Published Resources Details Journal Article

Title
Torpedo boat design
In
The Engineer
Imprint
vol. 85, 1 April 1898, p. 312
Description

Accession No.528

Abstract

The continuation of the text of a paper read by Assistant Naval Constructor H. G. Gillmor, U.S.N. at the annual meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers held in New York in September 1897 (see also "Torpedo boat design." The Engineer, vol. 85, 28 January 1898, p. 88, and 'Torpedo boat design.' The Engineer, vol. 85, 1 April 1898, p. 312.), Gillmor stated the obvious when he expressed his opinion that it was imperative that the sea-going torpedo boat be seaworthy; that is, capable of remaining safely at sea in all such weathers as may be reasonably anticipated. Since the size of the boat had a direct bearing on its efficiency, it was important to consider what limitations were to be placed on size in order to ensure that it was seaworthy, in order to determine whether the size of the boat was consistent with the other characteristics required. In 1879 the Russian torpedo boat Batoum (length 100 feet, beam 12 feet 6 inches; displacement 50 tons) made the voyage from London to Nikolaief, a distance of 4,800 miles with a crew of three officers and nine men. In 1890 the English torpedo boats No. 61 and No. 62 (length 125 feet, beam 13 feet; displacement 75 tons) convoyed by the store-ship Tyne made the voyage from Plymouth across the North Atlantic, under their own steam, encountering severe gales, fog, and icebergs. Gillmor concluded that the size of the sea-going torpedo boat could be fixed by considering the qualities that it was desirable to embody in its design with due regard being given to stability, it could be made sea-worthy and habitable so long as it was no less than 100 feet in length and 50 tons displacement. The sea-going torpedo boat had to be able to perform two tasks. It had to be capable of making a torpedo attack upon the ships of an enemy, and it had to be able to stand guard over and protect the ships of its own side from torpedo attack. To fulfil both these roles it had to possess the following features: (1) An efficient torpedo armament. (2) A gun armament sufficiently powerful for an attack upon other torpedo boats. (3) High speed. (4) Sufficient coal capacity. (5) Good manoeuvring qualities. Gillmor also tabulated the dimensions and other data of the torpedo boats built for the United States Navy from 1890 to1897, and the dimensions and other data of recent torpedo boats built for France, England, Austria, Italy, Chile, and the Argentinean Republic. The continuation of the text of a paper read by Assistant Naval Constructor H. G. Gillmor, U.S.N. at the annual meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers held in New York in September 1897 (see also "Torpedo boat design." The Engineer, vol. 85, 28 January 1898, p. 88, and 'Torpedo boat design.' The Engineer, vol. 85, 1 April 1898, p. 312.), Gillmor stated the obvious when he expressed his opinion that it was imperative that the sea-going torpedo boat be seaworthy; that is, capable of remaining safely at sea in all such weathers as may be reasonably anticipated. Since the size of the boat had a direct bearing on its efficiency, it was important to consider what limitations were to be placed on size in order to ensure that it was seaworthy, in order to determine whether the size of the boat was consistent with the other characteristics required. In 1879 the Russian torpedo boat Batoum (length 100 feet, beam 12 feet 6 inches; displacement 50 tons) made the voyage from London to Nikolaief, a distance of 4,800 miles with a crew of three officers and nine men. In 1890 the English torpedo boats No. 61 and No. 62 (length 125 feet, beam 13 feet; displacement 75 tons) convoyed by the store-ship Tyne made the voyage from Plymouth across the North Atlantic, under their own steam, encountering severe gales, fog, and icebergs. Gillmor concluded that the size of the sea-going torpedo boat could be fixed by considering the qualities that it was desirable to embody in its design with due regard being given to stability, it could be made sea-worthy and habitable so long as it was no less than 100 feet in length and 50 tons displacement. The continuation of the text of a paper read by Assistant Naval Constructor H. G. Gillmor, U.S.N. at the annual meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers held in New York in September 1897 (see also "Torpedo boat design." The Engineer, vol. 85, 28 January 1898, p. 88, and 'Torpedo boat design.' The Engineer, vol. 