I suppose, to the story of David and Goliath. The "Davids" were rather crude affairs, and drowned their own people oftener than those they were in pursuit of, but they kept our blockading forces very uneasy, harassing them continually. On the night of October 5, 1863, a "David" got alongside the iron-clad New Ironsides, off Charleston, and, exploding a torpedo against her side, shook the ship terribly, and did considerable damage. On the night of February 17, 1864, a "David" attacked the sloopof-war Housatonic, lying at anchor outside Charleston Harbor, and blew a hole in the ship's bottom, which caused her to sink in a few moments. After the war it was discovered, on examination of the wreck of the Housatonic by divers, that the torpedo-boat which destroyed her had run partly into the opening made by the explosion, so that all on board the "David" found a watery grave.

Many of our vessels were at different times during the war attacked by torpedoes fitted to steam-launches, which did great damage, rendering the vessels useless, at least for the time being; among the vessels lost in this way were the Minnesota and the Wabash, two of our largest frigates. These torpedo-boats were small affairs, mostly improvised for the occasion, with incomplete apparatus and insufficient charges; but they were a step in the right direction, and are the originals of the perfected torpedovessel which will in the future decide the issues of naval battles.

The nations of Europe are now actively engaged in perfecting the torpedo-vessel, and the results are very encouraging. Torpedo-boats of great speed and capacity for mischief have been designed; while England, with characteristic stubbornness, has so far done little in this direction, trusting more to her iron bulwarks and stout tars than to a mode of warfare which the conservative blue-jacket will still insist upon styling contemptible and cowardly, fit only for Chinamen and Feejee-Islanders. At this moment no nation can afford to ignore the torpedo, either as an offensive or defensive weapon; to do so would be evidence that they had not observed the recent great improvements, or that observation had taught them nothing. When I hear a naval officer speak contemptuously of the torpedo, saying that it can be of no great use in time of war, I set him down as one whose opinion is of no consequence on that or any other professional subject, for

he has either benefited nothing by experience or has never had any experience by which to benefit. It is true that the torpedo will not so change the character of naval war that great ships will be dispensed with; for, in proportion as this engine is developed, new contrivances for withstanding it will be invented. The nation that possesses the most powerful fleets will, as heretofore, dominate its adversaries on the sea, and we shall live to see perfected torpedo-vessels engaging other torpedo-vessels on the ocean, as we see the light-cavalry combats of two contending armies.

The idea has got abroad among superficial observers that large ships of the present type will disappear before the advent of the new torpedo-boat, and that torpedoes planted in channels will render forts and heavy guns unnecessary—an opinion which is not shared by experienced persons. Under the guns of a heavy fleet torpedoes can be raised from a channel at night, by men in submarine armor, or the machines can be made useless by cutting the firing wires, or ships can use certain appliances which, in many cases, will neutralize the effects of torpedo-boats. A watchful commander will be always on the alert for these little sea-devils, his nets ready for service, and his own torpedo-launches on the qui vive. At night his electric lights should illuminate the surrounding waters, and his guns be ready to pour in grape on an approaching foe. It is true that torpedoes in channels at times stopped the advance of our naval forces during the late civil war, but we had not always a sufficient strength in ships and guns to overcome the forts which were always ready to drive away our boats when groping for the hidden enemy. The torIt cannot pedo is a powerful adjunct in war, but nothing more. bombard an enemy's forts, or lay his cities under contribution, nor can it cruise for, cut up, and destroy, a merchant marine. It cannot transport troops to invade a foreign country; it is simply a most destructive and harassing machine, making war much more horrible while it lasts, but incapable of successfully operating unless backed by powerful ships, which will, as heretofore, doubtles prove the chief naval strength of the various nations.

Every ship, large or small, can, in a measure, be converted into a torpedo-vessel, projecting the Whitehead torpedo from her sides, or operating the Lay torpedo from her deck; and the greater speed which, other things being equal, a large vessel must have

as compared with a small one, would perhaps render the former more efficient in this mode of warfare than the latter. Torpedoes, in combination with rams, will so far change the character of naval warfare, that there will be no more sea-battles fought in extended lines, as of old, but fleets will fight in groups of three or four ships, with a combination including the gun-vessel, ram, and torpedo, so that each can support the other, and an intelligent commander can manœuvre without danger of collision or breaking the line of battle.

Some of the swiftest torpedo-boats yet constructed are on the plan of Thornycroft, of England, but they hardly seem to deserve the high estimate which some writers have put upon them, for in a heavy sea-way they are useless. The torpedo-vessel, to be thoroughly effective, should be able to keep the sea in any weather, steam at the rate of seventeen knots, be wholly impervious to grape, and partly so to shot, and be fitted with all the improved torpedo devices.

