Mr. Biitlsh craft. upon impact when meeting any sub wero ucsigneu to do, but, desDlto tlw Without touching further upon the can get clear of the vessel. Isham was making headway very of the torpedo, having a capacity of controversy th? longer ranges Is armor in a stantlal barrier to their flight. That incompletenefs of this functkjn. they which grew out of Mr. that the desirable direction. To quote: forty cubic (oat, thus robbing tho ex- Ti'avrU Under Wnter. piercing shell shall be capable of re- Jeltleoe's Version, Is to eay, it ia supposed that theso sun mauo manifest tlieir potentla itles uatlimanns efforts to obtain recocnl board has experimented with the plosion of much ot Its violence." Hon from tho maining hitnet until It has perforated Admiral Jelllcoo In hlr revealing missiles carried exceptionally largo as wrecking or destructively wracking ordnance exerts of tho Louis Gathmann Is nojv dead, but a Isham fuse and shell for about nine Inasmuch as the old ''Utlcshlps land of his adoption, let the defensive walls ot steel. It 'M'l des- V:j!:, "The Grand Fleet." thus ex- charges of TXT or something akin to mediums. It be re more Insertions advocate of tho tor months. During this time Mr. Isham Massachusetts and' Indlant aro marked that the Germans Jo this provided the angle of impact plains a denouement that has dis- It and that they wero made to deto- Tho Gathmann shells were fired were from pedo shell survives to carry on the has changed the details of his fuso tined to bo used as targets replacing the start keenly In I. not too oblique for tho point ofth-- j mayed the naval world which has nate Instantly upon meeting an ob competitively without any previous Interested tho com struggle against tho armor piercing from time rb time. In my opinion the tho San Marcos thero are the host - petitive shell to "bite," and, th looked upon stacle, tho violence of this external preparatory tests, while the rival tests made at Sandy Hook, projectile, pure and simple. AVIllard further, that changes have always been in the lino of reasons why the Isham torpedo tte British feet hitherto Competent remulnlng velocity is high enough to as tho blast being sufficient to do an im army projectiles had undergone prior and unbiased ordnance au. S. Isham cf 520 Rhode Island avenue of improvement. At the present mo- shell nnd similar missiles should bo best example of preparedness thorltles have not drive the shut through the opposing In all particular!. "Tho mense amount ot damage. If this bo firing trials and their erratic behavior hesitated to ascrlbo N. B., Washington, D. C. Is the Inven- ment the fuso has not been brought tested out In competition with tha Jutland battlo was tho success of the ot metal. convinced us that our piercing true, thon the Germans utilized in- corrected, by successlvo adjust- Germans In batter tor a torpedo rUell which. If It falls to perfection because It has not demon- best of our armor piercing projec- ararr ments. ing down the French and Belgian short of its Kffoctlv.' nt 115,000 Vardi. bo shell was inferior in its penetrative ventions developed in this country ar mark, will dive Into tho strated Its ability to detonate a high tiles. It will recalled that both qulto two ago. The army shell made more-la- forts, believed until then Inv water and travel for 100 or tho Bethlehem power to that used by the Germans, decades a nice, clean feet moro Adtulral Jelllcoo tells us that the explosive. In my onlnlon this is nrac- - Steel Company and circular hole In the target plate prognaoie, to recourse to torpedo under the surfaco before I llp.'lllv rtnll Ik It the Carnegie Company In and and reaching a torpedo in 1916 had effectlvo range ...... j thr. 111 ...Ull.II Steel 1916 Immediately after the action I -- an 4lllrilk twill II Gathmann'a Opposite Method. burst in the rear of the armor, dam- aliens loaaeu witn trinitrotoluol In- depth greater than that of the draft threw up their represented with a ew to im- cf 15,000 yards. At 15,000 yards, with tans snort, because It has accom- - contracts with the this - aging con- stead of the wot guncotton of modern As far back as 1S0S, Louis Gath- the supporting structure which Mr. superdreadnoughts and ships zlgr-aggin- and possibly ro'.llr.c pliJhcd the two other things which Department because they wero mediate investigation. A committee siderably. Gathmann had itnv' mann, a naturalized American of Ger- Had tho thrgot been a ship used moro than n W. battlo cruisers. Should It strike the In a seaway, the angles of Impact nre attempted that is. the fuse will act'tllen expected to supply projectiles sat to consider the matter. In 1917, ado previously. To ship - man birth, conceived a mothod of at- tho projectile could not have done its throw theso pro bottom of a while.divlng tho mls- very likely to bo so "bit- - at once if It penetrates thin iron. sucH tlult would penetrate heavy steel plato as First Sea Lorfl-- I appointed a sec- jectiles mo will sham that tacking heavily armored defences, damago below water, for the sea would Touions enveloped eleven sllo detonato Instantly nnd bring Irfg" Is exception a,! ,l10 hull of a destroyer, will at mi til- v iifijrev.s ond committee." Inch nn rather than the and act min" irom ino whether ship or fort, by means of havo stopped the shot The Gath- mortars, which assured high Its charge of high exploslvo to boar ule, while tho projectiles, If strlkin; In about u second after It atrlfces normal. The exports of those con- Continuing, this eminent and dispas-sionat- o nnGlo, plunging whero Is thin walled shells loaded with a great mann shell exploded against the face fire. tho craft least capablo of re !hort. will be very npt to ricochet. waor. In my opinion the only thing cerns utatcd thot it was impossible to authority says: "With ono of of target, The layman probably Is sisting Is say, s mass of high explosive. Ills aim was the "dished" tho heavy plato not nlltfA attack. That to a shell The next naval battle will In nil like- remaining to ho