Ahailono o ka Lahui, Volume I, Number 28, 11 February 1890 — THE NEW TORPEDO BOAT CUSHING. A Staunch Little Craft Made for Great Speed and Power. [ARTICLE]

THE NEW TORPEDO BOAT CUSHING.

A Staunch Little Craft Made for Great Speed and Power.

, A ,special to the New YorkSungives a deseriptioD of tlie torpedo boat Cushiog, launehe-.l at the Herresehoff yards iii Bristol, B. ī., 011 the 23d inst. The yj3ssel is 138 feet long, 15 feet beam aud has a depth of hold frona the efowiA of the deek to the keel amid* ships of 10 feet and has a draught of btut 4 feet 4 inches loaded.

| The Cashing , sdisplacement is about lft3 tons and U^ua^imum^ho^e-powei

1600. Tlie lmll is buill. of.ste.el throughouij, every plate and hamo be ing galvani|zed; so are also tbe anchor, railings an4 all exposed metal woA. The keel, of iiai plate ? is worked to form the The stern is a steel forging. extending from the spar deek to eight feet along the keel from the spar of the ram, and tlie stern post is another steel forging. Above the water the Cushing will be very plain that she may be a poor target for the shot and shell of an enemy, Two eonning towers and two smoke stacks are her most pronounced featuresj A whaleback extends fiom for ward of the conning tower to tHe bow and the wl|Lole deck is curved so as to throw ofF shot. Bhe has4iot only twin screws, bo}lers and engines, but twin pumping machinery, torpcdo tubes and steering gear. The eondenser alone of all tlie meelianieal equipment is single. The hull is divided into eleveneom . partments, by water'tight bulkheads, : the openings in whieh clo.se on rubber gaskets, with wedge»locking devices, whieh secure them froin open» ing against any pressure. The flooding of any compartment except the engine-room, would not seriously in' terfere with the working of the boat. The moveiiients of tlie vessel will be eontrolled from two conning towers, whieh are £ircular. of one'quarter ineh steel plates, and have . double sliding doors. The engines may be run togetlier or singly. 1 f rhe fighting powers of the boat eonsist in diseharging torpedoes through the tubes in the bow, the object being to get enough to the enemy be fore being |discovered to discharge tor« pedoes. To do this requires great speed to eross the danger space before being disc6vered or struck. The Cushing will have to approach as close as 200 yards to be within effective firi ! ng range. The torpedoes are dīscbarged by an explosive eompound. They will travel at the rate pf forty feet per second over the sur« face of the water. It means sure destruction to a ship that is struek squarely by oue of them.