The United States have as yet done very little practically in the way of using torpedoes. Our naval vessels are fitted with a torpedo-spar which is now out of date, and should give way to new contrivances. We have built one good torpedo-vessel, but she is deficient in speed, without which no vessel of this kind can be depended upon at sea; but she will answer very well for harbor-defense, until improved machinery is provided to drive her fourteen or fifteen knots. In other respects she is a formidable vessel. We have at Newport, Rhode Island, an excellent school for instruction in torpedo warfare, and some twenty young officers graduate there each year, carrying with them information which in case of war will be of the greatest value. We possess numerous torpedo inventions which have been practically tested at Newport before boards of officers. Some of these contrivances are very good, and others sufficiently primitive; but I hesitate to particularize any of them, since, if I spoke doubtfully of some, their inventors would consider it a special grievance.

During the late war we never made but one serious attack on the Confederates with the torpedo, but that affair was too remarkable to pass unnoticed here. The Government had sent to Hampton Roads three steam-launches fitted with torpedoes on the end of a pole, devised by Chief-Engineer Wood and Assistant

ingen Lay. The torpedo ernsisted of a copper case with a house tube through the centre, at the bottom of which was fixed a one for a fulminate cap; at the end was an iron ball to act as a panger and explode the cap, the ball being held by a safety-pin. An inained partition divided the interior of the torpedo into a magazine and an air-chamber. The disposition of the charge caused the torpedo to take position in the water with the chamber oppermost, with the trigger-line attached to the pin to lead so as to give a direct pull from the boat. The poles by alongside the wat, and when run out took an angular course under a ship's botm. Lieutenant Cushing having given personal attention to the Wing of these steam-launches, and having originally proposed the blowing-up of the Albemarle, by direction of the Department I sent him to execute this dangerous duty. He was fully equipped, and had instructions to proceed to the sounds of North Carolina, communicate with the commanding officer of the flora, Commander Macomb, and make all his dispositions to destroy the rebel ram (the Confederate iron-clad ram Albemarley, then lying off Plymouth, North Carolina, which vessel was bidding defiance to our flotilla of six or seven vessels, had disabled some of them, and kept all hands in a decidedly uncomfortable frame of mind. Everything worked well, and Cushing was not discovered by the enemy until he had come close alongside the Albemarle, on the night of October 27, 1864. The vesBel was surrounded by logs and other obstructions. In pushing his pole over the logs, and forcing his boat partly through them, be exploded the torpedo, and the Albemarle was so much injured that she sunk while firing upon Cushing with great guns and small-arms. The torpedo-boat filled with water, and Cushing and some of his brave companions escaped by swimming; others were drowned, and the rest taken prisoners. As soon as Macomb received notice of Cushing's success, he pushed up a back inlet as I had directed, and, taking the enemy in the rear, captured the town of Plymouth and the defenses, with some nine or ten heavy guns, together with a large supply of small-arms, stores, etc. all resulting from the performance of a little torpedo-boat with fifty pounds of powder on the end of a pole! This success gave us entire control of the sounds of North Carolina, which control we ever afterward maintained.

History has done justice to this affair, and Cushing received the most enthusiastic commendation for his gallant conduct; but success was also owing to Commander Macomb, who had all the arrangements carried out, and performed so gallantly the final coup by which the Albemarle fell into our hands, with the other spoils of war. She was afterward raised, and found to be unhurt, with the exception of a small hole in her bottom.

Of all torpedo experiments this was the most interesting that ever came under my observation. Here was a great ironclad, costing perhaps a million dollars, a vessel that had successfully resisted and inflicted great damage on a fleet carrying some very heavy guns, and was only making a few additions to her strength preparatory to capturing or destroying Macomb and all his forces. The town of Plymouth, a valuable strategic point, with all its guns, stores, etc., fell into our possession, through the gallant action of a handful of officers and men, and the intelligent use of a small torpedo-boat. Macomb and Cushing have gone to their long home, but the memory of their bravery and good judgment I shall ever cherish.

The sinking of the Albemarle so convinced me of the value of the torpedo-vessel, that I have ever since been deeply interested in the subject, and have constantly endeavored to improve upon the designs which have been presented to the public. I am acquainted with the details of nearly forty automatic powder-torpedoes, and a number of others charged with gun-cotton and dynamite, and fired by electricity. Every one of the above, with very simple mechanism, would perform its work effectively, but it would be impossible to give a name to these things, much less write a satisfactory description of them. The most widelyknown torpedo at present, and the one most approved by authorities in Europe, is the Whitehead or fish torpedo, the invention of an Englishman named Whitehead. The details of its construction are not publicly known, being imparted only to certain persons in the Navies of Great Britain and Austria, each of which powers has paid the inventor twenty thousand pounds sterling for his secret.

The Whitehead torpedo is cigar-shaped, propelled by an engine using compressed air, and is discharged from a vessel or from the shore, running at the rate of sixteen miles an hour. It can be