accomplished Is actual do that. Several curlier tho tho old typo ot armor piercing shells to pierce somowhot, and drovo clear in his mind as to the of this sort that falls short of Its tar not the protecting wulls of tho steel back- difference lihood be opened up ranges of 20,-00- 0 detonation, and this seems to mo a navy was able to perforate twolvo of a particular calibre as used an explosion get may to at at steel, but to effect havoc by detonat- ward and sideways a number of oeiween and a detonation. still be ablo deal the foo a yards and more, reducing to n still matter of engineering and not of in Inch plates successfully attho prov- Jutland tho shell would, with oblique 1 In tho case ing tho charge on the outer faco of the inches, shearing tho Ivets of the tar- latter the entire mass nf death blow. greater extent tho effectiveness of vention that can be accomplished ing ground with projectiles 'that broko Impact at battlo range, up while tho exploslvo tho break defensive metal. This was directly get framework both 'at the top and at is set off instantly, and The ordinary shell, on tho other necessarily flight of tho simply by a proper proportioning up later on ck'ht Inch armor at an holing a certain thickness of plate, tho flatter strictly of and opposed to the views held by the ex- tho bottom. At first blush, Mr. Gath- resulting "violence of the gases is hand, when Impinging upon tho armor piercing typo ot missile, which tho component parts of the fuse. actual range of 10,000 yards during the shell could not, theroforo, roach directed perts that went "by the book." mann appeared to have failed, because outward ugalnst cither the Mater short of its mark, if tho angle depends upon high velocity and direct- "The Inventor claims the shell tests In Chesapeake Bay. the vltalgi tho enemy's ships. walls of that of A In May of that year, a turret plate tho work of his projectllo was not as a container or tho PTterlnr be not too nearly vertical, will glance ness Impact to carry It through if it strike a very considerable dis- The recent war has emphasized tho shell of tho new type, a produced air with of the by of Harveyized nickel steel, seventeen outstandingly spectacular as that of Inconceivable velocity. That off again, ricochet, and make a sec- enemy's defensive plating. tance short of a ship will run under vulnerability of battle craf: below 'tho 1917 committee, of tho samo calibre 'army is to say, tno element tlmo Is de- flight altitude, pos- Inches thick, was stood upright at the rival mlssCo. But wait a of the ond at a sufficient The torpedo shell, such as has been wat9r toward such ship and explode water, and the torpedo bhell prom-Lie- s would tho samo oblique Impact COO termining at Indian Head, Maryland, and moment. factor between an exDlosion sibly to pas3 harmlessly over tho tar- - conceived by Messrs. Gathmann, If It hit the underwater body of the to do all that the tiutc mobile and range paw whole through a. plate guncotton, and a detonation, nnd the yet ship. pounds of wet In contact 1- Incandescent Admiral Jelltcoe, so It is ship, If torpedo can of 3Indc - Inch Hole. Isham nnd others, docs not rely upon or it falls to hit thu under do and to achieve this PC double explod- gases In tho ma-Jtrl- ty the thickness before with tho armor, wa3 detonated by latter ease drlvo against aid, has disclosed that the great It? striking velocity to increase the i water lody of tho ship, will explode ranges far beyond the reach ot tfio ing, and could, therefore, with delay electricity. The explosion Tho army shell inado passaw the air with a lightninglike long rango split the a suddenness of shots strlko sho:t. power of Its attack. Upon Impart nt i about a second after reaching tho latter. Xot,onIy that, but tho tor- action fuse penetrate to tho magazines top to through which sea en- which causes the to plate from bottom nnd hurled the might have mr react with the Arthur Pollen, tho well known British any speed these projectiles will dcto. water. The board made a series of pedo thcll, owing to Its far higher ve- of a capital Bhip." upon list- rigidity of tromendously tho ploces violently rearward. That tered had tho wound been a a thick bar- civilian naval critic, has also made nate and deal a maximum blow, experiments to determine whether tho locity, will n much bigger In passing, forgot ing ship, rier. As result, Dlatliyr .and stand don't let us that performance failed to alter tho views and tho twolvo inch a nrmor for disclosures regarding tho battle of the angle of their impact is not essen- shell would make a long enough run chanco of reaching Its L'Td Jclllcoe dcscrlbos Improvement hole had tho nonce marl: than Its an of the Bureau of Ordnance of tho an area of 113 square Inches. becomes relatively more utland, and he oeserts In his latent tial to success. In this respect they undjr water to render this featuro comparatively fcluggish rival, which probably On tho plastla gtvo which had no more convinc- Navy Department, other hand, the torpedo shell and will under tho Jmnulso book that a very large percentage of aro much akin to subaqueous tor- valuable to naval gunnory. Ten nets, must travel nil the way by ing test proving ground years Mr. Gathmann, dislodged tho so of such a blow delivered upon water, than trials and Two later, armor nlato that tho its ex long range projectiles fall ihort of pedoes, save that they aro hurled woro sunk in the lower end of the perhaps to find Its quarry hundreds accordingly, may possibly may oesplto tho antagonistic attlttido leakage area would be'en equal to and not of hae terior surface. their target by anywhere from twenty through the air instead of being self Potomac, ten "yards apart, ono behind of yards away when tho path of havo both army and. navy experts, a holo fl by 4 or Tho thing to bo borne the demonstrated what would happen obtained feet feet, an area of in mind thon to thirty yards and for tha most part propelled. j the other, each net being ninety feet target Is crotro4 s