85, 1 April 1898, p. 312.), Gillmor stated the obvious when he expressed his opinion that it was imperative that the sea-going torpedo boat be seaworthy; that is, capable of remaining safely at sea in all such weathers as may be reasonably anticipated. Since the size of the boat had a direct bearing on its efficiency, it was important to consider what limitations were to be placed on size in order to ensure that it was seaworthy, in order to determine whether the size of the boat was consistent with the other characteristics required. In 1879 the Russian torpedo boat Batoum (length 100 feet, beam 12 feet 6 inches; displacement 50 tons) made the voyage from London to Nikolaief, a distance of 4,800 miles with a crew of three officers and nine men. In 1890 the English torpedo boats No. 61 and No. 62 (length 125 feet, beam 13 feet; displacement 75 tons) convoyed by the store-ship Tyne made the voyage from Plymouth across the North Atlantic, under their own steam, encountering severe gales, fog, and icebergs. Gillmor concluded that the size of the sea-going torpedo boat could be fixed by considering the qualities that it was desirable to embody in its design with due regard being given to stability, it could be made sea-worthy and habitable so long as it was no less than 100 feet in length and 50 tons displacement. The sea-going torpedo boat had to be able to perform two tasks. It had to be capable of making a torpedo attack upon the ships of an enemy, and it had to be able to stand guard over and protect the ships of its own side from torpedo attack. To fulfil both these roles it had to possess the following features: (1) An efficient torpedo armament. (2) A gun armament sufficiently powerful for an attack upon other torpedo boats. (3) High speed. (4) Sufficient coal capacity. (5) Good manoeuvring qualities. Gillmor also tabulated the dimensions and other data of the torpedo boats built for the United States Navy from 1890 to1897, and the dimensions and other data of recent torpedo boats built for France, England, Austria, Italy, Chile, and the Argentinean Republic. The continuation of the text of a paper read by Assistant Naval Constructor H. G. Gillmor, U.S.N. at the annual meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers held in New York in September 1897 (see also "Torpedo boat design." The Engineer, vol. 85, 28 January 1898, p. 88, and 'Torpedo boat design.' The Engineer, vol. 85, 1 April 1898, p. 312.), Gillmor stated the obvious when he expressed his opinion that it was imperative that the sea-going torpedo boat be seaworthy; that is, capable of remaining safely at sea in all such weathers as may be reasonably anticipated. Since the size of the boat had a direct bearing on its efficiency, it was important to consider what limitations were to be placed on size in order to ensure that it was seaworthy, in order to determine whether the size of the boat was consistent with the other characteristics required. In 1879 the Russian torpedo boat Batoum (length 100 feet, beam 12 feet 6 inches; displacement 50 tons) made the voyage from London to Nikolaief, a distance of 4,800 miles with a crew of three officers and nine men. In 1890 the English torpedo boats No. 61 and No. 62 (length 125 feet, beam 13 feet; displacement 75 tons) convoyed by the store-ship Tyne made the voyage from Plymouth across the North Atlantic, under their own steam, encountering severe gales, fog, and icebergs. Gillmor concluded that the size of the sea-going torpedo boat could be fixed by considering the qualities that it was desirable to embody in its design with due regard being given to stability, it could be made sea-worthy and habitable so long as it was no less than 100 feet in length and 50 tons displacement. The sea-going torpedo boat had to be able to perform two tasks. It had to be capable of making a torpedo attack upon the ships of an enemy, and it had to be able to stand guard over and protect the ships of its own side from torpedo attack. To fulfil both these roles it had to possess the following features: (1) An efficient torpedo armament. (2) A gun armament sufficiently powerful for an attack upon other torpedo boats. (3) High speed. (4) Sufficient coal capacity. (5) Good manoeuvring qualities. Gillmor also tabulated the dimensions and other data of the torpedo boats built for the United States Navy from 1890 to1897, and the dimensions and other data of recent torpedo boats built for France, England, Austria, Italy, Chile, and the Argentinean Republic.

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