An item reported that the well-known American engineer Karl Wheaton (1) invented a new type of torpedo which was called the chloroformic torpedo especially to be used by submarines. In stead of lyddit, dynamite or guncotton was soporific material used as charge. The torpedo was propelled by compressed air and was sharp pointed to penetrate the hull of a target and then became stuck. What happens next was no explosion to blow the ship up but: "By means of a light cable carried by the projectile an electric current causes the fracture of the bomb, tho vapours immediately escape, and everyone in the ship and around it for a distance of 70 yards is plunged into a deep sleep, the enemy can board and secure ships, prisoners, and booty without striking a blow. According to the newspaper made Wheaton “several useful and complex machines.”
Note
1. Carl M. Wheaton, Newtonville, Massachusetts, USA came with more naval defense technologies in and before the First World War. This torpedo is also known as the Aneasthetic submarine. The Roosevelt Center keeps a letter dated 1 January 1912 written by him tot president Theodore Roosevelt referring to interview between both men in which Wheaton his idea dropped of controlling a mob with a harmless anaesthetic.
No comments:
Post a Comment